Hospitality and travel company, Carlson, named Trudy Rautio as its new president and CEO on Sunday.

According to Carlson, Rautio becomes the second female president and chief executive of the 74-year-old family-run business.
Carlson, a private corporation based in Minneapolis, Minn., deals with hotels, restaurant and travel industries. It's associated with brands such as Radisson hotels, T.G.I. Friday's restaurants and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Carlson business are spread globally with more than 1,300 hotels and 900 restaurants. 

Rautio replaces previous company president Hubert Joly, who held the position for four years. Joly is slated to become Best Buy's CEO.

"I am honoured to accept the leadership role of this dynamic company. I am appreciative of the support given to me by the board of directors and the members of the Carlson family and am excited about the future opportunities," Rautio said in a press release by Carlson.

According to Carlson, Rautio has been senior executive at their company for 15 years and for the past eight years, she's served as executive vice president, chief financial and administrative officer.

"Trudy is highly respected. She's probably the most effective go-to person in the company," Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chair of the board to told The Associated Press.

Describing Rautio as the right person to lead the company successfully, she referred to Carlson's "Ambition 2015", a five-year plan for the growth of the company.

"She has the understanding of our business models and our competitors that will allow her to lead our team in developing the subsequent five-year plan," Nelson said.