, founder of the namesake company, bought Radisson Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, in 1962. 40 years later, the hotel division of Carlson had expanded into one of the top hotel corporations, as of 2013. On top of Radisson Hotels, the division also owned several other brands, such as Park Inn, Park Plaza, Country Inns & Suites and etc. The division acquired the brand Regent in 1997, but sold the brand in 2010. In 1994, the division expanded into Europe, the Middle East and Africa markets by signing a franchise agreement with SAS Group's SAS International Hotels. SIH would use Carlson's brand Radisson in EMEA. The agreement gave birth of the co-brand Radisson SAS, which became Radisson Blu since 2009. SAS International Hotels, later known as Rezidor SAS Hospitality in 2001 and then Rezidor Hotel Group in 2006, had expanded into a hotel group that consisted of more than 320 hotels as of 2008. The franchise agreement was renewed in 2002 and again in 2005. The 2002 deal added Park Inn, Regent and Country Inns into the agreement, while in 2005 agreement, Carlson purchased 25% shares of Rezidor SAS from SAS Group. The 2005 franchise agreement would last until year 2052. Rezidor Hotel Group also had other brands, such as Hotel Missoni, which was licensed from Missoni.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
Rezidor Hotel Group, formerly Rezidor SAS, became a listed company in 2006. SAS Group ceased to be the shareholder of Rezidor Hotel Group in 2007, while Carlson, a significant shareholder of Rezidor SAS since 2005, became the parent company of Rezidor Hotel Group in 2010. Since January 2012 the enlarged hotel group was trading as Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. In February 2014, Rezidor Hotel Group terminated the license agreement of Hotel Missoni. Rezidor's Hotel Missoni Edinburgh and Hotel Missoni Kuwait, would ceased to use the brand Hotel Missoni not later than June 30, 2014. In the same month, two new brands of the group were introduced, namely Quorvus Collection and Radisson Red. In March 2016, Rezidor Hotel Group acquired 49% stake of hotel chain prizeotel, for €14.7 million, with a future rights to acquire the remaining 51% shares. In April 2016 Carlson–Rezidor hotel group was sold to HNA Tourism Group, a division of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, from Carlson. The loyalty programs: HNA Group and Hainan Airlines' Fortune Wings Club and Radisson's Radisson Rewards, signed a partnership agreement in June 2018.
Radisson Hotel Group
In the fourth quarter of 2017, Carlson Hotels, Inc., the US-based holding company of the Carlson–Rezidor group, was renamed to Radisson Hospitality, Inc., while the Brussels/Sweden-based listed subsidiary Rezidor Hotel Group AB, was renamed to Radisson Hospitality AB in May 2018. The whole group had a new trading name Radisson Hotel Group. The customer loyalty program, was renamed from Club Carlson to Radisson Rewards. However, Radisson Hotel Group was sold to a consortium led by Jin Jiang International Holdings in August 2018. According to the press release, Radisson Hotel Group had more than 1,400 hotels in operation and under development at that time. As of December 2017, the listed subsidiary Rezidor Hotel Group was operating 369 hotels.
Brands
current
Radisson
Radisson Blu
Radisson Collection
Radisson Red
Country Inn & Suites by Radisson
Park Plaza
Park Inn by Radisson
former
Hotel Missoni
Regent
Country Inn & Suites by Radisson
Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, formerly Country Inns & Suites by Carlson and Country Inns by Carlson, is a hotel chain of the Radisson Hotel Group. It was established by the former Carlson Hotels' owner, Carlson Companies in 1986 as a "middle-class" brand. The sister brand, Radisson Hotels was classified as full-service, upscale brand of the group. Carlson Companies also owned the namesake, Country Kitchen restaurant chain at that time. In January 2018, two years after Carlson sold Carlson–Rezidor hotel group to HNA Group, the chain was rebranded into "Country Inn & Suites by Radisson".
Radisson Collection
Radisson Collection was formerly known as Quorvus Collection from 2014 to 2018. Quorvus Collection was introduced in 2014 as a luxury brand. The first hotel of former Rezidor Hotel Group in Copenhagen, was converted to use Radisson Collection brand.