Abstract
This study’s objective was to understand how chief executive officers’ (CEOs) gender affects hotel businesses’ survival. Female managers’ influence has already been examined in other sectors, but researchers have not studied women CEOs’ role in hotel management and survival. A sample of 2615 Spanish hotel companies was examined during the period 2005–2018 for how their survival was affected by the variables of financial aspects, years of experience and the principal hotel executive’s gender. An econometrics-based survival analysis was conducted using a single complementary log-log model and panel data. The results indicate that some financial variables, such as sales, working capital to total assets ratio and each company’s experience, influence hotel businesses’ survival. The main finding was that women CEOs increase hotels’ survival rate. This CEO gender study is a novelty in the literature on hotel survival.
Highlights
Research on company survival has a long tradition, but hotel survival studies are scarcer
The question addressed was whether differences exist in the survival of female-led hotel businesses versus those headed by males
The present study focused on determining female chief executive officers’ (CEOs)’ effect on hotel business survival in Spain, as this country’s tourism revenues are the second highest worldwide—only surpassed by the United States
Summary
Research on company survival has a long tradition, but hotel survival studies are scarcer. The present research sought to fill this research gap to expand the existing knowledge on hotel survival. The question addressed was whether differences exist in the survival of female-led hotel businesses versus those headed by males. More studies are needed to deepen the current understanding of hotel companies’ survival because managers need help to overcome the current crisis in tourism triggered by COVID-19. Before this coronavirus appeared, various authors summed up the hospitality industry’s opportunities and challenges. The challenges mentioned were a better understanding of customers through big data analyses and co-creation of tourists’ experiences. The overall results indicated that hotels should use technology including smart hotels, mobile applications and virtual environments, among others [2]
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