Carlson Rezidor has announced its rebranding to Radisson Hotel Group at the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) with immediate effect. The company is known globally for having brands like Radisson, Radisson Blu and Country Inn and Suites by Radisson under its umbrella.

The hotel chain presently holds the third largest inventory in the country closely following the Marriot and the Taj Group according to industry estimates. The group is operating 89 hotels in India including 52 hotels under the Radisson and Radisson Blu brands.

Raj Rana, CEO, South Asia said that the puropose of rebranding was going to be to capitalize on the Radisson’s brand equity.

“The Radisson brand has a high recall value among guests and hotel owners even in India. It has been in India for over 15 years. We had announced in January that even the name Country Inn and Suites will be changed to Country Inn and Suites by Radisson. Park Inns are known as Park Inn by Radisson. As part of the relaunch, we are also introducing a new brand called Radisson Collection which is a more premium brand of hotels,” said Rana. 

Fourteen hotels are confirmed to join the Collection brand globally. “We are planning to upgrade Radisson Blu Agra to a Collection and we are reviewing the existing portfolio for identifying some other hotels in the portfolio for upgrading to the Collection brand. We will introduce the new brand and will also look for other conversion opportunities from the non Radisson portfolio of hotels,” Rana added. 

Carlson is already in the process in launching 8-9 hotels this year while there are also plans for new projects in locations like Panipat, Jhansi, Patiala and Nagpur in the near future.

The Radisson Hotel Group 8 brands with more than 1400 hotels operating worldwide with many more in development.

The new rebranded name of the group has been inspired by both groups, Radisson Hospitality (formerly Carlson Hotels) and Rezidor Hotel Group AB which has agreements in place to develop and operate across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. This move will also see the chain’s loyalty programme rebranded to Radisson Rewards in place of Club Carlson.