It’s official. Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group will announce on March 5 a change of its name to Radisson Hotel Group, according to a company spokesman.
During the event at the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, the company will outline its five-year vision for a new global brand architecture as well as a new loyalty program called Radisson Rewards.
The Carlson brand is going away to try to take advantage of the core Radisson brand’s equity among consumers and developers, and because the founding family is no longer running the company having sold in late 2016 to China’s HNA Group.
That brand equity has been admittedly tarnished over the past 10 or more years and the new leadership group is taking bolder steps to reposition the organization.
While Carlson is not yet divulging too many details, a January 17 presentation from Rezidor Hotel Group revealed many broad strokes of the plan.
It appears a bigger company initiative will focus on customer-facing marketing activities, including a newly defined digital strategy to increase direct on-line sales, a re-defined pricing strategy and a greater emphasis on yield management. Rezidor said the company will launch a new multi-brand site, mobile/ app across theatres.
Further plans look to transform the organizational model while reducing costs and secure a new IT platform.
Rezidor’s plan is based on 25 business initiatives focused on portfolio management; brand and product; marketing, sales and revenue management; organization, talent and reputation; best systems; cost advantage; and scale. It aims to deliver revenue growth of 6% to % on an annual basis with an EBITDA margin expected to reach 13% to 15% by the end of 2022.
As part of the new global brand architecture launch, Rezidor will reposition 30 to 35 of its hotels with a total capex of €140-150 million (US$171-184 million). The company will also invest €75-€80 million (US$92-98 million) in FF&E and key money in new hotels. The business development strategy will focus on net opening of 13,000 new rooms. As part of a renewed asset-right growth strategy, Rezidor will also focus on entering new lease agreements in mature markets.
Rezidor will focus its strategy and investment on the urban and business segment under the Radisson brands with four segments, Collection, Blu, Radisson and Red. It will also redefine the Park Inn brand to adjust to midscale target (ADR, construction cost and GOP) while converting some properties to Radisson.
In the Americas, President Ken Greene has previously stated his plan to re-energize the core Radisson brand, which will likely mean removing hotels from the system as well as incenting other owners to upgrade their offerings.
He likes 21 gateway cities, especially for the flagship Radisson Blu brand, and has stated a desire to grow Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, as well as the Park Inn by Radisson brand, which has been particularly successful in Europe. By 2022, the new global Radisson wants to reach 255,000 rooms, up from almost 180,000 as of Q4 2017.