Scandic Hotels is heading to Köping. The Nordic region’s largest hotel group has confirmed it will add a franchised property in the Swedish industrial city in early 2027, operated by longtime partner Norlandia Hotel Group. The 110-room hotel is currently being fully renovated and will carry the Scandic brand once it opens.
For those unfamiliar with Köping, it sits roughly 90 minutes west of Stockholm. The city hosts Sweden’s second-largest inland port and a substantial manufacturing base, making it the kind of place where business travel moves along quietly but reliably. That’s exactly the profile Scandic is targeting with its franchise expansion.
Franchise as a Growth Engine
Scandic’s owned-and-leased model works well in major Nordic cities. But smaller regional markets are a different story. Franchising solves that. It lets Scandic put its brand, loyalty program, and corporate contracts to work in places where it otherwise wouldn’t show up.
CEO Jens Mathiesen has been straightforward about the logic: “Scandic’s franchise model enables us to grow in smaller cities across the Nordics where we currently have no presence.”
Köping fits that brief neatly. And the Norlandia relationship adds another layer of interest. This isn’t a new partnership, as Norlandia already runs other Scandic-branded hotels. Adding Köping deepens that relationship, which is the kind of franchise dynamic operators actually want: partners who expand rather than exit.
What the Hotel Brings
The property will have 110 rooms, a restaurant, and meeting space for up to 150 people. Its location near both Köping’s city center and the Kristinelund Sportsfield gives it an appeal for all types of guests.
It will also carry the Nordic Swan Ecolabel upon opening—one of the toughest environmental certifications in the industry. That matters commercially. Sustainability credentials increasingly influence where corporate travel managers book, and Scandic has built its reputation partly on being ahead of that curve.
For Norlandia CEO Morten A. Kahrs, the move reflects confidence in a tested working relationship: “We have worked with Scandic for many years across several of our other hotels.”
This new hotel project is a clear signal of where Scandic sees growth coming from. With around 320 hotels already operating across the Nordics, the obvious big-city locations are largely taken. Regional franchising is now the cleaner path forward, and Köping is one more step along it.
