Former NH Hotels CEO Is the New Carlson Hotels CEO


Skift Take

HNA's influence on Carlson Hotels is already taking hold. What will be even more interesting going forward is how HNA leverages its numerous hospitality investments, including Carlson, NH Hotels, Red Lion Hotels and soon, Hilton Worldwide and, possibly Rezidor.

It's only been a few weeks since the China-based HNA Group closed on its acquisition of Carlson Hotels in December and already, major signs of change are appearing. Chief among them is a change in leadership. Carlson Hotels CEO David Berg, who joined the hotel company in 2014 as COO and became CEO in May 2015, will be leaving, effective February 1. Federico González Tejera, who was most recently CEO of NH Hotel Group, will replace Berg. When the the companies announced the HNA deal in April, news reports noted Berg would lead the organization under the new ownership. In Wednesday's news release, Carlson cited no specific reason for Berg's abrupt, and perhaps surprising, departure. Carlson Hotels had no further comment regardin