Gordon McKinnon becomes Chief Branding Officer for Carlson Hotels Worldwide

Rezidor’s Executive Vice President Brands Gordon McKinnon has been appointed Executive Vice President & Chief Branding Officer for Carlson Hotels Worldwide; effective September 1, 2009. McKinnon will be based in Minneapolis and report directly to Hubert Joly, President & CEO of Carlson. “We are very excited that the brand owner of most of our brands has created his new position”, says Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor. “This appointment is perfectly in line with our common aim to globally align our brands. We see a huge potential especially for a push of the Radisson brand with consistent positioning and service levels across the globe. And looking at Gordon McKinnon’s experience and skills we know that this will be a success”, continues Ritter. Gordon McKinnon who is also Rezidor’s brand leader for Hotel Missoni and a driving force behind the successful launch of this new lifestyle brand, developed in cooperation with the iconic Italian fashion house, will continue to oversee the further development of Hotel Missoni. He will also counsel Rezidor regarding key branding decisions and developments. McKinnon has been with The Rezidor Hotel Group since 2002 – coming from the Malmaison hotels in the UK where he was Vice President of Marketing.