Radisson CEO on Keeping a Brand Strategy Tight and Focused

25.08.2023 - 14:03 / skift.com / Asia Pacific / Sherry Sun

As Radisson Hotels Group continues to expand internationally through its existing brands, its strategy is to focus on service quality and consistency. For Federico González, CEO of the hotel group, having nine big global brands is better than chasing a mass of weak brands.

“I think establishing a brand, it’s not only a building, it’s not only the experience,” González told Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali in a recent interview. “It’s everything that goes together with the experience when you are there, when you are not there. It’s the consistency of the experience and being, I think, very smart in trying to define in which property, which brand would fit.”

Radisson prides itself on Scandinavian hospitality design in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), focusing on a spirit of well-roundedness through consistent good service and design. 

“Even if hotels would be different, you would have the same soul of service by the team. That is what I think created Radisson outside the U.S … that’s what made the difference,” González added.

Gonzalez comes from a consumer goods background, where he previously worked for Disneyland Paris and Proctor & Gamble. He led the NH Hotel Group before joining Radisson in 2017. In November 2018, Jin Jiang International Holdings, a Shanghai-based tourism powerhouse that manages Louvre Hotels, and SINO-CEEF, an investment fund from Shanghai, purchased a majority stake in the company. Radisson sold its Americas business to Choice Hotels International for $675 million in June 2022, but continues to manage operations in EMEA and Asia Pacific, hoping to double its portfolio by 2025. 

Currently, Radisson operates 25 hotels and has 15 properties in development and holds 250 franchise agreements in China, which is viewed as a region of long-term investments. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia holds great potential for Radisson Collection as the group continues to leverage its connections with customers, owners and the government. 

Gondález spent 2017-2020 transforming key drivers of the company. “We redefined all the brands with the right experience, with the right construction cost, with the right brand inter-segmentation from luxury with Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Radisson, [and reintroduced] that,” he said. Park Inn and Prizeotel also followed and were incorporated for mid-scale. 

The chain signed around 200 hotels in 2022 and launched smaller, leisure units for luxury retreats, Radisson Individual Retreats, in India. If the idea does well, it could possibly be expanded to other areas. With more demand for flexibility and reduced single-night stays, Radisson is also introducing a room conversion concept. “There is more uncertainty about how many