On Wednesday night, the time had come to put the spotlight on and award diplomas to Scandic's future senior leaders. For the sixth consecutive year, around 20 high-potential team members from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Germany were recognized for their efforts and achievements from CEO Frank Fiskers.
Scandic Hotels (STO:SHOT), the Nordic region's market leading hotel company, is streamlining its operations and has chosen to rebrand and integrate the Group's HTL hotels into Scandic's strong, well-known brand and other operations.
Last year nearly 13 million commercial guest nights were registered in the Stockholm county, an increase with 10 percent compared to previous year*. According to estimates from the Stockholm Business Region, another 5 000 nights are needed in 2020 only in the town of Stockholm. In line with this, Scandic Continental is now opening up 392 rooms and 25 conference rooms and the interest has been great. The hotel will welcome 400 guests on the first night of the opening, to be followed by a great congress week in Stockholm with full occupancy. "We need more hotels. Stockholm is a hotspot and attracts more and more visitors, business travelers as wells as leisure guests. We have seen an overwhelming interest in reservations and even though we felt we aimed high entering this project, we have exceeded our targets for the first year," says Peter Storckenfeldt, General Manager, Scandic Continental. Employees from over 30 countriesAt the time of opening, Scandic Continental will have close to 150 employees and among these over 30 nationalities are represented. Most were hired through the Scandic Continental recruiting day in November, when over a thousand applicants were speed interviewed in one day.The new Scandic Continental will be the third hotel with the same name. The very first hotel on the same spot opened already in 1878 under the name W6, and was later renamed to Continental by the year 1899. The second and previous Continental was built in 1963 in connection to the construction of the subway system."It's great to be the third generation Continental on this very spot. The hotel will not only be a meeting place for our hotel guests, but also for people in the business world, lunch guests, people buying their morning coffee on their way to work and anyone who would like to enjoy a nice cocktail and admire the Stockholm skyline in the rooftop bar Capital", continues Peter Storckenfeldt.
Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Region Europe is organizing a breakfast meeting and a CRME certification on 5th April as well as a Distribution & Marketing Strategy Conference on 10th November 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden.
As demonstrated through a survey of the delegates who attended the 6th annual HotCop Hotel Investment Conference held in Copenhagen earlier this year, there is a continued significant optimism about the region's growth and performance potential. However, the data and panel discussions revealed some important challenges – and a few possible solutions – for international firms hoping to expand their regional presence.
The most important digital influencers within the area of sustainability on Twitter have named Scandic as one of Sweden's 30 most sustainable brands according to the Sustainability Engagement Mapping 2015 study. The study was based on tweets published by the best-ranked influencers in social media during the last 12 months.
Scandic Hotels, the largest and leading hotel operator in the Nordic countries, is continuing to strengthen its popular customer offering by launching a collection of unique signature hotels. The hotels will be marketed under their own names with the extension "by Scandic." The first signature hotel will be "Grand Central by Scandic" in Stockholm.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)—the voice of the global business travel industry— has announced Ms Gehan Colliander, as its newly appointed President of GBTA Europe. Ms Colliander will act as the lead buyer in the organization tasked with leading the Advisory Board, which is a pivotal force in establishing the direction of GBTA in Europe.
Pandox Operations has entered into an agreement with Nordic Choice Hotels to take over operations at Quality Hotel Prince Philip in Skärholmen, Stockholm, a hotel property already owned by Pandox.
Who needs a third runway at Heathrow when planes can take off and land in city centres? This is the thinking of architecture graduate Alex Sutton who has designed an airport to exist above the streets and canals of Stockholm. The 25 year-old from London’s Bartlett School of Architecture says the proposal would aim to both alleviate the pressure on airport capacity but also challenge how “mundane and ordinary” the aviation industry has become.
2014 was characterized by strong growth in revenue mainly as a result of the acquisition of the Nordic hotel chain, Rica Hotels, which added 10,600 hotel rooms and 71 hotels. At the same time, the good organic growth of 10.0% in the hotel portfolio confirms that the Group's investments in its portfolio and customer offering yielded the desired results. During the year, the Group gained market share in all of the Nordic countries. This strong growth occurred at the same time as the Group's adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 9.4%.
Stockholm is the economic, cultural and administrative capital of Sweden. Built on 14 islands around one of Europe's best preserved medieval city centre, the capital is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe and has become a hotspot for tourism in Northern Europe over the past years. According to the 10th edition of the European Cities Marketing Benchmark Report 2013-2014, Stockholm ranks number thirteen on the list of the most attractive destinations in Europe, just after Amsterdam and before Dublin and Milan. Our Stockholm Market Snapshot will give you a comprehensive insight of the city's hotel market today and in the near future.
In the spring of 2017, Scandic will open a completely new type of hotel in Stockholm – a city resort. The hotel will be a playful and beautiful oasis in the middle of the vibrant concrete jungle of the city. The design of the hotel, which involves a comprehensive renovation of the existing hotel property Sergel Plaza, is a long-term collaboration between the leading hotel operator in the Nordic region, Scandic Hotels, and the property owner, Stena Fastigheter.
The Rezidor Hotel Group has announced Tom Flanagan as Area Vice President Nordics. He succeeds Thomas Engelhart who has resigned from his position. Tom Flanagan takes over responsibility for Rezidor’s portfolio of more than 60 hotels with 15,000 rooms in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland; effective 1st March 2015. Flanagan has been with Rezidor since 1999, most recently as Area Vice President Eastern Europe & Russia. In his new position he will be based in Rezidor’s Area Support Office in Stockholm and continue to report to Olivier Harnisch, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer.
Scandic and AxFast are creating one of Stockholm's most exciting grand hotels in the historic PUB building and fortifying Stockholm's position on the international hotel map. The new hotel will be a vibrant meeting place for both Stockholmers and visitors alike.
Best Western International announced today that the Hotel Mäster Johan in Malmö, Sweden is the first independent hotel to join the BW Premier Collection, Best Western's new soft brand. Launched in October, the BW Premier Collection continues Best Western's rich history of providing guests with unique and local hotel experiences around the world.
Scandic is the leading hotel operator in the Nordic countries today. Just over 10 years ago Scandic started its journey towards making its hotels more accessible for people with disabilities. On top of this a wide-ranging interactive training programme has been developed for all the hotel chain's employees with the aim of fostering an understanding of different types of accessibility challenges and the importance of treating all guests properly. This approach has seen Scandic giving itself a unique position unmatched in Sweden or abroad.
On Thursday 16 October, Scandic and acclaimed chef Jamie Oliver will be opening the Nordic region's first Jamie's Italian at Scandic Anglais in Stockholm. With its 195 seats and large bar, the restaurant will be serving up great value, simple, rustic Italian food using local and organic produce combined with fresh pasta made on the premises daily. Most of the main courses will cost no more than 200 kr.
AMF Fastigheter, leading Swedish property investor and developer, has today unveiled the biggest hotel contract in the history of Stockholm with Petter Stordalen – owner of Nordic Choice Hotels. The contract comprises two hotels with two disparate concepts, business and boutique.
Marc Henriksen (ESSEC IMHI 2001) has been appointed Partner at Midstar. Midstar is a hotel real estate investment and asset management company with international perspective focused on the Nordic region. Prior to that Marc worked 4 years as Investment Manager for Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and 9 years in various roles with acquisitions and development for IHG and Starwood.