MINNEAPOLIS (Dec. 1, 2011) – Carlson, a global hospitality and travel company, today announced the promotion of Javier Rosenberg to chief operating officer, Radisson and executive vice president, Carlson Hotels, Managed Hotels, Americas. Rosenberg will continue to report directly to Thorsten Kirschke, chief operating officer, Carlson Hotels, and president, Carlson Hotels, Americas.

In his new role, Rosenberg will continue to oversee all Carlson’s owned and managed hotels within the Americas and will now oversee the operations of all Radisson franchised hotels within the United States. He was most recently the vice president, Owned and Managed Operations, Carlson Hotels, Americas.

“Since joining Carlson in January 2011, Javier has made significant contributions to Carlson including driving operational excellence, service-focused hospitality and building the leadership capabilities within our owned and managed hotels,” said Kirschke. “He has overseen several key projects such as the opening of our flagship property, the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago, and the renovations of the Radisson Aruba Resort & Spa and the Radisson Blu Resort, Marina & Spa, St. Martin while also building the performance of the Hospitality Properties Trust (HPT) portfolio, within a year. HPT is a major hotel industry real estate investment trust.

He will continue to focus on optimizing the performance of our owned and managed hotels in the Americas while at the same time repositioning Radisson in the United States. Key executives reporting directly to Javier in this expanded role will be Jeffrey Freund, vice president, Owned and Managed Operations, Christer Larsson, vice president, Food and Beverage, and Raj Rana, vice president, Radisson Franchised Operations.

Rosenberg has more than 20 years of diverse global hospitality experience with positions ranging from operations manager to a regional operations position with IHG in the Caribbean.  Prior to joining Carlson, he most recently served as partner and managing director at Knightsbridge Partners where he led the creation of a hospitality division within a capital management firm based in Argentina. He has operated and managed numerous hotels in the United States, Mexico, Spain and Singapore. He is a cum laude graduate of Boston University holding bachelor’s degrees in hospitality administration. He has also received several professional recognitions including being named the Young Hotelier of the World in 2001 by Hotels Magazine and the International Hotel and Restaurant Association.

About Carlson
Carlson is a global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Carlson encompasses more than 1,071 hotels, including Radisson®, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM, Park Inn by Radisson and Park Plaza®; more than 900 T.G.I. Friday’s® restaurants; and a majority stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel®, the global leader in business travel management. Carlson operates in more than 150 countries and its brands employ about 170,000 people.  http://www.carlson.com