The Rezidor Hotel Group continues to report strong growth momentum and signed 1,900 rooms during the third quarter of 2016. The group remains committed to its asset-light strategy with a focus on its core markets. Year-to-date, the group has added 33 hotels and more than 6,400 rooms to its pipeline, and 14 new hotels with almost 2,700 rooms to operations. Rezidor’s portfolio now comprises approximately 475 hotels in operation or under development with 104,000 rooms in over 80 countries.
“In Q3, we solidified the group’s position in Africa, the Middle East and key emerging hubs. In July, we opened the first ever Radisson Blu and Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda and announced the signings of three properties in the UAE. At the Africa Hotel Investment Forum, we announced the signing of five Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Angola which will all open in the next 18 months,” said Elie Younes, Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Rezidor. With these new signings, the group is adding over 1,000 rooms to its portfolio in the UAE, and 650 in Angola.
The Radisson Blu Hotel and Convention Centre in Kigali, Rwanda opened in July as East Africa’s largest convention center and hosted the 2016 Africa Hotel Investment Forum in October.
Another milestone for the group is the signing of its first ever property in Kyrgyzstan, making Kyrgyzstan as the 82nd market with a Rezidor property. The newly built Radisson Blu hotel in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, will welcome its first guests in 2019.
In 2016, the Rezidor Hotel Group has opened 11 new Radisson Blu hotels in Istanbul, Sohar, Helsinki, Tampere, Abidjan Airport, Lome, Milatos Crete, Marrakech, Yerevan, Ordu and Kigali, expanded the capacity and offer of the Radisson Blu, Maputo with the opening of a new residences complex. The group opened 2 new Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Neumarkt and Ankara. “In addition to our accelerated growth in emerging markets, we have continued to add world-class properties in our core markets in the Nordics and Western Europe too, signaling our commitment to balanced global organic growth,” added Younes.
