Rezidor Hotel Group expands brands in Oslo

With an ambitious new two-tower project slated for 2013, Rezidor Hotel Group will expand the scope of its Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson Blu brands in Oslo, Norway.

“It didn’t take a long time to sign because we have a mutual relationship with Wenaasgruppen [the developer] and trust each other,” said Christian Gartmann, area VP of Nordics for Rezidor Hotel Group. “Normally it can take between six months and one year to finalize the details. We were involved in the feasibility study from the operations side and obviously gave advice to key negotiators.”

Rezidor already has a portfolio of 29 hotels, totaling 7,000 rooms, operating or under development in Norway as a whole.

“We have nine properties in Oslo right now, and we have 2,017 total guestrooms so that is quite a big coverage,” said Gartmann. “That’s the first Radisson Blu property in the Nordic region, and some of our key competitors have quite a number of these types of properties so it’s going to be very interesting to see the development of this concept. It has two wings combined with a conference [center], so it’s primarily for the business traveler.”

Demand

High demand for lodging from Norway’s oil industry has helped prospects for future development.

“Norway is in a very fortunate situation because of the oil industry,” Gartmann said. “There are a lot of opportunities in the oil sector, in addition to huge development in the public center, which is beneficial to the hotel industry.”

In the Nordic region, Gartmann said there are opportunities in countries with ample domestic travelers.

“When you talk about Norway, ... more than 80 percent of hotel revenue comes out of domestic business, while other countries, like Denmark, Sweden and Finland, are more dependent on visitors from other countries.”