The Rezidor Hotel Group has announced its first hotel in Ivory Coast. The Radisson Blu Hotel Abidjan Airport, featuring 252 rooms, is scheduled to open during third quarter 2014. The foundation stone ceremony for the property was celebrated in Abidjan in the presence of Cesse Kome of Ste Koira Investment, the Ivorian owner of the property, and Kurt Ritter, president and chief executive officer of Rezidor.

“We are delighted to extend our portfolio to Ivory Coast and to further strengthen our good and personal relationship with Cesse Kome, who also owns the Radisson Blu Hotel Bamako in Mali," said Kurt. "The African continent is one of our key focus areas for future business development, and we are proud to have the largest pipeline of hotel rooms under development in sub-Saharan Africa.”

The new Radisson Blu Hotel Abidjan Airport will be located at Abidjan-Port Bouet (Route de l'Aéroport d'Abidjan). In addition to 252 modern guest rooms, the building will offer a business class lounge, an air crew lounge, retail stores, a bar, an all-day dining restaurant, a private dining area, an outdoor terrace, an outdoor swimming pool, a business center, seven conference and meeting rooms and a ballroom.

Rezidor arrived in Africa in 1999 with the opening of the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, Cape Town. Today, the group is present in 20 countries across the African continent, with 47 hotels and more than 11,000 rooms in operation and under development. Recent flagship openings include Radisson Blu hotels in Lagos, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Dakar, Senegal; and Johannesburg, South Africa. Future Radisson Blu hotels are planned for the capital cities of Maputo, Mozambique; Lusaka, Zambia; and Kigali, Rwanda.

Radisson Blu is an upper upscale brand, known for contemporary architecture and design; signature services, like free high-speed Internet access; and personal attention to detail according to the brand's unique Yes I Can! service philosophy.