Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has recruited Best Western’s popular General Manager of Development, Barry Fleischmann, as its new Director of Development for Australasia.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s Executive Vice President – Development, Asia Pacific, Andreas Flaig, said Fleischmann would lead Australasia in “leveraging Carlson Rezidor’s innovative development platform to sign new management contracts and franchise agreements”.
Flaig said Fleischmann would be responsible for strengthening relationships with owners and other key stakeholders, as well as “initiating new strategic partnerships with leading property developers in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands to accelerate Carlson Rezidor’s growth in the sub-region”.
“Barry is an asset to Carlson Rezidor and his appointment is testament to our increased commitment to Australasia, where we are growing our team to support of our expansion plans, including the roll-out of our full brand portfolio, which will soon include Radisson Red, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inns and Suites by Carlson,” Flaig said.
“With Barry’s extensive experience in launching new brands and driving strategic growth initiatives, we are now even better placed to fully capitalize on the opportunities of this strong and growing market,” he said.
Fleischmann has 20 years of experience that spans franchise development, sales, consultancy, food and beverage, as well as hotel management
He has worked in nine cities across Australia and the United States, including Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and New York and joins Carlson Rezidor from Best Western Australasia, where he was General Manager of Development for three years.
Prior to that, he amassed 16 years of experience as a hotel development consultant and as a franchise development director for Choice Hotels International, La Quinta Inns and Suites and Wyndham Hotel Group. He was previously also a Senior Consultant at Horwath HTL.
Fleischmann has a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and he will be based in Sydney and report to Marc Kramer, senior director, Development, Southeast Asia and Pacific.