Thorsten Kirschke, president, Americas, is upbeat about the future for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. In a March 21 story in Business Travel News, he shared details about plans to expand the company’s hotel portfolio by 50 percent in the next three years, the 31 percent increase in our global sales force in the last two years and how Club Carlson has “taken off like a rocket.” The power of combing commercial activities with Rezidor under one name—Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group—also was highlighted.   

 “We are growing four times as fast as any industry pipeline measured by STR,” he told Michael Baker, the publication’s lodging editor. “Of course, that has to do a lot with the successful execution of our strategy, particularly in emerging markets, where we have leading positions in India, Russia and the sub-Saharan African continent, but also in Central Europe at large. In 2009, we had about 1.6 percent growth rate globally. We climbed to 2.8 percent in 2010. We made it to 3 percent in 2011. For 2012, we're mounting to 6.7 percent of growth in the contracted pipeline. Again, you see the momentum and the acceleration of all our work in so many different factors played out.”  

The entry of Radisson Blu into North America, the new generation of Country Inns & Suites and the overhaul of Park Inn are just some of the evolutionary elements touched upon in the feature story.  

“Park Inn is getting an overhaul right now, appealing to the younger generations of Gen Y and the Millennials around the themes of choice, independence and connectivity,” Thorsten explained.
“We've selected modular furniture, going away from the traditional desk and chair and so forth. We're also looking at providing choices, such as automated check-in/check-out versus attended processes.”  

Thorsten also shared plans to take Country Inns & Suites into new, urban markets or even resorts, explaining, “We are evolving the Country Inns and Suites brand to something more global, international and adaptable to various market situations. “