The internationalization of the hotel industry in Madeira, Algarve and the Balearic Islands regions

Due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war and martial law in Ukraine, it is advisable to expand the scope of study of problematic issues related to the management of hotel chains under martial law in Ukraine by examining the current state of the industry and the experience of hospitality industry enterprises gained during this time, which has led to the relevance of the chosen topic for this scientific article. The article is aimed at analyzing the mechanism of functioning of international and national hotel chains in Ukraine and the peculiarities of management of hotel chains under martial law. The object of research is the management system of hotel chains under martial law in Ukraine. The subject of the study is a set of theoretical and methodological foundations for determining the essence and features of the hotel chain management system under martial law in Ukraine. The scientific novelty of the study is to summarize the arguments regarding the organisation and functioning of hotel chains in the current business environment and to systematize the scientific theoretical, methodological and applied foundations for determining and taking into account the peculiarities of hotel chain management during martial law in Ukraine. In order to reveal the subject of scientific research, the article uses such methods as observation and comparison (characteristic features and forms of functioning of hotel chains in the hospitality industry are determined), analysis and synthesis (the essential indicators of success in Ukraine and the world of certain hotel chains, management methods in crisis conditions are clarified), methods of statistics (recording the dynamics of development of hotel chains), methods of visualisation (graphical and tabular forms), classification (in terms of types, forms and factors of influence on the functioning of hotel chains), visualisation methods (graphical and tabular forms). The article summarises the arguments regarding the importance of state regulation in the hotel business and international and national requirements for the provision of hotel services under conditions of risk. The scientific theoretical, methodological, analytical and applied principles of the hotel business in the system of the legal field for compliance with the standards of functioning of international and national hotel chains under martial law are systematised. The results of the study can be useful for employees of the tourism and hospitality industry; researchers, teachers, students of higher education institutions, who study, in particular, the specialities "Tourism" and "Hotel and restaurant business". Keywords: martial law, hotel industry, hotel chains, hotel services, hospitality industry, hotel management, hospitality market, Ukraine, hotel management.

How do domestic and international high-end hotel brands receive and manage customer feedback?

Purpose of the study The aims of the study were to analyze the sustainable practices adopted by international chain hotel brands in Muscat; to analyze and find out the extent of the sustainable practices affecting guest satisfaction in international chain hotels in Muscat and to determine the barriers and challenges faced by international hotel chain brands in Muscat. Design/Methodology/Approach Forty questionnaires were distributed to two chain hotels’ employees in different job positions. In-depth interviews were also used to gather qualitative information from human resources departments and corporate social responsibility specialists to discuss the current trends in sustainable practices in international chain hotel brands in Muscat. The collected data was then analyzed using SPSS and Qualitative tools. Findings The study reveals that the hotels’ sustainability initiatives had an effective impact on cost savings and helps to reduce waste, and resource wastage. It was also found that guests are willing to pay more at the hotel to support their green initiatives and the guests were satisfied with the innovation towards the sustainability initiatives undertaken and felt their stay a memorable one. Research Implications It was observed that there is a strong relationship between sustainable green practices and guest satisfaction and so maintain the sustainable practices to raise up to the guest expectations. Some of the guests were not aware of the sustainable practices and the employees and the creation of awareness is a must. Practical Implications Awareness within the staff and the community can be raised only through proper education and training. Originality The study confines to international chain hotels located in Muscat, the capital of Sultanate of Oman. The study excludes the economic and social aspects of sustainability as the entire focus was on the environmental aspects of sustainable practices only.

Goal and objectives of the dissertationGoalThe dissertation aims at revealing the opportunities for the long term development of independent hotels by affiliating to international or domestic hotel chains.Objectives1. To critically evaluate the academic literature on hotel chains and identify their specific characteristics and functions.2. To develop a holistic and comprehensive conceptual model of hotel chains as economic and social organisations.3. To elaborate the process of affiliation of an independent hotel to a hotel chain, from the viewpoints of the hotel and the chain.4. To analyse the place and the role of hotel chains for the development of Bulgarian hotel industry.5. To outline practical recommendations to Bulgarian independent hotels regarding their future relationships with hotel chains and the opportunities hotels can derive from chains for their long term strategic development.MethodologyThe research targeted 6 respondent groups: 1) international hotel chains with hotels in Bulgaria; 2) international hotel chains without presence in Bulgaria; 3) Bulgarian hotel chains; 4) Bulgarian hotels, belonging to international chains; 5) Bulgarian hotels, which once belonged to a chain; 6) independent hotels. Hotels that belonged to domestic chains were not contacted, because they were fully or partially owned by the domestic chain, which means that the decision to join a chain was not based on market principles but on ownership relationships. Data collection took place in the period June-November 2012. The response rate was about 75% for the domestic chains and the current chain members, and between 2.40-5.31% for the rest of the respondent groups. The final dataset included the responses of 5 foreign chains present in Bulgaria, 5 foreign chains not present, 9 domestic chains, 36 hotel affiliated to foreign chains in the country, 7 hotels former foreign chain members and 103 independent hotels. Secondary data were also collected from the websites of the hotel chains and their affiliated properties. Differences between the opinions of hotels and hotel chains were identified via t-test. Data were further analysed with descriptive statistics and ANOVA.ResultsResearch results show interesting and valuable information, regarding Bulgarian hotel industry and its future development. Bulgaria is highly assessed by foreign hotel chains as a destination, with developed tourism industry and stable political and economic environment. International hotel chains find a great potential for market penetration in the country, but, in contrast to previous research, they consider comparatively limited number of internationalisation factors. Instead, they approach individually to each destination and partner.In the same time, Bulgarian hotel chains are not ready for international expansion, and plan to expand only domestically. Their main concerns are connected mostly with legal and financial conditions when choosing among entry modes. On the contrary, international hotel chains report marketing risk and available reliable partners as essential when choosing an entry mode. The most popular entry mode among international hotel chains is reported to be management contract.Results show that Bulgarian independent hotels do not have enough information about hotel chains, because of their scattered answers. Also, they tend to continuously overestimate the advantages chains offer. Centralised marketing system and brand recognition are perceived as the biggest advantages of chain affiliation, while chain hotels rely more on their own managerial capabilities, as well as immediate benefits from their affiliation, like consultancy and competences.Bulgarian independent hotels prefer to keep operational control, therefore they would choose full ownership and franchising, instead of managerial contract or other contractual form. They point out financial risk as main reason when choosing type of affiliation, but also term of the contract (over 75% of the hotels say it is very important for them). …

Background: The hotel industry is a relatively new and rapidly growing industry in Poland. The last three decades resulted in a significant expansion of the local hotel market, as well as of operations of international hotel chains. Thus, competition among actors in the industry, along with the companies’ need to differentiate their offerings from those of competitors, has risen. Branding strategies are increasingly used by companies for achieving better positioning on the market, as well as for gaining a competitive advantage and customers’ loyalty. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is analyse of Polish hotel industry and identify instruments and ways to compete international hotel groups in the Polish market. This research attempts to identify the essential aspects of competitiveness in the hotel industry. Methodology: This thesis relies on a qualitative research, with a main focus on discovery, and aim to expand current knowledge in the field of hospitality management the Polish hotel industry. The study consists of an in-depth case study of one international hotel group operating in Poland. The empirical data was gathered from phone from secondary data such as annual reports and official websites. Conclusion: The number of hotels in Poland grows rapidly every year. The key drivers for the development of hotel business in Poland are: economic growth, rising popularity of Poland as a holiday destination, development of medical tourism in Poland, dynamic growth of BPO/SSC sector, rising popularity of domestic trip, growth of expenditures of Polish residents for trips. The sector has benefited from the process of globalization and from the constantly falling relative costs of travel. Only 13% of the categorized hotels in Poland are chain hotels compared to the average level of 30% in Europe. In Polish hotel market is 13, 7% of chains hotels and 86, 3% are not chains. International brands’ share of Poland’s hotel market remains low, 11,04%, with domestic hotel operators accounting for 8,2%. Number one in Poland chains groups is international chains group - AccorHotels with 71 hotels and 12,085 rooms. Number one chains brand is Ibis with 31 hotels and 4,195 rooms. The AccorHotels group’s brands present in over 95 countries throughout the world, with over 4 200 hotels and 600 000 rooms. The AccorHotels group is developing most intensively in the European hotel market, which leads in the rankings of international groups and hotel chains. In Poland, it remains the leader, taking first place among hotel chains. The AccorHotels Corporation has expanded into the Polish market through a strategic partnership with the Polish Orbis Hotel Group, from which it acquired 51.55% of the shares. Contributions: This thesis positively contributes to the academic community, as it expands the theoretical knowledge about the Polish hotels industry, with a main focus on the branding- and marketing activities of international hotel chains. The findings provide a practical insight on how companies are positioned in the market in relation to their competitors. Moreover, with an extensive choice of accommodation available in the market, the comparison of hotels is beneficial in helping customers choosing the best alternative according to their need

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to understand how hotel managers perceive the benefits that may accrue to employees and hotels through their engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.Design/methodology/approach– In-depth interviews with 23 hotel managers, representing various functional responsibilities, were undertaken across four provinces in Thailand. The sample included local and international chain hotels.Findings– Hotel managers from all functional areas and levels acknowledged that CSR substantially enhanced the employer–employee relationship. Five themes depicting the beneficial effects were identified: a relationship unifying process, having fun, feeling pride, developing skills and building teamwork. These themes reflect three core factors of emotional responses, social capital and task-related skills.Practical implications– The paper illustrates that CSR activities can be customised to elicit specific effects that will engender beneficial outcomes for both hotel management and employees.Originality/value– This paper provides new insights into how hotel managers perceive the employer-employee relationship is enhanced through CSR engagement. In addition, the paper presents a practical model that will be of interest to both academics and practitioners.

Despite the importance of employee training in the hospitality and tourism sector, there has been little research exploring the training of middle managers in hotels. The present research paper aims to explore this under-investigated topic in order to shed light on training practices in international hotel chains (IHCs) in Jordan, as well as company and management attitudes towards out-of-country training (OCT). This article focuses on a qualitative study in which guided focus group discussion was used to identify the determinants of upper management’s decisions to invest in OCT for middle managers in Jordan’s IHCs. The three groups each included six department heads from 18 IHCs. The interview data revealed five key themes affecting management’s decision-making: management and company attitudes; barriers; selection criteria; nature of training; and benefits and usefulness of out-of-country training to managers and hotels. Focus groups results revealed middle managers’ overwhelming support for out-of-country training along with some of the perceived barriers, including lack of company and upper management support. This is the first study of its kind investigating middle managers’ attitudes toward out-of-country training. As such, it offers insight into this little-investigated demographic, which serves a key organisational role as intermediaries between hotel management and front-line staff. The paper offers useful data and analysis to researchers and/or practitioners of hotel management, with practical implications for improving human resource management in hotels.

The hotel industry has felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The social restriction policy implemented by the government to prevent the transmission of the virus has made mobility levels decline, and hotel occupancy rates have drastically decreased. This pandemic has created severe crisis management. This research was conducted at two five-star hotels in Yogyakarta to determine how public relations practices deal with crisis management. One hotel is a local brand, and the other is included in an international hotel chain. The novelty of this research is in the nature of the crisis, which does not have a pre-crisis stage. The research was conducted with qualitative research methods and using a subjective approach. The data was dug in depth from hotel management, employees, and customers. When the research was conducted, the crisis had not yet ended, so the researcher focused on efforts to overcome the crisis and had not yet arrived at the post-crisis condition. The results showed that there was a shock from the management over the impact of the pandemic. Therefore, these two hotels need time to overcome the crisis in different timescales. Further, the leadership began to take the necessary strategic steps: forming a crisis management team, working with professional consultants (for international chain hotels), preparing crisis management plans, identifying laws or government regulations regarding Covid-19, and taking action. At the same time, marketing and public relations are spearheading in improving marketing and maintaining the brand during times of crisis. However, the hotel is still faced with the aspect of occupancy amid low supply. Meanwhile, public relations maintain a brand image as a form of investment that can be reaped when the crisis is over.

Increasingly technology based solutions are being used to deliver customer service within the international hotel sector. Frequently, these are being driven by cost and operational efficiency concerns, rather than customer service concerns. The argument is presented in this paper that the undifferentiated use of these solutions across international hotel chains without consideration of the diversity of national cultures that may utilize these services may impact negatively on customer service and organizational performance. A number of propositions are suggested both for further academic research and as factors for consideration by hotel managers in this sector.

Having a qualified and trained workforce is an imperative for operating in the hotel management and tourism industry. Companies should show they care about their employees by giving them opportunities for promotion and development. The aim of this paper is to compare the staff training and development programs in the national hotels in Serbia with programs in international hotel chains. In order to achieve a predefined goal, we used the method of comparative analysis. Data for analysis were collected by researching the existing literature, the official hotel websites and interviewing managers in national hotels in Serbia. The results indicate that the staff training and development programs are more advanced in the international hotel chains. Management in the national hotels in Serbia is determined to follow different staff training and development programs. However, they should invest more in establishing more programs, especially those aimed at their staff's development which they can copy from the international hotel chains. The results of this research can be useful to hotel managers in the creation process of their own innovative staff training and development programs.

This study delves into the complexities of bolstering job satisfaction to achieve superior performance in the hospitality sector, with a focus on chain hotels in Georgia. Acknowledging job satisfaction's critical role in determining the quality of service and overall customer satisfaction, this case study examines the unique challenges presented by the operational dynamics, cultural context, and workforce diversity within Georgian chain hotels. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study combines quantitative data gathered from surveys of employees across several leading chain hotels in Georgia with qualitative insights from in-depth interviews with hotel managers and staff. Surveys were administered to 217 staff members working in international chain hotels. Statistical analysis was conducted using the SPSS software package. Variables were described using frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, and standard deviation statistics, while T-tests were performed.

The article is an overview, the purpose of which is to assess the level of development of national and international hotel chains in Ukraine. The advantages and disadvantages of creating hotel chains were defined. As international practice shows, the integration of tourist businesses into hotel chains leads to a reduction in total costs, allowing subjects to increase their competitiveness and move intensively on international markets. This led to the conclusion about the relevance of following international experience in the process of creating national hotel chains by combining entities into a single corporation. As a result of studying the market, a rating of hotel brands was compiled, where a comparison between national and international hotel brands in terms of the number of accommodation facilities represented on the tourist market was made. It was revealed that in the Ukrainian hotel business market the most widely represented are such national chains as Reikartz (22 hotels), Premier Hotels (12 hotels), Royal Hotels (11 hotels). But international hotel chains are rare - Radisson Blu (3 hotels), Hotel IBIS (3 hotels), Ramada (2 hotels). A comparative analysis made it possible to determine that the national hotel chains are more widespread due to obvious advantages (adaptation to the local market, awareness in the country's legislative base, a better understanding of local traditions, consumer characteristics, adaptation and quick response to market changes - is the cultural component of the business). A comparative analysis of the pricing policy of the subjects of the international hotel chain and national brands showed an advantage in favor of the latter. These results allow to conclude that the hotel services sector is at the development stage, however, despite certain advantages over the international tourism business, it is actively entering the Ukrainian market and faces a number of problems, the most important of which is the lack of a unified business strategy. Further research will focus on studying successful examples of international tourism business with the aim of developing recommendations for creating a mechanism for the development of organizational and cultural resources as a tool of the competitiveness of international business.

The study aims to compare the integrated marketing communication activities of leading national and international hotel chain brands in the hospitality industry by examining their social media activities. Accordingly, Türkiye's largest national (n=6) and international (n=6) hotel chains were selected as the research area, taking into account their number of rooms and geographical spread. In this study, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts were analyzed. First of all, the accounts used by hotel businesses and their usage characteristics were investigated. The contents of these social media accounts were then analyzed. According to the findings, international hotels conduct more effective Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) activities on social media compared to national hotels. National hotels, on the other hand, mostly do not prefer YouTube channel but are active on other social media channels. In general, product or service promotion, information/news sharing and special day content are the most preferred content. Product or service promotion is the most frequently shared content. Based on the results, hotel businesses should use social media channels in an up-to-date manner for the activity of IMC activities. This is important for MIMC conditions. At the same time, businesses should provide content criteria holistically.

Types of agglomeration effects and location choices of international hotels in an emerging market

Search engines are an everyday tool for Internet surfing. They are also a critical factor that affects e-business performance. This study compares the quantity of hotel web pages and pages indexed by search engines. Values of index ratio indicated that international chain hotels were not well indexed by domestic search engines. Furthermore, the web servers of local chain and independent hotels of Hong Kong contain a large amount of outdated or unlinked materials. Though how search engine index pages cannot be controlled, hotel managers could control what should be indexed. Web masters were recommended to relocate these materials to independent folders and use robots exclusion protocol to restrict the access of web crawlers and robots.