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Group Announces 16 New Properties In The UK By 2005
Brussels, November 2000�. The success of Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts�
current properties in London, Manchester, Dublin and Stirlingshire, has
led to a new major wave of investment in the UK & Ireland market.
Radisson SAS has signed contracts for four properties in Glasgow, Leeds,
Nottingham and Galway, Ireland, all to be opened by 2002, with a further
seven under negotiation in Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol, Aberdeen, Edinburgh,
Stansted Airport and Midlands Airport. These will lead the way for further
negotiations to fulfil the group�s aim to have 16 new properties by 2005.
Radisson SAS Hotel, Galway
This hotel is on schedule to open in April 2001 and will complement
the existing Radisson SAS property in Dublin. The 204-room hotel will offer
the largest conference and banqueting facilities in the West of Ireland
and is ideally situated just minutes from Galway railway station and city
centre. The hotel is one hour�s drive from Shannon Airport, although plans
to improve Galway Airport are well under way.
The Shannon region is the home to a wealth of blue chip businesses and
is rising as a leisure destination, with such attractions as Connemara,
Aran Islands, The Cliffs of Moher and its outstanding championship golf
courses. Galway itself is the fastest growing city in Ireland and has become
the third largest in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin and Cork. With
Shannon Airport hitting its two million passenger mark this month, further
developments at the airport and the introduction of Shannon as an alternative
gateway to the US will attract further growth in this region.
Radisson SAS Hotel, Leeds
The Radisson SAS Leeds Hotel is scheduled to open in November 2001.
With 147 rooms, the hotel will be developed from an original 1930�s building
located in the city centre and will offer a lobby bar, restaurant and large
shopping mall with several boutiques and restaurants.
Radisson SAS Hotel, Nottingham
Radisson SAS is currently developing a 220-room hotel in the centre
of
Nottingham, to open in the Spring of 2002. The Radisson SAS Nottingham
Hotel will offer a full-scale restaurant, bar and 1000 sqm health and
fitness club, including pool, Jacuzzi and sauna. The hotel will also have
a dedicated banqueting floor as well as a dedicated conference floor. This
hotel is being redeveloped from a 1930�s building, formerly a post office
building
Radisson SAS Hotel, Glasgow
Due to open in August 2002, The Radisson SAS Glasgow will be situated
in the city centre, adjacent to the shopping area of Argyle Street. Ultra
modern in design, the hotel will have 250 rooms, conference and banqueting
facilities, health club, restaurant and bar.
| Kurt Ritter, President & CEO
of Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts, comments: �The launch of these four
new hotels is just the beginning of our development in the UK & Ireland
as a new home market. The success of our existing home markets in both
the Nordic countries and Germany has now allowed us to focus on other areas
of development, not only in the UK, but also in France, Italy and Benelux.
We are well on target to have 16 properties in the UK & Ireland by
2005, to establish Radisson SAS as a household name in this region.�
Over and above UK properties currently under construction, Radisson
SAS is currently finalising negotiations for several new properties including
openings in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Stansted Airport and Midlands Airport
all of which should all be signed by next year.
Areas for future investment also include other key provincial cities
including Aberdeen, Bristol, Birmingham, Reading and Newcastle.
As part of its expansion strategy, Radisson SAS is also closely looking
at resort development in Ireland.
Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts currently includes 108 hotels in operation
and 26 hotels under development in 38 countries and is the sole franchisor
in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa for Radisson Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide. Radisson Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and its parent
company Carlson Hospitality Worldwide includes 653 hotel and resort locations
representing 120,691 guest rooms in 53 countries plus five luxury cruise
ships sailing worldwide. |
Kurt Ritter - President & CEO
Kurt Ritter (born 1947) joined SAS in 1976 and served
as President & CEO of SAS International Hotels (SIH) from June 1989.
Since the formation of the strategic partnership with Radisson Hotels &
Resorts in August 1994, he has assumed the role of President & CEO,
Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts.
 Born
in Switzerland, Mr Ritter began learning about the hospitality industry
and the importance of customer service while growing up in his parents�
hotel. After the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce du Canton de Vaud,
he graduated from Switzerland�s Ecole Hôteliere in Lausanne in 1970.
He was then hired as Assistant Manager at the Bellevue Palace Hotel in
Bern.
Mr Ritter worked in several positions for Ramada properties
in Brussels, France, Germany and Sweden and was appointed General Manager
of the SAS Luleå Hotel in northern Sweden in 1976.
In 1979 he moved to the Middle East as the first General
Manager of the SAS Kuwait Hotel and a few years later he was given the
additional responsibility of Vice President Middle East for SAS International
Hotels.
In 1984 Mr Ritter was transferred to Singapore as Vice
President Middle & Far East. He relocated to Oslo, Norway as Vice President
& COO in early 1988, and remained there until he was made President
& CEO towards the end of 1989. In 1990, he moved the corporate office
of the then named SAS International Hotels to Brussels in order to position
the company for international growth.
Under Mr Ritter�s direction, SAS International Hotels
finalised an agreement with Radisson Hospitality Worldwide in 1994, which
spurred the growth from 29 to 118 hotels in 35 countries.
In 1989 Kurt Ritter attended the Advanced Management Programme
in INSEAD, France. In 1997, he was granted an Honorary Doctorate of Business
Administration in Hospitality Management by Johnson & Wales University,
USA in recognition of outstanding expansion achievements.
Mr Ritter sits on the 12 member IHEI International Council
(International Hotels Environment Initiative, a programme under the auspices
of the Prince of Wales Business Leaders�s Forum) and is a Board member
of the Glion Hotel School. |
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