Bold Frontiers: How Radisson Hotel Group Continues to Redefine Hospitality COO Chema Basterrechea explains why every RHG guest experience feels both globally consistent and locally meaningful.
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When a brand operates across 100 nations, offering consistent quality undoubtedly becomes paramount. That sentiment perhaps becomes doubly significant –and complex– when it applies to a hospitality brand. Yet the Radisson Hotel Group has unlocked a seemingly straightforward approach to championing such large scale operations. "Operating in more than 100 countries means we must simply, consistently, deliver our "Every Moment Matters" guest promise—everywhere, but with a local slant," says Chema Basterrechea, Global President and COO at Radisson Hotel Group. "The Group's 10-brand architecture ensures consistency, while our flexible standards empower hotels in Riyadh, Dubai, or Doha to reflect regional culture through F&B concepts, design, and service rituals. This "glocal" approach combines global systems and service ethos with local adaptation. For example, our Guan Xin program caters specifically to Chinese travelers, while in the Middle East, we tailor meeting solutions and food offerings to align with cultural and business practices. This balance strengthens guest loyalty and ensures relevance across diverse markets."
Indeed, it is through this approach that the Radisson brand, one of the world's largest hotel groups has managed to operate a diverse portfolio of brands across luxury, upscale, midscale, and economy segments. With more than 1,00+ hotels in over 100 countries, Radisson Hotel Group has a strong footprint in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, with growing expansion in the Americas and China. Globally, Basterrechea reveals, the company has delivered 41.5% Gross Operating Profit margins, supported by The Club—the brand's revenue management hub that covers a whopping 335 hotels—and advanced distribution systems that have maintained a consistent Revenue Generation Index [a metric used in the hotel industry to compare a hotel's revenue performance against the market average] of above 100 for 30 consecutive weeks.
Image courtesy Radisson Hotel GroupAt the heart of such expansive operations lies the knack of adopting efficient strategies, Basterrechea notes. "In MENA, we've achieved cost savings and improved sustainability by centralizing procurement and upgrading energy efficiency," he says. "A standout example is the Radisson Blu Dubai Deira Creek, which features an award-winning thermodynamic solar system for hot water, significantly reducing operating costs. Additionally, in today's always-on, connected world where brands can go viral, trend, and lose relevance within days if not hours, visibility, trust, and relevance are also extremely important."
It is this combination of efficiency and building trust that has stood Radisson Hotel Group in good stead for over 75 years across the globe. "The Radisson Hotel Group portfolio spans more than 1,580 hotels in operation and under development," Basterrechea continues. "Of this, Radisson Blu remains the largest upper-upscale brand in Europe for 13 years while Radisson has become the fastest-growing upscale brand globally, excluding China. We build awareness through our digital platforms, specifically our website and app, which is the fifth most-downloaded hotel app in the world, with content in 34 languages, and through experiential projects such as Radisson+, which offers online check-in and check-out and instant messaging, and our AI-powered Radisson Meetings Dream Machine, which allows event professionals to create visual representations of event spaces. This dual strategy allows Radisson Hotel Group to stand out in mature markets while gaining first-mover advantage in emerging markets like Saudi Arabia and North Africa."
Image courtesy Radisson Hotel Group
Such levels of innovation have, of course, been made possible through a rigorous permeation of tech-driven tools. Radisson Hotel Group's endeavors in this regard have received multiple accolades, the most recent of which was winning the "Best Digital Transformation, Leading Hotel Group" at the Leaders in Hospitality Awards 2025 by Hotel & Catering [a publication under BNC Publishing, the media house behind Entrepreneur Middle East]. "Technology is transforming every touchpoint of the guest journey, which is why that particular recognition was an extremely proud moment," Basterrechea says. "Some of the key innovations that have brought us this title include the aforementioned Radisson+, which offers online check-in and check-out, instant messaging, and digital concierge; our interactive content, where guests can virtually enter hotels, rooms, and meeting spaces from their laptops, mobile phones, or VR headsets, before booking; and AI-powered Radisson Meetings Dream Machine, which enables event planners to design immersive events using generative AI. We also introduced a more personalized Radisson Rewards program, which now boasts over 24 million members and has a dynamic redemption model that allows guests to access their benefits immediately and advance to the highest tier twice as fast."
A combination of all of the above operational approaches have allowed Radisson Hotel Group to continue with its geographical expansion plans as well. "In 2025, our expansion has focused on high-growth geographies, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and India, amongst others," Basterrechea elaborates. "In the Middle East, Vision 2030 investments in Saudi Arabia are a catalyst for hospitality growth, and Radisson has already signed multiple new projects in Riyadh. This does not mean we will not continue to focus on other regions, such as Africa, where we delivered the most hotel openings in 2024, with 50% net operating growth over the last five years."
Image courtesy Radisson Hotel Group
Strengthened by the brand's success so far, and a stringent sustainability policy, Basterrechea now looks forward to what the future holds for the brand. "Hospitality is moving towards digital-first journeys, sustainable operations, and experiential travel- by 2030, hotels will serve as multi-use lifestyle hubs that blend work, leisure, and community," Basterrechea observes. "In addition to our advances in technological innovation to provide a greater guest experience, Radisson Hotel Group is committed to Net Zero by 2050, with published approved Science Based Targets. We've also opened our first two Verified Net Zero Hotels in Manchester and Oslo this year. Parallel to this, our Hotel Sustainability Basics (HSB) is set to be fully rolled out by the end of 2025, with 100% of our hotels meeting sustainability criteria. In the Middle East, where sustainability is now part of national visions, Radisson Hotel Group is positioned to be a trusted partner for governments, investors, and guests."
'TREP TALK: Chema Basterrechea, Global President and COO at Radisson Hotel Group, shares advice for other hospitality executives
- Think "glocal" Deliver global standards with local relevance."
- Invest in people "At Radisson Hotel Group, talent is our biggest asset, which is why we've invested in programs like Radisson Academy that provides training modules to our employees worldwide, and assists them in fast-tracking their careers."
- Balance growth with responsibility by emphasizing sustainability alongside profits "Since 2019, Radisson Hotel Group has cut our carbon footprint by 33% per sqm in leased and managed hotels, while our carbon-compensated meetings have offset 115,000 tons of CO2e, which is equivalent to removing 26,800 petrol-driven cars from the road."
- Be agile "Our culture is built on speed and our Yes I Can! mindset, which allows us to respond quickly to opportunities and challenges"
- Keep up with and leverage technology "AI, personalization, immersive content, and the like are the new baseline for guest engagement"
