PRESIDENT & CEO, THE REZIDOR HOTEL GROUP

Kurt Ritter has been at the head of The Rezidor Hotel Group as President & CEO for more than 20 years. Honoured as the longest serving CEO in the worldwide hotel industry, he has been with the company for 30 years. Under his leadership, Rezidor has become one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world. Rezidor's multi-brand portfolio features 5 great international hotel brands encompassing more than 390 hotels in operation and under development with over 83,000 rooms in almost 61 countries. In 2006, Kurt Ritter successfully led the company through an IPO process. Since November 2006, Rezidor is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (REZT).

Winner of two Lifetime Achievement Awards, by respectively the prestigious MKG Group (2008) and International Hospitality Investment Forum-IHIF (2004), Kurt Ritter is considered one of the most respected and accomplished leaders in the hospitality industry worldwide. Kurt Ritter was also awarded the title of "Corporate Hotelier of the World" in 2002 and received the "Brillat Savarin Plaque" in 2005. In 2006, he was named a "Carlson Fellow".

In July 2009, Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor, received an honorary doctorate of Oxford Brookes University in the UK. This award is in recognition of his extraordinary vision and leadership as well as his commitment to environmental issues, business ethics and to a positive organisational culture.

Born in Switzerland in 1947, Kurt Ritter learned the meaning of hospitality as a child, growing up in the hotel run by his parents in Interlaken. After completing his education at the "Ecole Supérieure de Commerce du Canton de Vaud," he went on to graduate from the prestigious Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne. In 1997, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration in Hospitality by Johnson & Wales University, Providence, USA.

His first position took him to the Hotel Bellevue Palace in Bern as Assistant Manager. From 1970 to 1976, Kurt Ritter held a variety of positions at Ramada International Hotels in Belgium, France, United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden. At the age of 29, he was the youngest General Manager in Sweden and the entire Ramada chain. In 1976 he was appointed General Manager of the SAS Luleå Hotel in Sweden, before taking up a similar position at the SAS Kuwait Hotel in 1979. In 1984, a promotion to Vice President Middle East for SAS International Hotels (SIH) saw him move to Singapore. In 1988, Kurt Ritter became Vice President & COO and returned to Europe, where he was appointed President & CEO of SIH in 1989. 

In 1994, SIH signed a Master Franchise Agreement with Radisson Hotels Worldwide, which led to the company name being changed to Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts. In 2001, the company was renamed Rezidor SAS Hospitality to signal a new direction: namely, development of a multi-brand portfolio. In September 2002, Kurt Ritter signed an agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide to develop the Country Inn, Park Inn and Regent brands across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In November 2005, he signed a worldwide license agreement with the Italian fashion house Missoni, to develop and operate a lifestyle hotel brand of the same name: Hotel Missoni.

Kurt Ritter is a visionary and true gentleman. Firmly believing that a company's success depends on its people, he has expressed Rezidor's vision with the three simple words - YES I CAN! echoeing Rezidor's service philosophy which empowers people to make decisions when they matter the most. He is admired throughout the industry for his commitment to genuine hospitality, his straightforward approach and "joie de vivre". Kurt Ritter is married to Lara Ritter, has three grown children and lives in Brussels.