Swiss-born Kurt Ritter is the only person not resident in the Middle East to score a place on the Hotelier Middle East Power 50. This in itself is testament to the necessity of his inclusion — even from his base in Brussels, Belgium, Ritter has been the key driver of Rezidor’s impact on the region to date, making the company a force to be reckoned with.
A graduate of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Ritter joined the company in 1976 as general manager of SAS Hotel, Luleå in Sweden, and has since held various executive management positions in business development and operations in Kuwait, Singapore, Vienna and Oslo.
Ritter was appointed president and CEO in 1989 of the then SAS International Hotels with a portfolio of 21 hotels. He established the master franchise agreement for the Radisson brand in 1994 and took the company multi-brand in 2000.
In 1980, Rezidor entered the Middle East with the launch of Radisson Blu (formerly SAS) Hotel, Kuwait and since then Ritter has overseen the opening of a total of 20 properties across Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
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A dynamic regional team lead by Marko Hytönen, appointed in January this year, will no doubt continue to raise the profile of Rezidor in the region with 18 properties under development, including the hotly-anticipated Missoni Kuwait and Missoni Siffah in Oman as well as Radisson Blu Hotel Abu Dhabi Yas Island, opening imminently.
In the course of Ritter’s leadership, Rezidor has become one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world. His notable personal achievements include Corporate Hotelier of the World in 2002; the Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Hotels Investment Conference in 2005; and the MKG Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
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