Strategic Planning Practices in the Greek Hospitality Industry: Empirical Findings from the Greek 5-Star Hotels

Abstract

Purpose: This paper investigates the nature and extent of use of strategic planning in the Greek hospitality industry and outcomes of planning based on Greek managers’ views.Design/Methodology/Approach: Although the concept of strategic planning and its dimensions have been widely discussed in previous literature, the research has mainly focused on well developed countries and economies. Previous studies have significantly contributed to a better understanding of strategic planning. However, there is a limited research in less developed countries like Greece and under-researched industrial sectors like the hospitality industry. This paper tries to give some insight into the nature and extent of use of strategic planning processes and its positive outcomes in the Greek hospitality industry through a study based on a sample of 21 Greek five-star hotels.Findings: The main findings of the paper concern with some major strategic planning dimensions: planning formality, functional coverage, internal and external orientation, centralization and time horizon of planning. Additionally, the study highlights the positive outcomes/benefits of planning according to managers’ views, as well as the financial performance of the Greek five-star hotels that are examined. Descriptive results are presented and the respondents’ individual characteristics are outlined. Finally, the study provides a benchmark for the measurement of strategic planning in the Greek hospitality industry.