Hotel group plans expanding in Turkey

Niki Gamm ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Claude Bulte, the General Manager of the new Radisson Blu Hotel Istanbul. Company photo

With the opening of The Radisson Blu Hotel Istanbul Asia this month, the Carlton Rezidor group will have three hotels in Istanbul, and another 20 in Turkey in the planning stages.

“The hotel industry tries to constantly be aware of the current economic phase so it can adapt and secure the available business. For the last two years the business has seen a good upward trend in occupancy and average room rate. Although the first quarter of the year has been modest, the expectations for the rest of the year are positive,” Claude Bulte, the general manager of the new Radisson Blu Hotel Istanbul Asia, told the Daily News.

Bulte pointed out that the location of the new Radisson Blu is right in the center of Istanbul’s planned financial district, Ataşehir. It is ideally located between the major districts in which national and international companies have their offices. The hotel with 195 guest rooms and suites, has all the facilities business guests require for holding meetings, banquets and conferences.

This is the third Radisson Blu in Istanbul, and the group’s first hotel on the Asian side of Istanbul for the Carlson Rezidor Group.

The Radisson Blu Hotel Istanbul Asia is owned by Ant Yapı, a major construction company.

Aside from the Radisson Blu Conference and Airport Hotel, the Radisson Blu Bosporus Hotel on the city’s European side, and this Radisson, the grand opening of which is scheduled for May 31, the company will open two new properties in 2013: the Radisson Blu Hotel Pera and Radisson Blu Hotel Şişli.

The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has identified several new possible projects in Bodrum, İzmir, Belek, Eskisehir, Bursa, Trabzon, Antalya and Diyarbakır.