Page 23 - RLI May 2019

EvERy MOMENT adisson Hotel Group strives to make Every

Moment Matter by being a true host and best
partner. They provide meaningful, delightful and
MATTERS Rinspiring experiences for its guests and insightful
and responsive client support for hotel owners.
The Group has more than 75 years of hospitality experience,
and with this experience they have grown to become one of
the largest hotel companies in the world, with a powerful set of
Radisson Hotel Group is one of the world’s largest and most brands that deliver world class hospitality and exceptional service.
“We currently have around 500 hotels in the overall portfolio
dynamic hotel groups, and its long-term vision is to be the and they are situated across eighty countries in Europe, the
Middle East and Africa,” explains Elie Younes, Executive Vice
company of choice for guests, owners, investors and talent. President at Radisson Hotel Group. “Within the portfolio there
Here, RLI sits down with Elie Younes, Executive Vice President is a very good balance, as 50 per cent of the portfolio is in
emerging markets such as Africa, the Middle East and Russia,
to discuss the last 12 months and what the future holds. whilst the other 50 per cent is in mature markets like the UK,
Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Scandinavia,” says Younes.
The past year has been a transformative one for the
company; they launched new brand architecture and RADISSON BLU HOTEL
changed the company name to Radisson Hotel Group, to Berlin, Germany
leverage on the Radisson name and the fact that Radisson
Blu is one of the largest upscale brands in Europe.
Financially, the last 12 months were also the best they have
seen, and they utilised this in signing around 40 new hotels, “If you look at how much we were spending five years
with many of these situated in key gateway cities in Europe ago on labour, on paying people to go and sell the brands, to
such as Madrid, Liverpool, Rome, Milan and Vienna. those e-commerce and emerging distribution channels there
Looking forward, Younes wants the next 12 months to has been a huge shift.”
continue this transformation, and accelerate growth with further Alongside this, the company is “We currently have around 500
expansion and the unlocking of four gateway cities such as Paris, spending millions on its new website hotels in the overall portfolio
London, Dubai and Munich. This year will see the company open which is due to launch in two or
hotels in Moscow, Rome, Prague, Dubai and Casablanca. Younes three months, which has been and they are situated across
also mentions a city he would very much like the brand to be designed to capture the increasing eighty countries in europe, the
in within the near future - Barcelona, as it is the largest city in e-commerce traffic.
Europe in which they do not currently have a presence. The company is all about making Middle east and africa”
When looking for new properties, two key factors come every moment matter, this is the
into play. The first one is the location and the second one is the ethos and the heart of Radisson Hotel Group. The idea is
quality of partnerships that will exist for several years, these to make every moment matter to three groups of people,
are of pivotal importance when selecting new properties so its guests, its owners and its people; it is the core of the
that there a good working relationship between partners. business and can be seen on every business card and in
So how does the company ensure its properties remain every presentation they produce.
attractive and exciting? So what lies ahead and what challenges face the company
“The world moves very fast, and this is a key challenge moving forward?
we and everyone else faces in this industry. So we have to “The first is the nature of the environment that we
continuously refresh our offering, reinvent ourselves and live in today; you need to be nimble to create the best
ultimately, invest. To give you an idea, in the last three years environment. The other challenge is talent – attracting and
we have invested around €300M in around 50 of our key retaining the right people, which is a challenge we all face. A
hotels that we want to showcase,” explains Younes. new shareholder enables us to be part of the second largest
According to Younes, the key reasons behind the company’s conglomerate in the world, and one of the largest loyalty
success is its attitude, the behaviour of the company and
programs which has 120 million members. If we can tap into
RADISSON BLU HOTEL Frankfurt, Germany the people within it, who are more humble, pragmatic, this there could be a very interesting opportunity in the
Chinese market, one of the most exciting in the world, which
relationship driven and solution driven. This attitude has been
maintained whilst the company has grown in the years that
could be transformative for our brand moving forward,”
he has been working for the company.
concludes Younes.
Discussing the increasing importance of e-commerce and
channels such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, Younes
says that the company has recently been reviewing its
market expenditure, and this has highlighted just how much
RADISSON COLLECTION RADISSON COLLECTION HOTEL RADISSON COLLECTION HOTEL the distribution has shifted in the last few years. RADISSON COLLECTION HOTEL
HOTEL & SUITES Moscow, Russia Nofa Resort Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Strand Stockholm, Sweden
Paris La Défense, France

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