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This study aims to examine the role of experiential familiarity in determining the competitiveness of hotel chains. It does so by comparing the attribute-performance perceptions of guests who had and had not previously stayed at a property belonging to a specific hotel chain. It also examines how far such perceptions shape word-of-mouth and future purchase intentions.

Data were collected from 1,016 Finnish leisure tourists in 2021 using an online questionnaire, providing a representative sample of Finnish domestic leisure tourists.

The results indicate that the competitiveness of different hotel chains depends on a small number of key attributes. Differentiation between hotel chains can be seen from the results. Previous guests rate hotel chain attributes more highly than non-previous guests. Behavioral intentions do not differ between previous and non-previous guests, but how many times a person has stayed in the hotel chain significantly influences behavioral intentions. The results provide strategic levers that hotel chains can use to enhance their competitiveness.

Hotels should invest in attributes that have the biggest positive impact on customer behavior. These will be different for different hotel chains. By understanding these differences, it is possible to communicate relevant attributes to customers through marketing and develop hotel features that will drive revisit intention and word-of-mouth marketing.

This study found that while certain hotel attributes had a significant shaping effect on guests’ performance ratings, there were no decisive differences between those with or without experiential familiarity with the hotel chain.

This study aims to investigate the recent changes in the strategies of international hotel chains in the Russian market, as well as their role in the sustainable development of small and medium towns as prospective local tourism destinations.

General observation of the local environment, statistical analysis and a qualitative approach were used to reveal current developments in international hotel chains’ strategy in Russia, and new opportunities for a number of small towns to be embedded in the development of the Russian tourism market. The current scenarios were examined using the available secondary data, including federal statistics and relevant empirical studies, as well as case studies and personal interviews with industry experts that allowed access to respondents’ opinions and market knowledge.

In recent years, investment in the Russian regions has become more attractive for international hotel chains. Findings of the study add to the literature on emerging markets by presenting an overview of the main challenges facing international hotel chains in the Russian market and by stressing the facilitating effect of foreign hotel chains’ upon tourism infrastructure development in small and medium towns in Russian regions. The statistics presented, as well as key opinions of hoteliers and local authorities, contribute to an understanding of the strategies used by international hotel operators in emerging economies with reference to new evidence from Russia.

The main output of this study is that it yields a better understanding of the strategic movement of international hotel chains into the Russian regions and new opportunities to develop tourism infrastructure in small and medium cities situated in Russian regions as prospective tourism destinations.

This chapter explores the strategic motives behind the decision of hotels to internationalize. It approaches the subject from the perspective of the soft-service sector and aims to develop an understanding of this phenomenon. The literature covers several different factors that stimulate the decision to expand operations abroad. The process requires a trigger that will initiate the process and control the assignment until completion. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with international hotel chains to develop an understanding of the process. The findings reveal factors that can be distinguished between proactive and reactive and also be categorized under the four major motives behind internationalization: seeking natural resources, markets, efficiency and strategic assets or capabilities. The international strategy of hotel chains provides a roadmap for expansion and often acts as a trigger. The findings also reveal the significant role of vice presidents (VPs) of international development, development directors, agents and networks in initiating the process of internationalization and stimulating the chains towards specific parts of the world. One of the main differences between manufacturing and soft services is the wide variety of entry modes that are at the disposal of services. The findings are consistent with the literature published and provide an insight into the initial steps towards internationalization by hotel chains, in the post-COVID era.

Research question: What are the strategic motives behind the decision of hotels to internationalize?

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the future of hotel chains by exploring the evolving expectations of guests, potential innovations, emerging opportunities, and likely future scenarios.

A literature review consisting of current events, industry reports, and recent trends is utilized to summarize and categorize the challenges and opportunities facing hotel chains.

The future of hotel chains will be driven by the convergence of an increasingly competitive landscape, along with a diverse evolving customer base seeking out unique and individualized experiences. In order to survive in the future hotel chains will have to: listen to and learn from guests incorporating big data insights, go beyond segments to provide personalized services, continuously develop the brand through signature experiences, utilize collaboration and open innovation to maintain an edge in technology and service, and through total revenue management generate ancillary revenues and maximize guest spend.

This paper provides a comprehensive set of recommendations to hotel chains highlighting opportunities related to: financing, revenue generation, personalization, and co-creation.

This paper aims to analyse customer experience in a hotel and its impact on customer attitudes to both the individual hotel and the hotel chain. Specifically, the study focuses on the effects of service perceptions on emotions, satisfaction, attitude to hotel chain, intention to return, scepticism towards negative information and Word of Mouth (WOM).

An empirical study was carried out on a sample of 300 individuals. Data were analysed through structural equation modelling.

Service perceptions and emotions elicited by an individual hotel influence the customer response towards the hotel chain. Among all the outcomes considered, the strongest effects are found on WOM.

This paper develops and empirically tests an original model that integrates the customer experience in an individual hotel and the customer response to the hotel chain. This model includes variables that have recently been considered in the literature, such as scepticism towards negative information, in combination with more traditional outcomes such as intention to return or WOM.

This paper aims to analyze the antecedents of two variables concerning the presence of quality certifications in hotel chains: the (ex ante) decision to become a member of the quality system and the (ex post) trend to increase or decrease the number of certified properties. Six hypotheses are posed and tested.

The empirical investigation is carried out on the Spanish Q for Quality in Tourism using a database including 295 hotel chains and 2,727 hotels.

The results evidence the presence of differences in the behavior of hotel chains relative to certification depending on their size, market segment, customer origin and the geographical concentration of their establishments.

This research deepens in how the hotel chain characteristics affect the effectiveness of a quality certification. The consideration of two stages in investment decisions allows the authors to identify differences in the ex ante and ex post decision processes. As a result, one factor (geographical concentration) has been detected as being underrated by managers in the first stage.

Este artículo analiza los antecedentes de dos variables relacionadas con las certificaciones de calidad en cadenas hoteleras: La (ex-ante) decisión de formar parte de un sistema de calidad, y la (ex-post) tendencia a incrementar o reducir el número de establecimientos certificados. Seis hipótesis han sido propuestas y contrastadas.

La investigación empírica ha sido desarrollada en el marco de la marca Q de calidad para el turismo en España usando una base de datos que incluye 295 cadenas hoteleras y 2,727 hoteles.

Los resultados ponen de manifiesto la presencia de diferencias en el comportamiento de las cadenas hoteleras en materia de certificación dependiendo de su tamaño, segmento de mercado atendido, origen de la clientela y del grado de concentración geográfica de sus establecimientos.

El artículo profundiza en cómo las carfacterísticas de la cadena hotelera afectan a la eficacia de la certificación de calidad. Tener en consideración la existencia de dos etapas en las decisones de inversión nos permite identificar diferencias entre los procesos de decisión ex-ante y ex-post. Como resultado, hemos observado que un factor (la concentración geográfica) está siendo infravalorado por parte de os directivos en sus decisiones en la primera etapa.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an initial assessment of corporate Facebook use by Spanish hotel chains. Two aspects are considered: communication activity and stakeholder engagement through this social media platform.

Based on a content analysis, data on 109 Spanish hotel chains are collected to describe current practices and identify significant relationships among different variables.

The main findings include that their Facebook presence, audiences and levels of activity are positively related to hotel size, while stakeholder engagement is higher in small hotel chains and seems to be influenced by content and media types.

This research contributes to previous research by providing an assessment of corporate Facebook in the hospitality industry (Spanish hotel chains). The paper considers two aspects: communication activity and stakeholder engagement through this social media platform.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the nature and adequacy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting among Zimbabwe's hotel groups.

Content analysis was used to examine websites, annual reports and mission statements of Zimbabwe's hotel groups.

Zimbabwe's hotel groups gave primacy to financial performance rather than social and environmental themes in their CSR reporting. In comparative terms, the hotel groups lag behind some of their developed world's counterparts in CSR reporting.

Future studies may examine the actual CSR practices adopted by Zimbabwe's tourism and hospitality sector. Research efforts should also be directed towards producing a framework to guide the effective design of CSR dedicated pages on corporate websites.

The research findings suggest that CSR initiatives and reporting are still a peripheral issue among Zimbabwe's hotel groups. A need for legal compulsion and third party verification to enhance the hotel groups' CSR reporting was identified. Further, the crafting of CSR policies and their institutionalization are complementary moves that should be adopted by the hotel groups.

This is perhaps one of the first papers exploring CSR reporting in the Zimbabwean hospitality context in particular, and the developing world in general. It is hoped that this paper stimulates further research involving the CSR practices and reporting of the entire tourism and hospitality supply chain in the developing world context.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that play a decisive role in determining growth strategies implemented by the hotel chains of the Balearic Islands in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

In line with most research on the choice of entry mode, the dependent variable is a categorical one. Given the nature of the dependent variable, logistic regression (or logit) models were used to verify the hypotheses. Since there were more than two categories involved, a multinomial logit model was applied.

The main findings show that the choice of foreign market entry mode cannot rely solely on host‐specific factors. Moreover, this study facilitates a comparison of the results of this paper and the results of other similar studies of the international hotel industry.

This paper offers several contributions. First, it is a new contribution to the understanding of the factors that determine the behavior of hotel chains in their international expansion. Although this study has been done in other sectors (industrial), it is a novelty in the field of hospitality and, more specifically, in the hotel chains. In addition, new specific, strategic and control factors have been incorporated to help improve the explanation of the study object. Finally, the paper focuses on an important international market, such as the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Offers a study of the current use of the Internet, as a marketing tool, by the hotel industry. Such a study is timely given that the growth rate of the World Wide Web (WWW or the “Web”) is estimated at about 50 per cent per month, with the number of sites doubling every 53 days. Seeks to present an argument for the application of the relationship marketing (RM) model as a framework for the development of hotel Web sites. The authors believe that a successful Web presence depends upon more than just the technology used and the “look and feel” of the site. Hotels need a framework which can bridge the gap between simply connecting to the Web and harnessing its power for competitive advantage.