The InTervIew : Frank Fiskers
Scandic Hotels stands alone in the Nordic countries as the unmatched industry leader – perhaps because the big differentiator in the region is that no hotels are given franchises and management contracts , which keeps the industry ’ s giants at bay . It ’ s almost solely leases there , and that gives Scandic and its two-time CEO Frank Fiskers a fantastic opportunity to control the region ’ s hotel supply . Add to that the company ’ s focus on efficiency because it must take full control over the entire value chain ( midmarket brands and operations ) and P & L statement . It adds up to opportunity .
Fiskers and his team are taking advantage of Scandic ’ s unique position and are now busier than ever integrating the company ’ s biggest acquisition of neighboring Rica hotels with 72 hotels across Norway and Sweden . Scandic is also in
Scandic cEO Frank FiSkErS LOvES HiS cOmpany cuLTurE . nOw HE iS cHargEd wiTH ExpOrTing THE brand TO THE wOrLd .
by JEFF wEinSTEin , EdiTOr in cHiEF
the midst of developing its new lifestyle brand , HTL , and is still acquisitive as in December it took operations of three hotels from Bergen Hotel Gruppen . Most recently in January , Scandic announced its plans in Stockholm to create the Scandic Haymarket in the historic Pub building .
“ There ’ s only thing we are good at , and that is mid-market , and that ’ s Scandic ,” Fiskers says . “ We have a 24 / 7 focus on only one thing . We are 14,000 team members totally focused on one thing . I cannot imagine that we would do something else . We have a very good business model and are true to the core . We do everything in a repeatable way . And so , I can ’ t imagine that would change .”
But , what might change are Scandic ’ s prospects as an IPO is imminent and growth outside the Nordics is next on the agenda . All you have to do is look to
Germany , where the leasehold model is very suitable . HOTELS spoke to Fiskers to better understand this uniquely niched brand in what is traditionally a very stable Nordic business environment . H : What is the bigger vision for Scandic ? FF : We now have US $ 2 billion of revenue , so we are a financially reasonably large hotel company , even though we only have 230 hotels . But since all the hotels are leased , the financial volume is quite significant . As a result , we have said that we will pursue a vision of becoming a world-class Nordic hotel company . Now that we have the size , the energy , the drive and the competencies we can now be an even stronger , better and larger hotel company , and we can be as good as the best in the business .
We have some exciting times ahead of us and should now make a push outside of the region . We don ’ t come with the general offer of any hotel company as we are a leased model hotel company . There are opportunities that we can pursue and there is a space in the market where we can pursue these opportunities . H : What do you want to accomplish most ? FF : I want to get Scandic into a shape and form where the owners will be able to make a good exit and that is really one of my top objectives , of course . The owners asked us last summer to become IPOready and now we are IPO-ready . We are just waiting for the owners to make the decision of when to press the button .
The second thing is to take Scandic to
www . hotelsmag . com March 2015 HOTELS 45