Asia Pacific “front and centre” for Carlson Rez

The Asia Pacific region holds the key to future growth for Carlson Rezidor, with expansion rates set to soar down under.

Having lagged slightly in growth drive, the brand is fast re-gathering its speed and shooting forward to play a big part in the future of the Australian hotel landscape.

“We have lost a little bit of momentum for growth and are very encouraged to reignite the momentum, and we will do that with people, with boots on the ground,” Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s president for Asian Pacific Thorsten Kirschke told Travel Weekly.

According to Kirschke, the group has a “three-pronged” approach to its commitment to Australasia.

“Asia Pacific is front and centre for our global strategy for growth,” Kirschke told TW.

The first step, he said, is “building the presence of the halo, the anchor brand Radisson Blu.”

Kirschke explained that getting the Radisson Blu brand into key cities such as Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and the Gold Coast, was a vital part of the plan, and would ensure Radisson Blu remained the hero of the Carlson Rezidor group down under.

“We are seeking to get Radisson Blu into other key markets – the seven big cities around the coastline of Australia are of course primary target, and the CBD within those cities.”

“But this is not providing for enormous scale,” he added.

“It is a good anchor, this hotel has been fantastic for brand awareness in Australia, but now the question is how can we grow to more significant scale and size?”

And with that question, Radisson Red provides the answer.

The brand spanking new launch of Radisson Red, and the subsequent roll out of it throughout Asia Pacific, is taking the Carlson Rez brand into new fields, tapping into a fresh range of markets.

Two properties have already been signed in Shengyang, China and Capetown, South Africa, but the Australasian region is certainly something on the cards for the hotel group.

“Radisson Red is a brand that embraces the lifestyle segment,” Kirschke told TW.

“It has a lot to do with a more contemporary, less traditional interior design of hotel spaces that take away various the barriers and formalities that allow an easier integration of work and life.”

“It also comes at a lower cost of construction and a lower cost of operating.”

“Our goals involve having the ambition and seeing the potential for doubling our presence over the next five years,” Kirschke said.

“We have a pipeline of projects that obviously support that, and that pipeline is growing.”

“This brand fills a void in the landscape of hotels presently available in Australia.”

The third avenue Carlson Rez hopes to pursue is “addressing the more regional markets and towns that are between Brisbane and Cairns,” Kirschke told TW, citing places like Bundaberg and Rockhampton as the kinds of markets they wish to pursue.

“There are many like those markets and they are totally underserviced with a good mid-scale bed and breakfast type of accommodation which haven’t seen any investment in the last 20 years or so.”

“And you can bring to these markets homely and family types of accommodation that both service the business traveller on the road and the family that takes a break driving along by car.”

Kirschke said that Carlson Rez is “well-equipped” with a brand portfolio to deliver on these three major fronts, and that the future of Australia is both bright and promising, particularly for brands such as Radisson Blu and Red.

“The tourism outlook is positive, especially in Australia where the forecast is for continued growth and where demand for rooms is projected to outstrip supply over the next three years,” Kirschke said.

And with its fifth fifth development office set to open in Sydney by the end of the year, the brand shows no signs of slowing down.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

@australia Australasia carlson rezidor radisson blu radisson red thorsten kirschke