Note on the Global Hotel Industry

The hotel industry has experienced tremendous growth since the 1980s and has emerged as a global industry. During the expansion period, multinational, multi-brand corporations, such as Hilton Hotels Corporation, were in the process of finding new markets and setting priorities. In emerging markets, such as Russia, most of the national hotel industry had been formed under the pressure of foreign hotel chains. In addition to competing with foreign firms in their own markets, local Russian companies were also planning to enter international markets. In this environment, where competition was strengthening within the global hotel industry and new players were emerging, a number of questions and challenges existed: 1) How could firms effectively leverage their competencies and increase their competitiveness? 2) Would the multinational hotel corporations continue to expand their brand portfolios? 3) How could hotel chains maintain their integrity during the expansion on a global scale? 4) What strategies might apply to convince Western hotel companies to compete in emerging markets? 5) Which direction would further develop the hotel industries in emerging economies?