Hilton and Scandic join forces in the Nordics – first hotel to be built at Copenhagen Airport

Scandiweekends redaktion · 23 October 2026

On October 19, Hilton and Scandic Hotels Group announced a strategic agreement to expand Hilton's brands in the Nordics. The first concrete project is a Hilton Hotels & Resorts with 284 rooms at Scanport, adjacent to Copenhagen Airport, scheduled to open in 2029. The hotel will feature a restaurant, bar, meeting spaces, wellness, and a lounge overlooking the Øresund. Scandic will operate the hotel under a franchise agreement with Hilton.

The agreement applies to individual new establishments and not a conversion of Scandic's existing hotels. In addition to Copenhagen, only a phased renovation of Hilton Helsinki Airport has been mentioned, and no further hotels are named. It is thus a framework rather than a completed pipeline. However, the collaboration is not new: Scandic already operates three Hilton hotels in Helsinki, and the companies have cooperated for over twenty years.

Why now?

According to industry media Skift, international chains have struggled to achieve scale in the Nordics. Independent hotels account for around 65 percent of the establishments, and franchising is still uncommon – in Sweden, where it is most prevalent, it corresponds to one-third of the rooms. By allowing a local player to take the operational risk, Hilton can grow without having to own or operate the hotels themselves.

The market they are entering is strong. According to the agreement's own figures, Sweden had over 70 million guest nights in 2025, Denmark around 68 million, Norway over 40 million, and Finland over 23 million. Skift also reports that Copenhagen had an occupancy rate of 88.2 percent in June and that Stockholm's RevPAR increased by 12 percent between May and August.

What happens next?

Hilton Honors and Scandic Friends will receive new benefits, but the details are not public. Construction at Scanport will start once the remaining conditions are met, and whether more projects follow depends, according to Skift, on each deal meeting the return requirements of both companies.

Hilton Hotel, Slussen, Stockholm. Foto: Hilton Hotel

The information is based on Hospitality Net (press release, October 20, 2026), Skift (October 21, 2026), and Rus Tourism News (October 21, 2026).