Harjit (G.T.) Dhillon Appointed Vice President of Global Travel Industry Relations for Carlson Hotels

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Carlson, a privately held, global hospitality and travel company, today announced that Harjit (G.T.) Dhillon has been appointed vice president of Global Travel Industry Relations for Carlson Hotels. Dhillon will report to Fredrik Korallus, executive vice president, Global Revenue Generation, Carlson Hotels.

In his role, Dhillon will be responsible for leading the strategy for travel intermediaries such as travel management companies, travel consortia and online travel agents with the objective to grow revenue and market share, in support of Carlson Hotel's Ambition 2015 strategy.

Dhillon brings over 20 years of hospitality experience to Carlson — including 18 years with Hilton, where he was most recently managing director of travel industry relations. He has also held positions in distribution, sales, operations and finance, and served as director of international marketing and sales at Disneyland, and director of Hyatt Resort marketing and Hyatt Vacations.

"G.T.'s experience and extensive knowledge of the travel intermediaries will escalate the momentum of one of our key priorities, which is to significantly grow our share from this critical segment," said Korallus.

Dhillon holds a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University in Fullerton and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California Irvine.

About Carlson

Carlson is a privately held, global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Carlson encompasses more than 1,085 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/

SOURCE Carlson