How Carlson Rezidor broke records in 2016

Last year, the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group opened 77 hotels worldwide, the most since the recession year of 2009. The company also signed 122 new properties for its fourth consecutive year of signings increases. 

The company's global portfolio now includes 1,143 hotels and 180,250 rooms, while the pipeline has 303 hotels and 50,000 rooms in development. The group reported system-wide revenues of $7.2 billion, flat year-over-year.

The Americas

In the Americas, Carlson Rezidor broke records for both signings and openings, adding 65 new hotels to the pipeline and opening 41—a 28-percent increase over 2015.  

Radisson Blu opened three hotels in Latin America—one in Santiago, Chile and two in Brazil. The company's Radisson brand opened 14 hotels across the region. 

Radisson Red, the group’s nascent millennial-focused brand, made its U.S. debut in downtown Minneapolis close to the new U.S. Bank Stadium, the host of Super Bowl LII in February 2018. 

The group also broke ground on the Radisson Red Portland and signed Radisson Red Miami, both of which are slated to open in 2018. The Radisson Red Campinas is scheduled to open in Brazil later this year.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

The Rezidor Hotel Group has a record year of organic growth in 2016, adding 45 new hotels with 8,200 rooms to its pipeline and opening 18 hotels with nearly 3,600 rooms. Rezidor also expanded in key cities of Eastern Europe with eight signings spread across the region including Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania and Turkey. Rezidor also expanded into four new countries including Cape Verde, Kyrgyzstan and Zimbabwe.

In Africa, Rezidor signed 10 hotels last year. Notable deals included the portfolio of five Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Angola, the first Quorvus Collection property in Nigeria and expansion with Radisson Blu into Zimbabwe and Cape Verde.

Rezidor also opened the world’s first Radisson Red hotel in Brussels. The Radisson Red pipeline across Europe, the Middle East & Africa includes projects in Dubai, Jeddah, Vilnius, Tbilisi and Krakow (signed in 2017). 

The next Radisson Red hotels are scheduled to open in Waterfront Cape Town, South Africa and Glasgow, Scotland.