Most recently, Courtney served as the general manager of the Radisson La Crosse in Wisconsin, in which he was directly responsible for all facets of the hotel's operations, including an offsite catering business incorporated into the adjoining Civic Center. 

While at this property, Courtney received the prestigious Radisson Managed Hotels & Resorts General Manager of the Year award in 2003 for increasing revenues and customer service scores while holding down employee turnover. The hotel was also honored with Radisson's managed hotel awards for highest RevPar index in 2003; customer service excellence in 2001 and 2003; and a repeat-guest rate higher than 78 percent in 2003.  

"The majority of my hotel industry experience has been helping hotels succeed at the local level," said Courtney. "By personally guiding hotel management teams as a general manager, and having served in a variety of operations and food and beverage roles, I have a great appreciation and understanding of what it takes for a hotel to move from good to great.  My plan for this new role is to use my 25 years of hotel experience to make the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown the hotel of choice for visitors to the area."

"We strongly believe that the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown has limitless potential to be the leading hotel in the market," said Jeffrey Freund, corporate director of Operations, Carlson Managed Hotels & Resorts. "With beautiful guestrooms, over 15,000-square-feet of meeting space, and close proximity to local dining, entertainment and shopping areas, we're confident James is the right person to continue moving this hotel forward."

Prior to his role as general manager at the Radisson Hotels La Crosse, Courtney served as the director of Operations and the executive assistant manager of Food and Beverage for both the Radisson Riverfront Hotel and Radisson City Center Hotel in St. Paul, Minn. In these roles, he managed the hotels' rooms divisions, restaurants, room service, bar area, 66,000 square feet of function space and security. Courtney also was the executive assistant manager of Food and Beverage at the 385-room Radisson Plaza Hotel in Southfield, Mich. 

In other professional experience, Courtney held several hotel-level senior management positions with Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, where he worked at properties in West Germany and Switzerland.

Courtney attended Shannon College of Hotel Management in Shannon, Ireland; earned a national certificate in Hotel and Catering Management at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland; and received a certificate in Rooms Division Management from the American Hotel & Motel Association. He is fluent in German.

Radisson Hotels & Resorts currently has 414 locations in 69 countries. 

Joan Cronson
(763) 212-1418
[email protected]