Carlson Hotels Worldwide - The Americas (CHAM) announced company realignment to support its customer- centered strategies, which includes the creation of a dedicated research and development team, a guest experience and brand standards area, and new leaders.
Kevin Hanstad has joined the team as vice president of Customer Research & Insights; Bret Smith, formerly vice president of Construction, has taken on a new role of vice president of Product & Design; and Jim Grimshaw has been promoted to vice president of Guest Experience and Brand Standards. Carlson Hotels Worldwide portfolio of brands includes Regent International Hotels, Radisson Hotels & Resorts(R), Park Plaza(R) Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson(sm) and Park Inn(R).
"We are taking a holistic look at how our guests experience our hotels. With solid data to drive our decisions, we will develop new prototypes for Radisson and evolve our older Country Inns & Suites," Carlson Hotels President Yvonne La Penotiere said. "The realignment of our teams around the customer is key to our ability to excel in this rapidly changing and dynamic hospitality marketplace."
In this new role, Hanstad will lead the development, deployment and management of a customer research strategy to improve understanding of customers to better meet their needs. In 2006, the company's research will focus on a new guest room design for Radisson. Next year, the research will enable the company to move from mass advertising to more targeted marketing. Hanstad noted that Carlson Hotels Worldwide has an ongoing commitment to furthering customer knowledge and understanding. Customer research will help shape product development, migration and brand evolution. It will provide insights on customers' experiences, perceptions, behaviors and changing needs at every touch point from pre-arrival through check-out and find more opportunities to build loyalty.
Hanstad joins Carlson from Research International, a leading global supplier of custom research for consumer marketed products, where he served as Vice President for four years. Prior to this, he worked at United Heath Group as Vice President of Marketing and spent nine years at Pillsbury in marketing research roles of increasing responsibility. His work at Pillsbury spanned multiple brands including Haagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Green Giant and Totino's.
Bret Smith, formerly vice president of Development and Construction, has been promoted to vice president of Product and Design. This new area will centralize capabilities of product and design, providing more consistency in how the brands are physically expressed in the marketplace. In his new role, Smith will be responsible for architecture and planning, construction management, interior design services, and F&B program planning. His team will be responsible for the development of new prototype designs to keep the brands' relevant to customers.
Prior to joining Carlson, he established Property Development Resources and played a key role in the design development and pre-opening operations for several international properties. In addition, he served as regional development manager for the Southeast Asia region for the InterPacific Group's Hotels and Golf Course Development Division. Both Hanstad and Smith will report directly to President La Penotiere.
Jim Grimshaw has been promoted to vice president Guest Experience and Brand Standards, reporting to Carlson Hotel Executive Vice President and Brand Leaders, Nancy Johnson, Radisson Hotels & Resorts and Park Plaza Hotels and Resorts; and Steve Mogck, Country Inns & Suites and Park Inn Carlson brands.
Grimshaw's experience spans 21 year in the hotel industry and 13 years with Carlson Hotels, most recently serving as the senior director of franchise operations. In this new role, he will develop and lead guest experience management strategy for the hotel brands, including operational alignment of guest touch point program creation through implementation and optimization. He will also be responsible for the quality execution of brand programs resulting in increased owner/operator and guest satisfaction.
Minneapolis-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide includes five hotel brands, totaling more than 935 hotels in 70 countries.
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