Kurt Ritter Celebrates 35th Anniversary with The Rezidor Hotel Group
Ritter joined Rezidor in 1976 as General Manager of the SAS Luleå Hotel in Sweden and has served as President & CEO of the company since 1989. He currently ranks as one of the longest tenured CEO's in the hospitality industry. Rezidor's Board of Directors recently extended Ritter's contract until 2015.
"I look back on 35 fantastic and incredibly diversified years, and forward to more than three equally exciting years. I still love what I'm doing and feel that I can still move things," said Ritter.
Under his management and leadership, Rezidor developed from a small Scandinavian group to a global player and one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world. The group currently has 35,000 employees, featuring three distinct brands (Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, Hotel Missoni) and more than 400 hotels with 90,000 rooms in operation and under development in 64 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Ritter is the man behind Radisson Blu's success as Europe's largest upper upscale, design-conscious brand, as well as the growth story of Park Inn by Radisson, which jumped from 0 to more than 140 hotels in seven years. Ritter was also the driving force behind the stylish partnership between Rezidor and the iconic Italian fashion house Missoni.
Born in 1947 in his parent's hotel "Beausite" in Switzerland, Ritter learned the meaning of providing guests with attentive service as a little boy. Some years later, he graduated from the prestigious École Hôtelière de Lausanne and took over his first position at the luxury Hotel Bellevue Palace in Berne as Assistant Manager.
Ritter later held a variety of positions at Ramada International Hotels in Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden. In 1976 he was appointed General Manager of the SAS Lulea Hotel in Sweden, before taking up a similar position at the SAS Kuwait Hotel in 1979. In 1984 he was promoted to Vice President Middle East for SAS International Hotels (SIH), a position that brought him to Singapore. In 1988, Ritter was named Vice President & COO, and only a year later, was appointed President & CEO of SIH.
In 1994, SIH signed a Master Franchise Agreement with Radisson Hotels Worldwide, which led to the company's name being changed to Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts. In September 2002, Kurt Ritter signed an agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide to develop the Country Inn, Park Inn and Regent brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In November 2005, he signed a worldwide license agreement with the Italian fashion house Missoni, to develop and operate the lifestyle hotel brand Hotel Missoni. Since November 2006, Rezidor is a publicly listed company at Stockholm Stock Exchange.
"In the coming years, I will focus on revenue generation and on Rezidor's profitable growth in emerging markets like Russia/CIS and Africa. We were pioneers in these regions and are today among the leading international players - a position which we want to keep and extend," said Ritter. "On the worldwide market, we aim to globally align our brands together with Carlson, owner of the Radisson and Park Inn brands and our majority shareholder. We are definitely ready for a next level," added Ritter.
Ritter was named the "Corporate Hotelier of the World 2002," received the "International Hotel Investment Forum Lifetime Achievement Award 2004" and the "MKG Lifetime Achievement Award 2008." He also holds two Honorary Doctorates of Johnson & Wales University, Providence (USA) and Oxford Brookes University (UK).
Kurt Ritter is married to Lara Ritter and lives in Brussels, Belgium. He has three grown children and a first baby granddaughter, born January 2011.
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