Types of actors

There are three main types of actors in the hotel market, and these can be divided into: hotel property companies, hotel operators and hotel distributors. Hotel property companies own and manage the hotel properties, the hotel operators operate the hotels, and the hotel distributors conduct sales and marketing and manage the booking function for the hotels that are part of the chain.

In several cases, actors take care of one or more of these hotel operation matters, but in Scandinavia there has been a development towards the roles being shared by the hotel property company on the one hand and the various hotel operators and hotel distribution chains on the other hand.

There are different variants of these, and examples of this may include:
 Hotel property company – Norgani Hotels and Pandox.
 Hotel operator – Solstrand Fjordhotell and Berns Hotel.
 Hotel distributor – Sverige Hotels and Best Western.
 Hotel operator and hotel distributor – Scandic, Choice and Rezidor.
 Hotel property company, hotel operator and hotel distributor – Thon Hotels and Arp Hansen.

There are many chains that operate in the Nordic hotel market, and there are many different brands/trademarks in this market, but there are no chains that have almost full coverage. Scandic and Choice are among those with the best coverage in Scandinavia, but both chains still have uncovered areas. As regards Scandic, this is the case particularly in Norway. As regards Choice, this applies in Finland. Rezidor has a very strong position in the largest towns/cities in the entire North.