Carlson, a family-owned, global hospitality and travel company, today announced that James Baldassari has been appointed vice president of development for its full service hotels in the Northeast and Midwest United States. Baldassari, who brings more than 30 years of industry experience to Carlson, will be responsible for the development of franchised and managed Radisson® and Park Inn by Radisson hotels. He will report to Phil Silberstein, executive vice president, Full Service Development, Carlson Hotels, Americas.

“Jim is a seasoned professional with solid experience and a deep network of relationships in the development community,” said Robert Kleinschmidt, executive vice president and chief development officer, Carlson Hotels, Americas. “He will be a strong addition to our development team and drive our Ambition 2015 growth strategy to expand Radisson as a powerful, globally consistent, first-class brand, and grow Park Inn as a winning midscale brand in North America.”

Most recently, Baldassari was director of franchise development, New England, for Wyndham Worldwide. He has served as vice president of franchise development for Prime Hospitality Corporation in the Northeast, as director of franchise development for the Milwaukee-based Marcus Corporation; and has held senior franchise development positions with Hilton Hotels, Holiday Inn Worldwide, Choice Hotels and Boston-based International Management Services.

Baldassari holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard University and will be based in the Boston area.

About Carlson
Carlson is a family-owned, global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Carlson encompasses more than 1,070 hotels, including Radisson®, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson^SM, Park Inn® 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 150,000 people.  http://www.carlson.com

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Contacts:
Joan Cronson or Ben Gardeen, Carlson | 1 (763) 212-1418 or 1 (763) 212-8129 | jcronson@carlson.com or bgardeen@carlson.com