The Rezidor Hotel Group has concluded 2015 with 41 hotel signings totalling 7,900 purely fee-based rooms and the opening of 24 hotels with 4,000 rooms – surpassing 2014 results and further fuelling the long-term strategy of asset-light and sustainable growth in Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA) with a particular focus on emerging markets and selected key countries. During the past year, Rezidor has also reached the milestone of 100,000 rooms in operation or under development.
2015 signings
”2015 was a successful year for us and an important stage on our journey towards increased profitability. Building on our achievements, using the momentum in many markets and rigorously pursuing our strategy, we grew the number of hotel signings by almost 30% compared to 2014”, said Elie Younes, Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer of Rezidor.
In the course of last year, Rezidor signed projects in seven new countries (Armenia, Congo, Cyprus, Iraq (Kurdistan), Mauritius, Slovenia and Togo) and is now present in 80 countries across EMEA. The signings also included one new Quorvus Collection member in Oman/Muscat and three Radisson RED hotels in Cape Town/South Africa, Glasgow/UK and Brussels/Belgium. ”We are particularly excited about our RED roll-out. This lifestyle select brand ideally complements our portfolio and unlocks commercial and shareholder value by capturing the growing guest segment of the millennial travellers. It is all set for future ambitious development in urban destinations”, commented Younes.
An accelerated plan for openings
In 2015, Rezidor opened 24 hotels with 4,000 rooms – an increase by 30% compared to 2014. Despite the challenging external environment, Rezidor opened four properties in Russia – clearly strengthening its position as the leading international operator in the area – and three hotels in Saudi-Arabia where the group has a country development agreement with the regional company Al Hokair. In Turkey, Rezidor cemented Radisson Blu as the largest upper-upscale brand in Istanbul – and launched the very first mid-scale Park Inn by Radisson in the city.
100,000 rooms
The speed of strategic signings and an accelerated openings plan made Rezidor reach the milestone of 100,000 rooms in operation or under development in 2015. ”Our total portfolio continues to feature a solid pipeline of 20,000 rooms. 85% are located in developing markets which are often high RevPAR markets where we operate with fee-based contract models generating high EBITDA margins. While we continue to lead the upper-upscale segment in Europe with Radisson Blu, we remain committed to these emerging regions and mitigate market-inherent risks through our asset-light business model, a focused geographic execution and increased security measures”, ended Younes.
