Rezidor announces Organisational Optimization

New Area Structures for Europe, the Middle East and Africa

The Rezidor Hotel Group announces an organisational optimization of their regional operations offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. With immediate effect, the company separates responsibilities for the core brands Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson on Area Vice President level, and supports the regional leaders with strengthened and consistent teams of area specialists in Finance & Control, IT, Purchasing, HR, Sales & Marketing, Revenue Management, and Technical Development.

"Over the last years, Rezidor has very rapidly grown to more than 400 hotels with 90,000 rooms in operation and under development in over 65 countries - and we continue growing. An optimized organisation with clear responsibilities will improve our portfolio management. We aim to work in an efficient and profitable way, to be fast responding and quick decision making; and we want to reach our ambitious future goals", said Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor. In December 2011, Ritter had presented the group's "Route 2015 Strategy", a number of initiatives to expand EBITDA margins by 6-8 percentage points by 2015.

Under the leadership and guidance of Wolfgang M. Neumann, Executive Vice President and COO at Rezidor, 6 areas for Radisson Blu, Europe's largest upper upscale brand, and 2 areas for the mid-market brand Park Inn by Radisson were created:  

Radisson Blu
Nordics: Hospitality veteran and Area Vice President Christian Gartmann has been confirmed in his role, and oversees 29 managed & leased and 20 franchised hotels in Rezidor's home markets Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

Eastern Europe & Russia: Area Vice President Tom Flanagan has equally been confirmed in his role. He is responsible for 37 managed and 6 franchised properties in Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Tashkent, Turkey, and Ukraine. Russia and the further CIS countries are one of Rezidor's key business areas - the group is the leading international hotel operator in this region.

Western Europe & North West Africa: Michel Stalport, formerly District Director Northern France and General Manager at the Radisson Blu Resort Disneyland Paris, has been promoted to the role of Area Vice President. He heads 35 managed & leased and 9 franchised hotels in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Sierre Leone, and Tunisia.

Central Europe: Former Regional Director France & Benelux Willem Van der Zee has been promoted to Area Vice President. He oversees 25 managed & leased and 16 franchised hotels in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Rumania, Slovakia, and Switzerland.

UK & Ireland: Philip Mahoney, formerly General Manager at The Regent Zagreb, has been promoted to Area Vice President, and carries the responsibility for 24 managed & leased and 4 franchised properties.

Middle East & Sub Saharan Africa: Former Regional Director Radisson Blu & Hotel Missoni UK Mark Willis has been promoted to Area Vice President. He is responsible for 46 managed hotels in Bahrain, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE, and Zambia.

Park Inn by Radisson
Richard Moore has been nominated Area Vice President for the UK & Ireland and the Nordics. He reports directly to Eric de Neef, Senior Vice President Park Inn by Radisson, and is responsible for 30 leased managed and 7 franchised hotels in Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The appointment of an Area Vice President for Continental Europe has been postponed, and brand leader Eric de Neef takes direct responsibility for 49 managed & leased and 18 franchised properties.

"Operational Excellence is a key element of our Business Plan, and great people delivering superior results are its basis and foundation", commented Executive Vice President & COO Wolfgang M. Neumann. "We are confident that our optimized organisation structure and the adaptation of a more decentralized management approach will help us to boost both performance and profitability", ended Neumann.

Within the new areas, all support structures are operated in a matrix type organization with the position heads reporting hierarchically to each Area Vice President and functionally to the central Vice President of the relative function. All Area Vice Presidents report directly to Wolfgang M. Neumann at the Rezidor Head Offices in Brussels.

For further information please contact:

Christiane Reiter, Senior Director Corporate Communication
[phone], [e-mail]

Renu Snehi, Director Corporate Communication
[phone], [e-mail]

About The Rezidor Hotel Group

The Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world. The group features a portfolio of more than 415 hotels in operation and under development with 90,000 rooms in over 60 countries.

Rezidor operates the brands Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts and Park Inn by Radisson in Europe, Middle East and Africa, along with the Club Carlson loyalty programme for frequent hotel guests. Under a worldwide licence agreement with the iconic Italian fashion house Missoni, Rezidor also operates and develops the new lifestyle brand Hotel Missoni.

In November 2006, Rezidor was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Carlson, a privately held, global hospitality and travel company, based in Minneapolis (USA), is the majority shareholder.