701. Step 6 Developing reading skills the hotel trade in the world

The accommodation sector is central to international tourism. Tourism flows are directly influenced by the size of this sector, by the way it adapts to demand and by the quality of the accommodation on offer. Three characteristics are associated with accommodation:

• Seasonality. Its economic activities are seasonal which implies a great flexibility in structures.

• Manpower planning. The industry is labour-intensive, which further compounds the problems caused by seasonality. It requires accurate forward planning of temporary employment.

• Perishability. Accommodation production cannot be stocked. As with transport, accommodation products that are not consumed can not be stored for use at a future date. Non-utilization is expensive.

The quality of the accommodation, the hospitality and customer service provided by staff and the efficiency of the operation all contribute to the success of international tourism.

Since the advent of mass tourism many forms of accommodation have been developed. These can be classified according to different criteria:

• Built accommodation or alternative accommodation: hotels, second homes and holiday centres or campsites, caravans and cruise liners;

• Individual or collective accommodation: second homes or holiday villages;

• Profit-and non-profit-making accommodation: hotels or holiday camps for children and social tourism.

The hotel is the traditional form of tourist accommodation. As a major economic activity, it creates direct and indirect employment and provides an important source of foreign currency.

The growth of the hotel trade has come about as a result of the traditional industry adapting to current conditions and modernising.

Accommodation supply is determined by the specific nature of the tourism industry. The hotel trade displays features associated with both heavy and labour-intensive industries. Investments in hotel construction tie up large amounts of capital for medium- to long-term periods, a typical feature of heavy industries.

The activities connected with running a hotel are those of a service industry which is labour-intensive.

Industrialised countries have a competitive advantage, since sources of finance for investments are generally more easily available to them. Although developing countries have plenty of manpower, they often lack the necessary resources to develop tourism adequately and to manage their services in a competitive manner.

In the economic analysis of international tourism, a hotel must be differentiated from other forms of lodgings used by tourists. Thus, a hotel is a commercial establishment offering rooms or furnished apartments to a market which is either passing through the area or staying for several nights.

It may offer a catering service, bar and complementary services. It can operate all year round or seasonally.

The hotel trade constitutes the principal accommodation capacity in industrialised countries.

However, there is a relative decline in its importance with respect to other types of accommodation and the whole structure of the hotel trade is undergoing profound change. The number of small independent and family-run hotels is falling, while the number of hotel chains is growing rapidly.

There are two main kinds of hotel chains: hotel consortia which group together independent hotels, and integrated chains, which are made up of homogenous units.