CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group will be flagging Radisson Red to Asian hotel owners and developers, its new brand which aims to break grounds in the upscale, select service segment which currently comprises the likes of Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Aloft and InterContinental Hotels Group’s Indigo.
New Asia-Pacific president, Thorsten Kirschke, in an interview with TTG Asia e-Daily said global hotel chains are collectively responding to a younger demographic and changing consumer demand by fielding new brands, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, ie, whoever is best able to deliver and execute the concept.
Carlson Rezidor aims to create a new industry category altogether with its Radisson Red, which emphasises competitive building costs and higher margins to owners, and appealing pricing, design, technology and connectivity to customers who today are seeking work-life integration rather than work-life balance, said Kirschke (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 20, 2014).
Radisson Red will be unveiled to investors and developers at this year’s Hotel Investment Conference Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong in October, along with Quorvus Collection, the other new Carlson Rezidor brand comprising independent luxury hotels (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 6, 2014).
Kirschke said there could be “hundreds of Radisson Red hotels in China alone”, alluding to the chain’s expansion ambition for the brand in Asia-Pacific.
Radisson Red, along with Quorvus, represents only one out of a three-pronged strategy that Kirschke intends to take to further grow Carlson Rezidor’s footprint in the region where, by year-end, it will already have more than 100 hotels.
The other two strategies are controlled franchise development and conversion opportunities.
Read the View from the Top in TTG Asia, October 10 issue
