WORLD – Kurt Ritter, President and CEO of The Rezidor Hotel Group, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the European Hospitality Awards 2012 at The Landmark hotel in London.
Swiss-born Ritter joined Rezidor in 1976 and served as GM in Sweden and Kuwait and as Vice-President Middle East and Far East, based in Singapore, before becoming the President and CEO, based in Oslo and then in Brussels, in 1989. Under his leadership Rezidor became a member of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. Rezidor’s current portfolio features more than 430 hotels with 95,000 rooms in 70 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In September 2012 Ritter announced his retirement at the end of the year, after which he will serve as strategic advisor to Carlson. Ritter’s successor as Rezidor’s President and CEO is Wolfgang Neumann.
“The remarkable rise of Rezidor is inseparable from Kurt Ritter’s; and it is difficult to think of anyone in the business today who has dedicated more of his or her life to the hospitality industry,” the jury said.
The annual European Hospitality Awards 2012, presented by Arena-International and Hotel Management International, celebrate Europe’s hotels and hoteliers of the year.
Photo: Derek Wood with Lara and Kurt Ritter.
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