Rezidor's fourth Polish property kicks off expansion plan for Eastern Europe

Rezidor SAS Hospitality used the grand opening of its hotel in Krakow, Poland, last week to outline ambitious plans for expansion in Eastern Europe.

Rezidor, which is the sole franchisor of Carlson's Radisson, Country Inn, Park Inn and Regent brands in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, aims to develop 50 Park Inn hotels in Russia as part of a joint venture.

Kurt Ritter, Rezidor's president and chief executive officer, said the move was part of a plan to grow the company to 700 hotels in more than 55 countries by 2012. It currently has 200 properties in the region.

The four-star, 196-room Krakow hotel, which had its soft opening in June, is the company's fourth Radisson SAS property in Poland. A 150-bedroom hotel in Gdansk is due to open in 2005, and further sites at Poznan, Torun and Katowice are under negotiation.

Ritter said the Krakow property was already the best-performing hotel in the group. It achieved occupancy rates of 76% in July, 87% in August and 96.6% in September, with a forecast of 87% for October.

Ritter also confirmed the company was in negotiation to roll out its other brands in Poland.

Radisson SAS is the core brand of the group, which is also launching a range of joint-branded lifestyle hotels with fashion company Cerruti.