Decentralised control boosts business for Rezidor's UK hotels

A localised and aggressive marketing campaign has helped the Rezidor Hotel Group achieve a solid start to 2013 for its portfolio of 49 UK properties.

Caterer and Hotelkeeper.

Moore was speaking the day after the publication of Rezidor's interim report for January to March 2013, which revealed like-for-like revenue per available room (revpar) up by 5.7% across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

Although Moore said would not reveal specific figures for the UK hotels - which include 24 Park Inn by Radisson, 24 Radisson Blu and one Missioni hotel - he said that the upbeat marketing stemmed from the decision to decentralise control from the EMEA region's head office in Brussels.

As one of the area vice presidents, Moore - who was appointed to his role in January - now heads a team responsible for operations, finances, human resources and procurement, as well as marketing.

"This has enabled to provide targeted marketing efforts which have been rewarded with some great results," explained Moore, who also emphasised the significance of the £40m upgrade of the Park Inn by Radisson mid-market brand in driving sales.

"We have spent the past couple of years bringing the various converted Park Inn hotels up to standard, with a more contemporary décor using subtle colours. The aim is to appeal to a new higher level of sophisticated and tech saavy generation Y traveller."

Features of the new look Park Inn by Radisson include modular reception pods, extensive docking points for laptops throughout the public areas and a flexible food and beverage space.

"Our food and beverage offer will include a deli-style menu as well as food kiosks to enable guests to sit and dine or sit and surf with a snack." said Moore. "Sharing tables will create a community feel."

The newest Park Inn by Radisson - a 91 bedroom hotel - opened in Glasgow earlier this month, while a 235 bedroom property is due to be launched in Wembley later this year.

Two more Rezidor hotels in the UK are close to being announced and Moore is talking to a number of owners and operators who want to convert their hotels to either the Radisson Blu or Park Inn by Radisson brand.

"One of our key strengths over our competitors is our commitment to engage with prospective partners at the very top level," said Moore. "When pitching to a possible future partner for a Radisson Blu hotel, I went along, together with the director of global sales and regional director of operations. It helps gain the trust of owners."

Moore joined the Rezidor Hotel Group in November 2011 as area vice-president, Park Inn by Radisson in the UK, having previously spent the majority of his career with the Queens Moat House Group - in the UK and Germany. Most recently he was director of hotel consultancy services in the UK for CBRE Hotels.

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