Radisson Blu

Radisson Blu

Industry	Hospitality, Hotels, Tourism
Founded	1960 (1960)
Headquarters	Minneapolis, United States and Brussels, Belgium
Number of locations	294
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Wolfgang M. Neumann (President & CEO), Knut Kleiven (Deputy President & Chief Financial Officer), Olivier Harnisch (Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer), Eric De Neef (Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer)
Parent	Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
Website	radissonblu.com

Radisson Blu (formerly Radisson SAS) is an upscale international chain of full service hotels and resorts brand for Radisson Hotels mostly outside the United States, including those in Europe, Africa, and Asia. These are operated by Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. As of December 2014, Radisson Blu has 287 hotels operating throughout the world with 68,270 rooms, and 102 hotels under development with an additional 23,489 rooms.

Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) used to be a major shareholder in Rezidor Hotel Group and licensed its brand for Radisson SAS hotels. Following the withdrawal of SAS from the partnership in 2009, the name changed from Radisson SAS to Radisson Blu.^[1] The new brand is being introduced gradually across the portfolio.^[2] In 2012, Carlson Hotels and Rezidor Hotel Group combined to form Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.

History

In 1960, the Royal Copenhagen hotel opened in Denmark. Designed by the Arne Jacobsen for SAS International Hotels (SIH) - the hotel division of the Scandinavian airline group, SAS.^[1]

Radisson SAS was created in 1994 when SAS International Hotels (SIH) joined forces with the Radisson brand for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in a joint branding initiative.^[1]

In 2000, Radisson SAS opened its hundredth hotel.^[1]

Designer lobby in the Radisson Blu Belgrade Hotel in Serbia

In 2002, Rezidor introduced the SAS Hospitality brand. Radisson SAS operated more than 150 properties at this time in more than 40 countries throughout EMEA. By late 2006, Rezidor SAS, renamed the Rezidor Hotel Group, and made an initial public offering on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.^[1]

In 2008, the Rezidor Hotel Group had a total portfolio of over 360 hotels in 55 countries.^[1]

When the name was changed in 2009, Gordon McKinnon, Rezidor’s Executive Vice President of Brands, explained that the name Blu was choice from Rezidor’s research to find a new visual differentiator to replace the familiar SAS ‘blue box’.^[1]

“The name Blu started life as the project’s working title. But it soon became apparent that it was actually the most natural of choices. It’s simple, it’s short, it’s relevant and we’ve applied it in a way that adds a certain modernity to the identity without taking it too far,” he said.

On 20 November 2015, at the Radisson hotel in Bamako, Mali, two Islamist gunmen took 170 hotel guests hostage and killed twenty of them. It was an attack by the terrorist group Al-Morabiton "in co-operation with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb".

In April 2016, the first Radisson Blu Resort operated in Crete, Greece.

The Radisson Blu Beach Resort, Crete Milatos is an existing property that has re-opened under the Radisson Blu flag after renovation in 2016. The resort is located in the east of the island, surrounded by fishing villages, Milatos and Sissi. ^[3]

Radisson Blu Hotels and Resorts EMEA locations

Expansion into United States

SAS did not have hotels in the United States. The first Radisson Blu in the U.S., the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel opened in downtown Chicago in Aqua, a skyscraper, in November 2011. The second Radisson Blu, the Radisson Blu Mall of America, opened on March 15, 2013, in Bloomington, Minnesota, and is connected to the Mall of America. After completion of a $17-million renovation, the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel Philadelphia became the third Radisson Blu in 2013, and renamed the Radisson Blu Warwick Hotel Philadelphia. The former Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Minneapolis was renovated and converted into the fourth Radisson Blu in 2014.^[4]

Radisson Blu in Asia Pacific

See also

• 2015 Bamako hotel attack

References

External links

Media related to Radisson Hotels & Resorts at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website