Hubert Joly President and Chief Executive Officer January ... - Carlson

Hubert Joly
President and Chief Executive Officer
January 3, 2011
Dear customers, dear business partners, dear colleagues, dear friends from around the world,
As we begin 2011, I would like to share with you my sense of our accomplishments of 2010 and
provide a few highlights of how we see our priorities for 2011. I particularly want to express to you
how grateful I am for all the individuals and teams who have made these accomplishments
possible and who make Carlson such a great and vibrant enterprise.
We have many reasons to be pleased about 2010. Of course, we have seen a significant rebound
of our markets. But we have done much better than just survive this crisis or ride the recovery.
We have emerged as a strong, global hospitality and travel company with great ambitions; a
company that wants to ensure that each of its brands are leading brands in their segment and
that it is the most attractive hospitality and travel company to work for and to invest with; and a
company that strives to live its purpose, its values and its commitment to responsible business
practices. Importantly, we have built significant momentum in 2010 toward our goals. Across the
organization, we have strengthened our management team in several key areas, the
engagement of our employees has continued to increase, and each of our businesses has made
significant progress.
• Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has been recognized in 2010 as the most admired travel
management company in the world. So, it is not just the biggest, it is also arguably the
best in the business. CWT’s performance in 2010 has been strong all around. CWT has
continued to strengthen its management team and has achieved a high level of employee
engagement. Its traveller satisfaction has continued to increase, and significant new sales
successes have been achieved. CWT has continued to invest in product and service
innovation, as well as knowledge development through the Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Management Institute. Looking ahead, CWT has also articulated its strategy for the future,
New Heights, aimed at sustaining and enhancing its leadership in the market place, vis-àvis
its employees, its clients and its suppliers;
• Carlson Restaurants has considerably strengthened its management team over the last
two years, and after a significant amount of work on T.G.I. Friday’s brand positioning, its
service, its menu and its marketing, it has achieved great results in terms of the top line
growth in the U.S. of this iconic brand, with positive and better than market comp store
sales at +5 percent for company stores versus the second half of 2009, which is 4
percent above the casual dining market. This performance stems from the progress of the
Earn Your Stripes strategy, menu innovation and a revamp of the marketing strategy
toward more local tactics. T.G.I. Friday’s has also acquired the shares of its UK business
that it did not already own. It has opened 35 restaurants around the world (an increase
outside the U.S.), and has achieved positive comp store sales growth of 4 percent in its
international markets. The UK itself is at +5 percent, which is 6 percent above the market;

• Carlson Hotels has considerably strengthened its leadership team and has articulated
a comprehensive strategy to grow its business and ensure the competitiveness of its
brands around the world. 2010 is the year when Carlson will have increased its
ownership of Rezidor to more than 50 percent. Our overall strategy, organization and
operations for our global Hotel business are increasingly integrated in support of the
needs of our guests and business partners. Carlson Hotels has made great progress
in the implementation of its strategy, especially as it relates to the enhancement of
Radisson in the U.S. where 74 percent of the owners have now committed to the new
brand standards/specific Property Improvement Plans, and where we have two
planned flagship assets in key U.S. cities (i.e., the Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago and the
Radisson Blu Bloomington at Mall of America). Growth, innovations and investments
have been a strong focus in 2010, with close to USD 500 million of investments in the
Radisson strategy in the U.S., the roll-out of a variety of service concepts, 93 new
hotel signings (versus 76 in 2009), continued expansion in key emerging markets, the
acquisition of RHW in India, a strong RevPAR performance for our key brands, the
addition of more than 1.2 million members to Carlson’s loyalty program, a new
partnership agreement with CWT, and investments in training, in marketing and sales,
in our web platform and in mobile applications.
In addition, our company has made great progress in several critical functional areas, including
branding, training and development, and responsible business initiatives and practices, to name
a few.
I am proud of our overall performance, progress and momentum.
In 2011, we will continue to focus on implementing our Ambition 2015 strategy, with the objective
to achieve significant progress in each one of our businesses. I know that the management
teams of our businesses have clear goals and priorities for the New Year. For the most part, they
are oriented toward: (1) continuing to build our talent; (2) strengthening our brands/businesses
through product and service innovations and improvements, as well as operational excellence;
and (3) growing the business, while continuing to enhance our financial performance. Here are
some of the priorities that I am the most excited about for 2011:
• At Carlson Hotels, this includes the actual implementation of the Property Improvement
Plans for Radisson in the U.S.; the launch of our new flagship hotel in Chicago — the
Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago — and the renovation of several of our owned properties; the
development of the midscale strategy in key emerging markets, building on our early
successes in Russia, India and Africa, and more generally our growth in key emerging
markets; the implementation of key revenue generation initiatives, especially the launch
of a new loyalty program, new/ enhanced brand websites and mobile applications, the
development of our partnership with key intermediaries, and the implementation of global
sales offices;
• At Carlson Restaurants, the focus will continue to be on growing the comp stores sales of
T.G.I. Friday’s in the U.S. across the system, based on the impact of Earn Your Stripes as
well as menu innovations and effective marketing. Internationally, the priorities will be
about continuing to grow in our core traditional markets and building the foundation for
future growth in key future markets;
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• At CWT, it will be about implementing the New Heights strategy, driving ongoing
productivity gains in the business (notably through the roll-out of key applications and
processes), implementing value-adding supplier management strategies, driving product
and service innovations (e.g., around trip services and information management),
accelerating the growth of the top line, and continuing to attract, retain and develop its
talent.
Across our functions, we will continue to put a strong emphasis on our brand strategies; we will
advance human resources strategies in support of our long-term goals; information technology
will continue to be an increasingly important and pro-active contributor to our success; and we
will make progress around our responsible business strategy.
Altogether, the Carlson organization and businesses are getting stronger and are building
momentum toward our long-term goals. With the portfolio restructuring actions behind us, we are
focused on building each one of our core businesses in a forward looking and ambitious fashion.
Given all of this, I want to reiterate my appreciation to you, our customers, our business partners,
our colleagues and our friends around the world for your contributions to our strengths and
successes. I want to pay a special tribute to the Carlson family and to our board of directors for
their terrific support. I want to pay a special tribute to our executive leadership team for the
incredible job they have done in 2010. And finally, I want to pay a special tribute to the 150,000
individuals who are working for our brands around the world. They are directly responsible for
the experience of our customers, our guests and the travellers who use our services. Their
dedication and talent are the foundation for our successes.
I wish every one of you a happy and fulfilling New Year!
Cordially,
Hubert Joly
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