Rezidor SAS hotels likely to face Orbis head on

Rezidor SAS Hospitality Group, owner of the Radisson SAS brand name, announced plans to widen its offer on the Polish market. "We are conducting initial negotiations with a group of investors concerning the construction of hotels in Zakopane and Poznań, but have yet to take a final decision on our plans for Lublin," said Rezidor SAS Hospitality deputy president, Arild Hovland. The results of the talks are to be revealed in the beginning of 2004. The group plans to establish a network of three stars hotels across the country based on the Park Inn network which it purchased last year. This will mean it will become a serious competitor for publicly listed Orbis. "I think that our competitor Accor, has already recognized that there is a market for such hotels during a recession. There is still room for a network of even 20 such hotels in such cities as Koszalin, Katowice, Łódź, Toruń, Bydgoszcz and Gdynia," said Kurt Ritter, the president of Rezidor SAS Hospitality. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8) A.K.