Brussels | Rezidor SAS Hospitality is on course for success: in 2005 the company generated Group earnings of Euro 587 million, up 17.7% from the year 2004. Some 37 new sites were opened, including the architecturally unique Radisson SAS Hotel Frankfurt, which was been furnished by star designers Matteo Thun and Adam D. Tihany. Another of the year’s high points was the licence agreement with the Italian fashion house Missoni, with whom a new brand of lifestyle hotels called “Hotel Missoni” will be developed. Rezidor SAS Hospitality will be continuing its expansion in 2006 with a special focus on Russia, the rest of the CIS, and Eastern Europe. The Group intends to be operating a total of 700 hotels throughout the world by the year 2015.
2005 was a successful year for Rezidor SAS Hospitality. The company currently runs 267 hotels in 49 countries and posted Group earnings of Euro 587 million (17.7% higher than 2004) and pre-tax profits of Euro 31.6 million (compared with Euro 4.2 million in 2004). The major factor behind this financial development was an 11% rise in the revenue per available room (RevPAR; now at Euro 67). “Rezidor SAS is one of the world’s fastest-growing companies in the hospitality management business,” points out Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor SAS Hospitality. “The Group has a comprehensive portfolio of brands, and has proved a high-yield investment for our partners.” The Group signed contracts for 29 new hotels in 2005 (15 Radisson SAS and Park Inn hotels were opened at the turn of the year alone), giving it almost 5,000 more rooms: “In terms of this figure, we grew by 16% in 2005,” says Ritter, “which is the fastest organic growth rate in the European hotel sector as a whole.”
The opening of nine mid-market-segment Park Inn hotels in Britain was an important move which enabled the brand to expand its presence and profile in the United Kingdom. By the end of the year, Rezidor SAS will be operating a total of 100 Park Inn hotels (hotels newly opened and contracts signed).
Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts is now the second largest hotel chain in Europe, and has quickly gained a reputation for innovative design and unique architecture. For example, the recently opened Radisson SAS Hotel Frankfurt, which is enclosed by a gigantic, illuminated blue disc, has already won several awards. Its interior design was undertaken by two famous names: Matteo Thun (rooms, spa) and Adam D. Tihany (public area, restaurant). Thun also designed the interior of the new Radisson SAS Media Harbour Hotel in Düsseldorf, which has caused a stir in this trendy part of town. Other high-profile openings in 2005 included the eagerly awaited Radisson SAS Style Hotel in Vienna, the Radisson SAS Resort Disneyland Paris – which promises perfect family holidays as well as being a conference venue – and the Radisson SAS Hotel in Birmingham, which is the city’s highest building. The chain entered the market in the Middle East with the Radisson SAS Hotel in Dubai’s booming Media City, and opened a hotel with a wellness centre and Ayurveda spa in Egypt’s El Quseir.
In the field of luxury hotels, The Regent Berlin was a source of especially good news when its restaurant Fischers Fritz, run by chef Christian Lohse, was awarded its first Michelin star in 2005. Just a few weeks later, The Regent opened its new conference level on the first floor, and it now offers business clients ultra modern, naturally lit facilities with a view over the Gendarmenmarkt. And, during the Berlin Film Festival in February 2006, The Regent even became the refuge of visiting Hollywood stars.
Rezidor SAS Hospitality will be adding a new lifestyle brand to its portfolio in 2006. A worldwide licence agreement has been signed with the Italian fashion house Missoni, together with which a new range of hotels will be developed and operated under the name “Hotel Missoni”. Over the coming ten years, 30 fashionable hotels will be created with a modern Italian ambience in exciting locations such as Edinburgh, Kuwait, Copenhagen, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan, Barcelona, St Petersburg and Istanbul.
The Group’s expansion will be taking it further and further eastwards. Rezidor SAS Hospitality has been present in Russia since 2001, when it opened the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in St Petersburg. This hotel, the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya Hotel in Moscow and the Radisson SAS Hotel Baku (Azerbaijan), have all been highly successful, achieving occupancy and RevPAR figures well above the average. By the end of 2005, our portfolio in Russia and the rest of the CIS had already grown to include 17 hotels (nine in operation, eight under construction) – of which 14 are Radisson SAS Hotels, two are Park Inns, and one is a Regent. The Park Inn Baku (Azerbaijan) opened its doors on 1 January 2006, and the 160-room Park Inn Yekaterinburg has been welcoming guests since 6 March 2006. Rezidor SAS Hospitality intends to increase the number of staff at its Moscow office over the coming year and negotiate a new series of contracts, enabling it to continue forging ahead as one of the region’s leading hotel groups. The aim is to have at least 50 hotels with at least 10,000 beds and 8,500 staff in Russia and the rest of the CIS by the year 2010. Business will be concentrated in Russia’s 13 most important cities: Moscow, St Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Kazan, Ufa, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Chelyabinsk.
Rezidor SAS Hospitality aims to own around 700 hotels worldwide by the year 2015.
About Rezidor SAS Hospitality | Rezidor SAS Hospitality is one of the fastest growing hospitality companies in the world and currently has 267 hotels, encompassing over 50,000 rooms, in operation and under development in 49 countries, with the aim to develop 700 hotels across its different brands by 2015. In September 2002, Rezidor SAS announced a unique deal with US-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide to expand selected Carlson brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Rezidor SAS now operates Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts, Regent International Hotels Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites along with the goldpoints plusTM loyalty programme for frequent hotel guests. Initially Rezidor SAS Hospitality was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Stockholm-based SAS Group. In June 2005 Rezidor SAS Hospitality completed the strategic agreement with US-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide, which resulted in an enhancement of their long-time franchise partnership into a shareholder agreement. Carlson Hotels Worldwide acquired a 25 percent shareholding in Rezidor SAS Hospitality from SAS group in return for renegotiated commercial terms of the parties’ current Master Franchise Agreement. Rezidor SAS Hospitality head office is based in Brussels. In November 2005 Rezidor SAS signed a worldwide license agreement with the Italian fashion house Missoni, to develop and operate a lifestyle hotel brand of the same name: Hotel Missoni. For more information on Rezidor SAS and its different brands, visit .
Birgit Borreck
Director Corporate Communications
+32 (0)2 702 92 24
Radisson Hotel Group
