structure of tourist accommodation

The 16 major types of accommodation

Disclaimer: Some posts on Tourism Teacher may contain affiliate links. If you appreciate this content, you can show your support by making a purchase through these links or by buying me a coffee . Thank you for your support!

When you are travelling or working in the tourism industry, it is important to understand what the different types of accommodation are. Fortunately, the tourism industry is multifaceted and diverse; meaning that there are lots of types of accommodation to choose from when we travel!

Whether you are planning a trip for a family, a single backpacker or a group of students, there is something to suit everything in the accommodation sector. In this article I will provide an outline of the different types of accommodation, with plenty of examples thrown in too.

The different types of accommodation in the tourism industry

Bed and breakfasts, guest houses and home-stays, youth hostels, aparthotels, static or touring motorhomes, camping- tents, yurts, tepees etc, to conclude: types of accommodation, further reading.

Accommodation is a key component of tourism . When we travel, we need a place to stay!

There are many different types of accommodation to suit different budgets, different types of tourism and different types of customers. The role of an accommodation provider is to provide a safe and secure place for a tourist to stay. Standards differ between different providers and according to different budgets.

Below, I have outlined the most commonly found different types of accommodation and given some examples too. But, before you read on take a look at this handy animation about the types of accommodation that I made….!

Catered accommodation

Types of accommodation can be separated into two categories: catered and not catered.

Catered accommodation provides the tourist with food. The food may or may not be included in the price of the hotel.

Catering comes in different shapes are sizes and in different amounts. Half-board usually means that the tourist will be given breakfast and dinner as part of their hotel package. Full board means that they will be given three meals and all-inclusive means that they have unlimited food and drinks throughout the day. Bed a breakfast provides only breakfast.

Some accommodation is sold as ‘room-only’, but provides the opportunity for the tourist to purchase food at an additional cost. This is still classified as a catered accommodation type.

Catered accommodation is generally associated with a number of facilities including the following facilities:

• restaurant and bar
• housekeeping
• leisure facilities
• gym or health club
• conference and business facilities
• entertainment

Here are some of the most common types of accommodation that can be classified as catered.

Hotels are the most traditional and most common types of accommodation.

Hotels can be large or small. They can be independently owned businesses or they can be part of a hotel chain. Hotels may be part of a holiday resort.

Hotels are ranked using a star rating system. Hotels are awarded a grade between 1-5 stars (1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest). This tells the tourist what level of service to expect at the hotel.

My favourite hotel: We stayed at the  Radisson Blu hotel on Yas Island when we travelled to Abu Dhabi for our babymoon . This hotel was part of a beach resort that had excellent facilities. It was the perfect place to get some much needed R&R before the arrival of my baby!

A bed and breakfast is just as it sounds- a type of accommodation that offers a bed and a breakfast!

Bed a breakfast accommodations in the UK are traditional a type of guest house or home-stay. The owners typically live in the accommodation and separate their personal living space away from the guest space. Breakfast served is traditionally an English-style cooked breakfast.

Today, this traditional model of bed and breakfast accommodations does still exist, however the experience described above is not a given. In fact, any type of accommodation that offers breakfast as part of the deal can be described as a bed and breakfast, and the breakfast offered can range from continental to exotic- there doesn’t have to be a sausage or hash brown in sight!

My favourite bed and breakfast: 25 years ago my grandad purchased this beautiful house in a quaint village called Debenham in Suffolk. Sadly he passed away a few years after living here, but since this time his partner and her new husband have transformed this beautiful grade ii listed cottage into a bed and breakfast. They welcome guests from all over the UK and the rest of the world into their home (and cook them a delicious breakfast!).

You can take a look at/book a stay at Cherry Tree Cottage in Debenham, Suffolk on their website.

A guest house is essentially a house that welcomes guests. There is a fine line between a guest house and a bed and breakfast. While there is no hard and fast rule, guest houses tend to be bigger than bed and breakfast accommodations. Guest houses may or may not offer breakfast included in the price of the hotel room.

A homestay is intended to facilitate a deep cultural tourism experience. The intention is that you live and immerse yourself with a family in their home. However, my experience is that whilst many types of accommodation may advertise themselves as a ‘home-stay’, they are in reality just a guest house, with limited interaction between the hosts/owners and the guests.

My favourite guest house: Thailand is one of my favourite countries in the world and I LOVED my stay at Ashi Guesthouse Chiangdao in Chiang Mai. The owners were really friendly and there was such a welcoming atmosphere.

Chalets are typically found in ski resorts and can come on a self-catering or catered basis. Often they are available with your own personal chef!

Chalets are great if you are travelling in a group. Chalets come in different sizes and can fit different amounts of people. You can also opt for a shared chalet if your group size is small.

My favourite chalet: Chaletdorf Auszeit is a gorgeous chalet situated in the Austrian Apls. The chalets come with a private hot pot and sauna, a natural swimming pond and a chef!

A youth hostel is a type of accommodation designed to suit the needs of those on a budget. Whilst anyone can stay in a youth hostel, they are largely aimed at young people.

Youth hostels will often provide dormitory-style accommodation, with shared rooms and bunk beds.

This type of accommodation is perfect for group tours and educational trips.

My favourite youth hostel – In my previous job as Course Team Leader at a UK college we took our students on a residential visit each year to Edinburgh and stayed at the Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel. The hostel was brilliant- it had a restaurant and bar, areas for the students to chill out and relax and a games room!

Self-catered or non-catered accommodation

Self-catered and non-catered accommodation are types of accommodation that do not offer food. Self-catered accommodations offer cooking facilities, such as a small kitchen and cooking equipment. Non-catered accommodation is likely a room-only accommodation with no cooking facilities.

Products and services that are typically offered in self-catered and non-catered accommodation options include the following:

• caravan pitch
• sports facilities
• laundry facilities

Self catering accommodation has become more popular in recent years with the growth of the sharing economy . Properties owners can now easily rent their accommodation to tourists through intermediaries, who connect the tourist with the property owner.

My favourite is Airbnb . We use Airbnb all the time! We have found some fantastic bargains and unique properties over the years. You can read more about why I love Airbnb here .

Here is a little bit more detail about some of the most common self-catered or non-catered types of accommodation.

A cottage is typically a small, cosy house that is classed as being old or traditional. Cottages are quintessential British homes that are often found in semi-rural locations.

Because of their unique character, culture and heritage, cottages make for popular holiday homes.

Cottages provide tourists with the opportunity for a ‘home from home’ experience. Guests can usually cook, do laundry and watch TV as they would in their own home.

My favourite cottage: We stayed in Cheddar , Somerset for two months and we LOVED living in this beautiful country cottage! Strawberry Rose Cottage is a traditional three bedroom cottage with a gorgeous open fire place and a little outside courtyard. The cottage had everything we needed from kids cutlery and a high chair to matches to light the fire and a tumble dryer. I couldn’t have asked for any more, IT WAS JUST PERFECT!

Apartments are a popular self-catering accommodation option. Apartments are found in many areas, but are most common in built up areas such as towns and cities and busy resorts.

Apartments can be large or small and can range from short-term to long-term lets.

My favourite apartment: Shanghai is a city of high-rise buildings and sky-scrapers. It is also a city that doesn’t cater particularly well to those who want to self-cater. This is because people often eat out in China (and much of Asia too). So, we were thrilled to find the  Lanson Place Jin Qiao Residence . This apartment was perfect for us. With two bedrooms and a long, it allowed us to enjoy a glass of wine on the sofa after putting the kids to bed!

Some people choose to stay on a boat during their holiday- and what a cool experience!

No, I’m not talking about cruise tourism . I am talking about hiring your own private boat and sleeping on it-cool, huh?

You can stay on a many different types of boats , from yachts, to canal boats, to house boats.

My favourite boat: Staying on a house boat in Kerala was a once in a lifetime experience. Houseboats in this part of India are iconic and you will see them throughout the waterways, known as the ‘Venice of the East.

Log cabins are popular in countries with cooler weather, such as ski destinations.

Log cabins are defined by the material that they are built with- logs. They can be small or large and have varying facilities inside.

My favourite log cabin: We found this beautiful log can near Vancouver, Canada on Airbnb . It was so peaceful and we were surrounded by nature (including bears!). We had the lake all to ourselves and the log cabin came with a canoe too.

As I mentioned before, chalets can be both catered and self-catered. Scroll back up to read more about what a chalet is.

A motel is basically a hotel room with a parking space.

Motels are popular in the USA.

Motels usually offer simple room-only accommodation, but some may have simple cooking facilities.

My favourite motel: The the USA the main method of getting around is by car, so if you car travelling around a lot it makes sense to stay in a motel. We stayed here during our road trip across the USA and this spot in Los Angeles was super convenient.

An aparthotel offers a combination of what you get in a typically hotel with the facilities associated with an apartment. Some claim that this offers ‘the best of both worlds’.

My favourite aparthotel: We loved the Aparthotel Stare Miasto in Krakow, Poland. This accommodation option was quirky, stylish and oh so much fun!

Caravans can be transported from place to place, or they can be situated in one location.

In the UK, caravan parks are very popular. Most are located close to the seaside. Some caravan parks are part of well-known holiday parks, such as Butlins , Pontins or Haven.

My favourite caravan: I went to Parkside Caravans many during during my childhood. I have fond childhood memories of converting the dining table into a bed and playing with the kids from the caravan next door until dusk. Happy memories!

A motorhome is just as it sounds- a home that has a motor!

A motorhome is a vehicle that enables you to travel in it by day and sleep in it by night.

Some motorhomes are the size of small vans, with limited facilities and functions. Other motorhomes are large recreational vehicles (RVs) that come with all the mod cons including a kitchen and bathroom.

Motorhomes are very popular in the USA and in Australia , where road trips are common.

My favourite motorhome: I hope to do a road trip through Australia in a camper van like this with my family in the future! It looks like soooo much fun!

Camping is often one of the cheapest types of accommodation, especially if you have your own tent. All you need to do is pay for your spot on a camp site (or find a place where you are allowed to camp for free), and you’re all set.

Many camp sites also offer camping with additional amenities, such as a bed, wardrobe, lamps etc. This is often referred to as glamping .

Yurts (traditional Mongolian tents), teepees and other unusual types of tents are very popular these days too, however, these options do come with a higher price tag.

My favourite camping experience: My friend and I went on a camping trip through France and Spain and we LOVED it. We simply pitched up the tent where ever we found a campsite at the end of the day, cracked open the wine and put the world to rights under the stars. It was just fabulous!

Hostels are pretty much the same as youth hostels, except for they may not provide provisions for catering. Some hostels have a communal area, such as a seating area or kitchen, whereas other may not.

There are many different types of accommodation to choose from when you are travelling, and I have been fortunate enough to try most of them out myself! Types of accommodation can generally be classified as either catered or self-catered/non-catered. Within these two categories there are many different accommodation options available to you.

If you want to learn more about the travel and tourism industry or if you are a travel and tourism student, I strongly suggest you consult the texts listed in the further reading section below. These books are core texts for travel and tourism students, covering all of the fundamental tourism management topics that you will surely be studying.

• 20 Popular Types of Hotels Around The World
• The 10 Major Types of Events
• The 8 Major Types of Cruise
• 150 types of tourism! The ultimate tourism glossary
• 15 Types of Rail Transport To Take You Away

Liked this article? Click to share!

The word hotel is derived from the French hôtel , which refers to a French version of the townhouse. The term hotel was used for the first time by the fifth Duke of Devonshire to name a lodging property in London sometime in AD 1760. Historically, in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and several other countries, a townhouse was the residence of a peer or an aristocrat in the capital of major cities. The word hotel could have also derived from the hostel , which means ‘ a place to stay for travelers ‘.

A hotel is defined by the British Law as a ‘ place where bonafide travelers can receive food or shelter, provided he/she is in a position to pay for it and is in a fit condition to be received ‘. Hence, a hotel must provide food (and beverage) and lodging to a traveler on payment, but the hotel has the right to refuse if the traveler is not presentable (either drunk, or disorderly, or unkempt) or is not in a position to pay for the services.

Alternatively, a hotel may be defined as ‘ an establishment whose primary business is to provide lodging facilities to a genuine traveler along with food, beverage, and sometimes recreational facilities too on the chargeable basis ‘.  Though there are other establishments such as hospitals, college hostels, prisons, and sanatoriums, which offer accommodation, they do not qualify as hotels, since they do not cater to the specific needs of the traveler.

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid accommodation, generally for a short duration of stay . Hotels often provide a number of additional guest services, such as restaurants, bars, swimming pools, healthcare, retail shops; business facilities like conference halls, banquet halls, boardrooms; and space for private parties like birthdays, marriages, kitty parties, etc.

Most of the modern hotels nowadays provide the basic facilities in a room- a bed, a cupboard, a small table, weather control (air conditioner or heater), and a bathroom- along with other feature like a telephone with STD/ISD facilities, a television set with cable channel, broadband internet connectivity.

There might also be a mini-bar containing snacks and drinks (the consumption of the same is added to the guest’s bill), and tea and coffee making unit having an electric kettle, cups, spoons, and sachets containing instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, and creamer.

History of Hotels

The invention of currency and wheels sometime in the 5th century BC are regarded as the two main factors that led to the emergence of inn-keeping and hospitality as a commercial activity. While Europe can safely be regarded as the cradle of the organized hotel business, it is in the American continent that one sees the evolution of the modern hotel industry over the past century.

From the rudimentary ancient inns to the present day state-of-art establishment that provides everything under the sun of the modern traveler, the hotel industry has come a long way. The origin and growth of the hotel industry can be broadly studied under the following periods:

Ancient Era

The earliest recorded evidence of the hospitality facilities in Europe dates back to 500 BC. An ancient city, such as Corinth in Greece, had a substantial number of establishments that offered food and drink as well as beds to the traveler. The inns of the biblical era were of the primitive type, offering a cot or bench in the corner of a room and, at times, even a stable. Travelers used to stay in a large hall. Privacy and personal sanitation were non-existent.

In the 3rd century AD, numerous lodging premises mushroomed along with the extensive network of brick-paved roads throughout Europe and minor Asin (part of Asia adjoining Europe). The lodging hotels were known as mansions during that time.

These conditions prevailed for several hundred years, until the Industrial Revolution in England led to the development of railways and steamship, making traveling more efficient, comfortable, and faster. The Industrial Revolution also brought about a shift in the focus of travel that becomes more business-oriented than educational or social.

The lead-in organized hotel-keeping, as we see it today, was taken by the emerging nations of Europe, especially Switzerland. The early establishment was mainly patronized by the aristocracy and took shape in chalets (small cottages) and small hotels that provided a variety of services. Between 1750 and 1825, inns in Britain gained the reputation of being the finest hospitality establishments.

The second half of the eighteenth century, prior to the French Revolution (1780-990, is referred as the ‘ golden era of travel ‘ as the popularity of the ‘ Grand Tour ‘ gave a big push to the hotel industry. In those days, a Grand Tour of the European continent constituted as an indispensable element of the education of scions of wealthy families in Britain.

As this tour often lasted several years, it was a good business opportunity for the people in prominent cities of France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Ireland to establish lodging, transportation, and recreation facilities. Far-sighted entrepreneurs, who smelt money in the exercise, developed the skills of the hospitality and pioneered the modern hotel industry.

Prominent among the hotels that emerged during the period were Dolder Grand in Zurich, Imperia in Vienna, the Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, and Des Bergues in Geneva. In 1841 , a simple cabinet marker, Thomas Cook organized a rail tour from Leicester to Loughborough and immortalized himself as the world’s first tour operator .

The improvisation in the mode of transport made journeys safer, easier, and faster, enable economical as well as frequent mass movement. The introduction of Funiculars (the ropeway) made high altitude mountains accessible, leading to the growth of many hotels in Alpine rages. Burgenstock and Giessbach are among the hotels in Switzerland that owe, their existence to the development of the ropeways.

The two world wars, especially the second (1939-45) took their toll on the hospitality industry. The massive destruction caused by the war and the resulting economic depression proved to be a major setback to the travel business. The 1950s witnessed a slow and steady growth of travel on the European continent.

The development of aircraft and commercial passenger flight across the Atlantic stimulated that across the globe, and in the process accelerated the growth of the hotel industry.

But it is the American entrepreneurs who credited with literally changing the face of the hospitality industry with their innovation and aggressive marketing. Prior to the establishment of City Hotel lodging facilities in the American continent was patterned on the European style taverns or inns.

The City Hall, however, triggered a race among American hoteliers, resulting in the construction of the large hotels. The decade of the great depression in the 1930s witnessed the liquidity of most of the hotels in America. The hotel industry streamlined with the slow and steady growth during the 1940s. The increase in automobile travel in the 1950s led to the rise of ‘motor hotels’ or motels , a new category in the hotel industry.

The motel which offered free parking facilities served as rest houses for the people traveling between two cities or tourist destination. The following decades saw the growth of motels on a large scale, and also the introduction of budget hotels that offered basic facilities at half of the rates. Gradually, with the passage of time, they evolved into countrywide and international chains.

Hotel Organisation Structure

To carry out its vision, mission, objectives, and goals, every hotel requires a formal structure known as the organization structure. The structure defines the company’s distribution of responsibilities and authority among its management staff and employees.

It establishes the manner and extent of roles, power, and responsibilities, and determines how information flows between different level of organization. This structure depends entirely on the organization’s objective and strategies chosen to achieve them.

The most common way to represent the organization structure is through an organization chat. Each hotel is different and has unique features, so the organization charts of hotels vary from each other. The organization structure depends upon the size and function of a hotel.

Some hotel may lease their outlet to another company or may employ another agency to operate restaurant or housekeeping services. In such cases, those portions will not be a part of the organization chart of the hotel. A sample organization chart of a commercial hotel is following as:

Core Areas/Departments of Hotel

The organization of a hotel today is very complex and comprises various departments. The number of departments varies from one establishment to another. All departments may have their own managers, reporting to the general manager and the assistant general manager.

Hotels departments fall under the category of either Revenue earning departments or Support departments .

Revenue earning departments are operational departments that sell services or products to the guest, thus, directly generating revenue for the hotel. These departments include front office, food and beverage, and hotel operated shops.

Support departments are the ones that help to generate revenue indirectly by playing a supporting role in the hotel’s revenue earning departments. These include human resources, maintenance, purchase, housekeeping, and so on.

The various departments in a hotel are discussed below in brief:

Room Division Department

In a large hotel, the housekeeping, front office, and maintenance departments come under room division. These departments together are responsible for maintaining and selling the room in a hotel . In most hotels, these are the departments that directly or indirectly generate more revenue than other departments. This is because the sale of room constitutes a minimum of 50 percent revenue of a hotel.

A hotel’s largest margin of profit comes from the room because a room, once made, can be sold over and over again. The room division is headed by the room division manager to whom the front office manager, executive housekeeper, and very often the chief engineer report.

Housekeeping Department

The housekeeping department is responsible for the cleanliness and upkeep of the front of the house areas as well as the back of the house areas so that they appear as fresh and aesthetically appealing as on the first day when hotel property opened for business. This department is headed by the executive housekeeper or, in chain hotels, the director of housekeeping.

Front Office Department

Headed by the front office manager , the front office department is the operational department that is responsible for welcoming and registering the guests, allotting the rooms and helping the guests check out . Uniformed services like concierge and bell desk and EPBAX operators are the part of the front office department.

Maintenance Department

The maintenance department also called the engineering and maintenance department , is headed by the chief engineer or the chief maintenance officer. The department is responsible for all kinds of maintenance, repair, and engineering work on equipment, machine, fixtures, and fittings .

Food and Beverage Department

The food and beverage (F&B) department include restaurants, bars, coffee shops, banquets, room service, kitchen, and bakery . The department is headed by the F&B director . While the restaurants, bars, coffee shops, banquets, and the room may be grouped specifically under the F&B service department, headed by the F&B manager, the kitchen and bakery fall under the F&B production department, headed by the executive chef.

Human Resource Department

The human resource (HR) department or the personnel department, as it used to be called earlier – is headed by the human resource manager . Recruitments, orientation, training, employee welfare and compensation, labor laws, and safety norms for the hotels come under the purview of the HR department.

The training department is an ancillary department of the HR department. This is headed by the training manager, who takes on the specific task of orientation and training of new employees as well as existing ones.

Sales and Marketing Department

The sales and marketing department is headed by the sales and marketing manager . A large hotel may have three or more employees in this department, whereas a small hotel can do with just one employee.

The function of this department is five-fold – sales, personal relations, advertising, getting MICE (meeting, incentive, conference, and exhibition) business, and market research. All these functions lead to the common goal of selling the product of the hotel – i.e. rooms and the services of the hotel by ‘creating’ customers.

Purchase Department

The purchasing department is led by the purchase manage r, who, in some properties, may report to the financial controller. The procurement of all departmental inventories is the responsibility of the purchasing department. In most hotels, the central stores are the part of purchase department.

Financial Control Department

It is also called the control department , the financial control department is headed by the financial controller , who is responsible for ratifying all the inventory items of the operational departments. Inventory control procedures are the responsibility of the department.

The financial controller, along with the general manager, is responsible for finalizing the budgets prepared by the heads of other departments . The hotel’s accounts are also maintained by the controls department. Accounting activities include making payments against invoices, billing, collecting payments, generating statements, handling bank transactions, processing employee payroll data, and preparing the hotel’s financial statements.

Security Department

It is headed by the chief security officers , the security department is responsible for safeguarding the assets, guests, and employees of the hotel . Their functions include conducting fire drills, monitoring surveillance equipment, and patrolling the property.

Types and Classification of Hotels

Hotels provide accommodation, along with services like food and beverages, and facilities like recreation, conference, and training arrangements, and organization of official or private parties. Each hotel has a unique feature associated with it.

The features may be its location; the number of guests room; special services such as concierge, travel assistance, and valet parking; facilities such as specialty restaurants, bars, business meeting venues, swimming pools, and so on.

The diversity in services and facilities provided by each hotel makes it quite difficult to have any single basis of classification of hotels, and if we classify them in different criteria there will be some hotels that will fall into more than one group. The criteria in which hotels are classified are following as:

Standard Classification of Hotels

The star classification system is among the most widely accepted rating of hotels worldwide. Rating of hotels in different countries is done by the government or quasi-government sources, independent rating agencies, or sometimes the hotel operators themselves.

The brief description of the various star categories are following as:

One-star Hotels

These properties are generally small and independently owned, with a family atmosphere. There may be a limited range of facilities the meals may be fairly simple. For example, lunch may not be served or some bedrooms may not have an en-suite bath or shower.

However, maintenance, cleanliness, and comfort would be of an acceptable standard.

Two-star Hotels

In this class, hotels will typically be small to medium-sized and offer more expensive facilities than one-star hotels. Guests can expect comfortable, well equipped overnight accommodation, usually with an en-suite bath and shower.

Reception and other staff will aim for a more professional presentation that at the one-star level and will offer a wider range of straightforward services, including food and beverages.

Three-star Hotels

At this level, hotels are usually of a size to support higher staffing levels as well as significantly higher quality and range of facilities than at the lower star classifications. Reception and other public areas will be more spacious, and the restaurant will normally also cater to non-residents.

All bedrooms will have an en-suite bath and shower and will offer a good standard of comfort and equipment, such as a direct dial telephone and toiletries in the bathrooms. Besides room services, some provision for business travelers can be expected.

Four-star Hotels

Expectations of this level include a degree of luxury as well as quality in the furnishing, décor, and equipment in every area of the hotel. Bedrooms will also usually offer more space than at the lower star levels. They will be well designed with coordinated furnishing and décor.

The en-suite bathrooms will have both a bath an shower. There will be a high staff to guest ratio, with provisions of porter services, twenty-four-hour room service, and laundry and dry cleaning services. The restaurants will demonstrate a serious approach to its cuisine.

Five-star Hotels

Five-star hotels offer spacious and luxurious accommodation throughout the hotel, matching the best international standards. The interior design should impress with its quality and attention to detail, comfort, and elegance. The furnishing should be immaculate.

The services should be formal, well supervised, and flawless in its attention to the guest’s need, without being intrusive. The restaurant will demonstrate a high level of technical skill. The staff will be knowledgeable, helpful, and well versed in all aspects of customer care, combining efficiency with courtesy.

Heritage Hotels

A recent addition to the hotel industry, heritage hotels are properties set in small forts, palaces, or havelis , the mansions of erstwhile royal and aristocratic families. They have added a new dimension to cultural tourism.

In a heritage hotel, a visitor is offered rooms that have their own history, is served traditional cuisine toned down to the requirements of international palates, is entertained by folk artists, can participate in activities that allow a glimpse into the heritage of the region and can bask in an atmosphere that lives and breathes of the past.

Heritage hotels can further be divided into three types:

• Heritage Classis
• Heritage Grand

Classification of Hotels On the Basis of Size

The number of guest rooms in a hotel is a criterion to classify hotels. Hotels can be grouped into the following categories on the basis of the number of rooms or the size of the hotel:

Small Hotel

In India, hotels with twenty-five or less are classified as small hotels. However, in the developed countries of Europe and America, hotels with less than 100 rooms are considered small. These hotels provide clean and comfortable accommodation but may not provide upmarket facilities, such as swimming pool, restaurant, bar etc.

Medium Hotel

Hotels with twenty-six to a hundred rooms are called medium hotels. However, in developed nations, hotels with up to 300 rooms are termed medium-sized.

Large Hotel

In India, hotels with 101 to 300 guest rooms are regarded as large hotels. Whereas, hotels with 400 to 600 rooms are termed as large hotels in the developed world.

Very Large Hotel

Hotels, with more than 300 guest rooms are known as very large hotels in our country. In developed nations, hotels with 600 to 1,000 rooms may be considered very large.

Classification of Hotels on the Basis of Location

The location of the hotel is one of the major criteria for the traveler to select and patronize a hotel. Hotels may be located in the city center, suburban areas, natural locations such as hill stations and sea beaches, near the port of entry into a country, etc. They may be classified into the following categories on the basis of their location:

Downtown Hotel

A downtown hotel is located in the center of the city within a short distance from the business center, shopping areas, theatre, public offices, etc. The center of the city may not necessarily be the geographical center, but it refers to an area that is considered to be the commercial hub of the city.

The room rates in these hotels may be higher than similar hotels in the other areas, so as to cover the huge investment made on land. They are generally preferred by the business clients as they find it convenient to stay close to the place of their business activities.

Sub-Urban Hotel

As the land cost in the city center is higher and space is limited, some entrepreneurs build their hotel near the outskirts of the city. Providing similar facilities to the downtown hotels, these hotels are set in suburban areas and have the advantage of quieter surroundings. Such hotels are ideal for people who prefer to stay away from the hustle and bustle of a city .

The duration of the stay of guests in these hotels may be longer than the at a hotel located in the city. The room rates in such hotels are moderate and may attract the budget travelers.

Resort Hotel

Hotels that are located at a tourist destination such as hill stations, sea beaches, and countryside are referred to as resort hotels . These hotels have a very calm and natural ambiance. They are mostly away from cities and are located in the pollution-free environment. The room rates in these hotels may range from moderate to high, depending on the additional services offered.

These hotels combine stay facilities with leisure activities such as golf, summer and winter support, etc. Some of these hotels are projected as a dream destination to guests who wish to enjoy the beauty of nature and have a memorable holiday. The occupancy in the resorts is normally higher during the vacation time and weekend when guests want to take a break from their weekly routine.

Airport Hotel

Airport hotel is situated in the vicinity and other ports of entry . Offering all the services of the commercial hotel, these hotels are generally patronized by the passengers who need a stopover en-route journey.

The word ‘ motel ‘ is formed by the merging of two words ‘ motor ‘ and ‘ hotel ‘. They are located primarily in the highways and provide modest lodgings to highway travelers. The development of extensive road networks in the early twentieth century led to an increase in the people traveling in their own vehicles.

The phenomenon was quite common in the American European continents. The traveler who was traveling in their own vehicles needed a neat and clean accommodation for the night, so, the motel concept came into existence.

As the name suggests, floatels are types of lodging properties that float on the water . This category consists of all lodging properties that are built on the top of rafts or semi-submersible platforms and includes cruise liners and houseboats .

Some of them provide luxurious accommodation, along with food and beverage facilities to guests.

Classification of Hotels on the Basis of Clients

The hotel caters to the need of its guests. Every individual or a group of people who patronize a hotel has a different set of requirements. While some would prefer luxurious accommodation, others would like to stay in a simple and cheap room. Some would require facilities such as meeting rooms, business centers, and conference halls if their travel is business-oriented.

Being a capital-intensive industry, the diversities in guest requirements discourage hotels from catering to all types of travelers. As a result, hotels choose to carve out a niche for themselves by catering to the needs of specific guest segments. The hotel can be classified into the following categories on the basis of its clients :

Business or Commercial Hotel

Designed to cater to the business traveler , commercial hotels are generally situated in the city center . These hotels provide high standard rooms and amenities, along with high-speed internet connectivity,  business centers, and conference halls. They also provide in-house secretarial services, as well as facilities such as letter drafting, typing, fax, and photocopy of documents for the convenience of their guests.

The guest amenities at the commercial hotel may include complimentary newspapers, morning coffee, cable television, and access to channeled music and movies.

The duration of the guest’s stay is generally very short at these hotels. The occupancy level is higher during the weekdays and slightly lower during weekends. These hotels are also known as downtown hotels .

Transient Hotel

Transient hotels cater to the need of people who are on the move and need a stopover en route their journey . Located in the close proximity of ports of entry, such as seaport, airport, and major railway stations, these hotels are normally patronized by the transient traveler.

They have round the clock operational room service and coffee shop and offer all the facilities of a commercial hotel. Transient hotels are usually five-star , and their target market includes business clientele, airline passengers with overnight travel layovers or canceled flights, and airline personnel.

The occupancy rate is usually very high, sometimes more than 100 percent, as rooms can be sold more than once on a given day.

Suite Hotel

Suite Hotels provide the highest level of personalized service s to guests. The guest rooms generally comprise a living area, a compact kitchenette, complete with refrigerator and a microwave, a bedroom attached with bathroom, and sometimes even a dance floor.

The facilities are highly customized and may include in-room safety locker facilities. These hotels are patronized by affluent people and tourists who are fond of luxury.

Residential Hotel

As the name suggests, residential hotels provide accommodation for a longer duration . These hotels are generally patronized by people who are on a temporary official deputation to a city where they do not have their own residential accommodation. Guest stay for a minimum period of one month and up to two years.

The services offered by these hotels are modest. The room’s configuration usually similar to that of suite hotels. Guest rooms generally include a sitting room, bathroom, and small kitchenette. They are akin to the small individual apartment.

These hotels are fully operational restaurants or a dining room for the resident guests and may provide services such as daily housekeeping, telephone, front desk, and uniformed services. The guest may choose to contract some or all the services provided by the apartment hotel. The hotel signs a lease with guest and the rent is paid either monthly or quarterly .

Bed and Breakfast Hotel

A European concept , bed, and breakfast (B&B) hotels are lodging establishments, generally operated in large family residences. These range from houses with few rooms converted into overnight facilities to small commercial building with twenty to thirty guest rooms. The owner usually lives on the premises and is responsible for serving breakfast to guests.

Guests are accommodated in bedrooms and breakfast is served in the room or sometime in the dining room. The bathrooms may be attached to the guest rooms or maybe on a sharing basis. As the tariff is generally lower than a full-service hotel at these properties, they are suitable for budget travelers .

Casino Hotel

Casino hotels provide gambling facilities , such as Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. These hotels attract the clients by promoting gambling, arranging extravagant floor shows, and some may provide charter flight services to its clients. They have state-of-the-art gambling facilities, along with the especially restaurant, bars, round the clock room service, well appointed and furnished rooms for its guests.

Nowadays, these hotels are also attracting the MICE (meeting, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) segment. The casinos of Las Vegas , USA are among the most famous casinos in the world.

Conference Centers

The word conference means ‘ a meeting, sometimes lasting for several days, in which people with a common interest participate in discussions or listen to lectures to obtained information ‘. Thus, a conference center is a hotel which caters to the needs of a conference delegation.

These hotels provide rooms to delegates of conferences; a conference hall with the desired seating configuration for the meetings; food and beverage requirement during and after the conference; and other requirements, such as a flip chart, whiteboard with markers, overhead projector, television, VCR/VCD/DVD player, slide projector, LCD projector with screen, computer, and public address system.

These are large hotels, having more than 400 guest rooms . The services provided are the highest standard. Normally, conferences are charged as packages, which include accommodation and meeting facilities.

Convention Hotels

The convention is defined as ‘ a  formal assembly or meeting of members, representatives, or delegates of a group for general agreement on or acceptance of certain practices or attitudes ‘. This type of meeting involves a large number of participants.  The hotel catering to the needs of this segment is known as convention hotels .

These hotels may have more than 2,000 rooms to accommodate a large number of delegates. They are equipped with state-of-art convention centers with all the required facilities, such as seating configuration, audiovisual equipment, and public address systems to meet the demands of a convention.

Classification of Hotels on the Basis of Duration of Guest Stay

On the basis of the duration of the guest stay, hotels may be classified into the following categories:

Commercial Hotel

The duration of guest stay in these hotels is short, ranging from a few days to a week.

Mostly occupied by travelers as stopovers en route their journey, the duration of stay at transient hotels are very short, a day or even less.

Semi-residential Hotel

These hotels are generally patronized by people who are staying at a location while in transit to another place. The duration of stay may range from a few weeks to some months. They incorporated the feature of both transient and residential hotels.

Residential/Apartment Hotel

As the name suggests, residential hotels provide accommodation for long duration and are patronized by the people who stay for a long time. The duration of stay may range from a few months to a few years.

Extended Stay Hotel

In today’s age of downsizing, outsourcing and mobility business executive are often away from their hometowns for extended periods of time and require more than a hotel room.

These hotels are for those guests who wish to stay for long period (from few days to weeks), and cater to their long-term needs with special services, amenities, and facilities, such as full-fledged kitchens with dishes and kitchenware, separate area to wash clothes, housekeeping services, grocery services, and recreational facilities. The room rates of these hotels are determined by the length of stay.

Classification of Hotels on the Basis of Level of Services

On the basis of services offered by a hotel, they may be classified into the following categories:

Upmarket/World Class Luxuries Hotels

Targeting the affluent segment of society, hotels in the upmarket category offer world-class products with personalized services to the higher standard. The emphasis is on excellence and class. These hotels provide upscale restaurants and lounges, exquisite décor, concierge service, opulent rooms, and abundant amenities.

The design and interior decoration of the hotel itself reflects the standards maintained by the hotel. The guest rooms are large with exquisite decoration and furnishings.

Mid-Market/Mid-range Services Hotels

These hotels offer modest services without the frills and personalized attention of luxury hotels, and appeal to the largest segment of travelers. They may offer services such as room service, round-the-clock coffee shop, airport and railway station pick-up and drop facilities; multi-cuisine restaurant with bar.

A typical hotel offering mid-range service would be medium-sized, having roughly 150 to 300 rooms. The room rent is much lower than the upmarket hotels. These hotels are patronized by business traveler, individual traveler, and groups.

Budget/Economy Hotels

Budget hotels focus on meeting the most basic needs of guests by providing clean, comfortable, and inexpensive rooms. These are also known as economy or limited services hotels , they appeal primarily to budget-minded traveler groups.

The clientele of budget hotels may also include families with children, bus tour groups, traveling business people, vacationers, retired persons, and groups. These hotels have clean and comfortable guest rooms, a coffee shop, a multi-cuisine restaurant, in-room telephone, and channeled music and movies.

Classification on the Basis of Ownership

On the basis of ownership of a hotel, they may be classified into the following categories:

Proprietary Ownership

Proprietary ownership is the direct ownership of one or more properties by a person or company. Small lodging properties by the person or company. Small lodging properties that are owned and operated by a couple or family are common of proprietary ownership.

Let us understand the following terminologies related to the franchise before we talk about it :

Franchise   It is authorization given by a company to another company individual to sell its unique products/services and use its trademark according to the guidelines given by the former, for a specified time, and at a specified place.

Franchisor  The franchisor is the company that owns the trademark, product, a business format that is being franchised.

Franchisee The franchisee is the company or the individual to whom franchise confers the right to do business under its name as per the term and condition agreed upon.

Franchising A continuing relationship in which the franchisor provides a licensed privilege to do business, plus assistance in organizing, training, merchandising, and management in return for a consideration from the franchise.

In the hospitality industry, we often come across many big chains that are operating on a franchise basis. In this kind of contract, which is mutually beneficial to both parties, the franchisor allows the franchisee to use the company’s ideal methods, trademarks, as well as the brand logo to do business.

Management Contract

Managing a hotel requires professional expertise. A new entrepreneur with little or no experience in the business may safely choose to become the franchisee of any well-established hotel chain.

There could still be a problem in operating the business because the franchisor provides a well-established image, a tested and successful operating system, training programme, marketing, advertising, and reservation system, but does not provide the cadre of an experienced manager and the employees necessary to run the business on a day to day basis.

To bridge the gap, management contract companies came into existence. These companies have the required expertise to manage hotels. They operate on the basis of management fee and the sometimes on a percentage of gross revenue.

Time-share Hotels

Time-share hotels, also referred to as vacation-interval hotels , are a new concept in the hospitality industry. As the name suggests, it entails purchasing a tourist accommodation at a popular destination for a particular time slot in a year.

The buyer can then occupy the property for the appointed time or rent the unit to other vacationers if they cannot avail the facilities. They have to make a one-time payment for the time slot and a yearly fee to cover the maintenance costs and related expenses and take a share in the profit from the income generated if they are not utilizing their time slot.

Condominium Hotels

Condominium hotels are similar to timeshare hotels, expect that condominium hotels have a single owner instead of multiple owners sharing a hotel. In a condominium hotel, the owner informs the management company when they would occupy the unit.

The management company is free to rent the unit for the remainder of the year, and this revenue goes to the owner. The owner generally pays a monthly or annual maintenance fee to the management company that takes care of the premises, including landscaping, cleaning of common areas, water, and power supply etc.

Alternative of Hotels  Accommodation

Alternative accommodation can be simply defined as ‘ all those types of accommodation that are available outside the formal or organized accommodation sector’ . These establishments provide bed and breakfast and some basic services required by the guest at a reasonable price.

An alternative accommodation, thus,  providing sleeping space and modest food for its users. There are certain properties that cater to the needs of a large group.

The lodging houses constructed for the welfares of common travelers, such as sarais , dharmshalas , dak bungalows, circuits, houses, inspection bungalows, lodges, youth hostels, yatri niwas , and forest lodges are the example of alternative accommodation.

Sarai/Dharmshala

These lodging properties are mostly found at popular pilgrimage places. They are generally constructed by welfare trusts, social organizations, or even the state, and provide basic security and sleeping facilities for a nominal fee.

Dak Bungalow/Circuit House

These accommodation are situated in remote areas and at scenic locales. All these properties have an ageless charm and an old world style of hospitality as well as special cuisine, which forms a part of the attraction, apart from the low traffic. Often these are the only lodging properties in remote areas.

Lodge/Boarding House

Lodges are modest hotels situated away from the center of the city or located at a remote destination. These are self-sufficient establishments that offer standard facilities, such as clean and comfortable rooms, food and beverage (F&B) services.

Boarding houses are establishments that usually provide accommodation and meal at a specified period of time, such as weekends, or for a specified time of stay.

Youth Hostel

The youth, from rural as well as urban areas, travel for various reasons, such as education, adventure, and recreation. Youth hostels were established to cater to the youth on the move, who couldn’t afford steep hotel rents.

A youth hostel generally provides low-cost dormitory accommodation with common bathing and cafeteria facilities. They may also provide kitchens for self-catering.

Yatri Niwas

A yatri niwas provides low cost, self-service accommodation to domestic tourists in cities. The emphasis is on modest comfort and affordability. These are generally frequented by people during brief stopovers while traveling between places, or by families with modest budgets.

These properties are located at historical, cultural, and natural sites.

Camping Grounds/Tourist Camps

Camping grounds are normally located within cities in open space. They provide parking spaces along with the water, electricity, and toilets. Camps must follow certain regulation regarding the quality of services and cost and are set up by municipalities.

Railway/Airport Retiring Rooms

A retiring room is for the convenience of the transit travelers. These are situated at a major railway station and domestic and international airports. They provide resting rooms are available at reasonable rates and are often air-conditioned. Booking for the same is made through the station superintendent or the airport manager.

They are equipped with clean sanitation facilities and may include F&B  facilities at a cost.

Paying Guest Accommodation

A paying guest (PG) accommodation is a non-institutional accommodation offered by individual households at various destinations. Besides tourist haven like Goa, this kind of accommodation is becoming popular in large metropolitan cities among outstation students and the employed youth migrants from other towns.

Guests normally pay for accommodation, while the rules for F&B services may differ from host to host.

Hotel Traffic Plans

The various traffic patterns followed by hotels have come to be identified with the area where such patterns originated. Hotels charge their guest according to European, Continental, American, Bed and Breakfast meal plans, etc. We shall briefly discuss these plans. These are followed as:

European Plan

The tariff consists of room rate only. All other expenses would be paid by the guest as per the actual use of consumption.

Continental Plan

The room tariff includes continental breakfast, along with the room rent. Continental breakfast includes a choice of fresh or canned juices; bread like the croissant, toast, brioche, etc. with butter or preserves like jam, jellies, and marmalade; beverage like tea or coffee, with or without milk.

American Plan

It is also known as en-pension or full board . The tariff includes all meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) along with the room rent. The menu for the food and beverage is fixed.

Modified American Plan

It is also known as demi-pension or half board. The tariff consists of breakfast and one major meal (lunch or dinner) along with the room rent.

Bed & Breakfast (B&B) or Bermuda Plan

The room traffic includes American breakfast along with room rent. American breakfast includes most or all of the following: two eggs (fried or poached), sliced bacon or sausage, sliced bread or toast with jam/jelly/butter, pancakes with syrup, cornflakes or other cereal, coffee/tea, and orange/grapefruit juice.

Types of  Hotel Guest Rooms

A hotel sells a combination of accommodation, food, drinks, and other services and facilities to its guests. The main accommodation product is the room, which is among the principal source for the hotel. Other facilities and benefits such as ambiance, décor, in-room amenities, and security, are the add-on that plays a significant role in the pricing of the services.

In order to suit the profile and pocket of various guests, hotels offer different types of rooms that cater to the specific need of guests. The rooms may be categorized on the basis of the room size, layout, view, interior decoration, and services offered. The various types of rooms offered by a hotel are as follows:

Single Room

A single room has one single bed for single occupancy. An additional bed (called extra bed) may be added to this room on the request of a guest and charged accordingly. The size of the bed is normal 3 feet by 6 feet. However, the concept of single rooms is vanishing nowadays. Mostly, hotels have twin or double rooms and charge for the single room, if occupied by one person.

A twin room has two single beds for double occupancy. An extra bed may be added to this room on the request of the guest and charged accordingly. The bed size is normally 3 feet by 6 feet. These rooms are suitable for sharing accommodation among a group or delegates meeting.

Double Room

A double room has one double bed for double occupancy. An extra bed may be added to this room on the request of a guest and charged accordingly. The size of the double bed is generally 4.5 feet by 6 feet.

Triple Room

A triple room has three separate single beds and can be occupied by three guests. This type of room is suitable for groups and delegates of meetings and conferences.

A quad room has four separate single beds and can accommodate four persons together in the same room.

Hollywood Twin Room

A Hollywood twin room has two single beds with a common headboard. This type of room is generally occupied by two guests.

Double-Double Room

A double-double room has two double beds and normally preferred by a family or group as it can accommodate four persons together.

A king room has a king-size bed. The size of the bed is 6 feet by 6 feet. An extra bed may be added to this room on the request of a guest and charged accordingly.

A queen room has a queen-size bed. The size of the bed is 5 feet by 6 feet. An extra bed may be added to this room on the request of a guest and charged accordingly.

Interconnecting Room

Interconnected rooms have a common wall and a door that connects the two rooms. This allows guests to access any of the two rooms without passing through a public area. This type of room is ideal for families and crew members.

Adjoining Room

Adjoining rooms share a wall with another hotel room but are not connected by the doors. For eg. Room no. 201 and 202, 203, and 204, 205 are adjoining as each pair of rooms shares a common wall.

Adjacent Room

An adjacent room is very close to another room but does not share a common wall with it.

Parlor Room

A parlor room has a living room without a bed and may have a sofa and chairs for sitting. It is generally not used as a bedroom.

Studio Room

A studio room has a bed and a sofa-cum-bed and is generally used as a living room.

A cabana is situated away from the main hotel building, in the vicinity of a swimming pool or sea beach. It may not have beds and is generally used as a changing room and not as a bedroom.

A suite comprises more than one room; occasionally, it can also be a single large room with clearly defined sleeping and sitting areas. The décor of such units is of very high standards, aimed to please the affluent guest who can afford the high traffic of the room category.

A duplex suite comprises two rooms situated on different floors, which are connected by an internal staircase. This suite is generally used by business guests who wish to use the lower level as an office and meeting place and the upper-level room as a bedroom. This type of room is quite expensive.

Efficiency Room

An efficiency room has an attached kitchen and bathroom for guests preferring a longer duration of stay. Generally, this type of room is found on holiday and health resorts where the guest stays for a longer time.

Hospitality Room

A hospitality room is designed for hotel guests who would want to entertain their own guests outside their allotted rooms. Such rooms are generally charged on an hourly basis.

A penthouse is generally located on the topmost floor of hotels and has an attached open terrace or open sky space. It has very opulent décor and furnishings and is among the costliest rooms in the hotels, preferred by celebrities and major political personalities.

A lanai has a veranda or roofed patio and is often furnished and used as a living room. It generally has a view of a garden or sea beach.

Top Leaders in Hospitality Industry

They are those persons who contribute in the hospitality industry a lot. Some famous names are following as:

Ellsworth Statler

Ellsworth Statler is a famous name in the field of hospitality as he was one of the pioneers of this industry and contributing and contributed immensely to the development of the hospitality industry through his innovative ideas, which are still applicable in the various fields of the hospitality industry.

In 1908 A.D., he opened as an innovative hotel of its own kind during that time called Buffalo Statler which had the room with some modern facilities such as attached bathrooms, telephone facilities, and restaurant facilities.

Statler also contributed a great deal towards the international marketing efforts in the field of the hospitality industry. Statler was also very popular among his employees, as he believed in the concept of the internal marketing as he used to consider his employees as internal guests.

Conrad Hilton

Conrad Hilton is also a very famous name in the field of hospitality and was one of the pioneers of the modern hotel industry. Hilton becomes a famous and successful hotelier after World War I when he brought the Mobley hotel in Texas and built the Hilton Hotels in Dallas, Texas in 1925. After the World War II, he formed the Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1946 and then he formed Hilton International Company, which had about 125 hotels under its banner.

Hilton was the first major and organized hotel chain of American hotels when Conrad Hilton purchased the Statler chain of hotels in 1954. Today Hilton Hotels are spread in most of the countries of the world and includes Conrad International, Doubletree, Red Lions Hotels, Harrison Conference Centers, Homewood Suites and Embassy Suites.

J. Willard Marriott

J.W Marriot was another pioneering name in the world of the hospitality industry. He started the Marriott Chain of Hotels and thus became a frontline leader in the field of hospitality. He was thoroughly aware of the employees/consumer relationship and tried to make sure that his employees were totally satisfied with their job and working environment.

He had a strong marketing brain and could forecast the importance of airline catering business for various airlines operations and was the first to enter in the field of hospitality. In today scenario, Marriot Corporation is one of the leading companies in the field of hospitality with an annual sale of $7.5 billion and has a variety of food and beverage service operation under his banner.

The lodging chain of Marriott includes Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Marriott Suites, Residence Inns, Courtyard Hotels and Fairfield Inns.

Ralph Hitz was also a very popular personality in the hospitality industry. He was the head of a large hotel organization in U.S.A called the National Hotel Company. His hotel management used to receive a management fee for running day by day administration of hotel owned by real estate investors.

Hitz had excellent marketing brain, as he was the first intellectual to develop a customer database for providing the guests of hotels with personalized service leading to guest satisfaction and overall profitability of the hotels. Hitz also believed in training and motivating the employees of the hotels to give and improved services for guest satisfaction.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• My Account Login
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Open access
• Published: 28 November 2022

Architectural characteristics of accommodation buildings within the context of sustainable ecotourism in Cyprus: evaluation and recommendations

• Miray Dizem Üzümoğlu   nAff2 &
• Zihni Turkan 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  9 , Article number:  422 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

2268 Accesses

2 Citations

1 Altmetric

Metrics details

• Cultural and media studies
• Science, technology and society

Tourism, a socioeconomic activity generally defined as an exchange of culture, is diversified by its different purposes. Ecotourism, which emerged and has been constantly developing in the last quarter century, is based on the principles of protecting the natural environment and recognising the original local culture in an interaction with the environment. As significant components of tourism activities, accommodation structures play a major role in the realisation of ecotourism. Due to its location, cultural heritage and rich history together with its Mediterranean climate, Cyprus is an especially important tourism destination for people from Middle East and European countries. The traditional living culture in this small island country has created a huge demand for ecotourism in Cyprus. The ecotourism industry in Cyprus provides housing structures restored with the traditional architectural characteristics of the island as well as new buildings. The new accommodation structures should be constructed in compliance with the traditional architectural characteristics of Cyprus to contribute to the island’s cultural tourism. Our study was conducted through a literature review regarding the main concepts of tourism and ecotourism and on-site field work on the architectural characteristics of existing ecotourism accommodation structures located in the ecotourism villages of Cyprus. In consideration of the field study findings, this study also proposes recommendations that could be a model for the architectural characteristics of new accommodation structures to be constructed for sustainable ecotourism in Cyprus. Within the framework of our study, the location, construction date, and architectural characteristics of fifteen accommodation structures were selected from Cyprus ecotourism villages; their layout and sketch drawings were completed using measurements and observations, while outdoor-indoor photographs were taken. As a result of these findings and based on the common architectural characteristics of existing ecotourism accommodation structures, the architectural characteristics of future accommodation structures have been identified accordingly.

Similar content being viewed by others

A geographical perspective on the formation of urban nightlife landscape

Yi Liu, Yifan Zhang, … Ying Zhao

Aula Verde (tree room) as a link between art and science to raise public awareness of nature-based solutions

A. Conte, R. Pace, … L. Passatore

Implications of ideology on school buildings and cultural pluralistic context of Gazimağusa, North Cyprus

Ejeng B. Ukabi & Huriye Gurdalli

Introduction

Tourism is generally defined as a consumer’s act of travelling and obtaining temporary accommodation at a place other than their permanent residence for holiday relaxation and recreational purposes (Yörük, 2003 ). Tourism, which is performed by changing locations for various reasons, comprises social, cultural, sports and special interest activities. Specific places and regions are chosen for different purposes and activities, making it possible to diversify. Accommodation buildings, among other tourism facilities, are vital components of tourism activities. Accommodation buildings that first provide a safe shelter for individuals and meet their various needs, such as comfort, relaxation, food and beverages, and entertainment, are categorised as hotels, motels, holiday resorts, bed and breakfasts, mountain resorts and thermal facilities (Kozak et al., 2014 ).

With its significant place among the various types of tourism, ecotourism, which emerged in the 1980s, is an important tourism activity for cultural exchange between countries. Ecotourism, namely, ecological tourism, can be defined as travel to natural and ecologically uninterrupted areas or regions (Özhan, 2007 ). Ecotourism accommodation buildings have characteristics that differ from the others, and they are similar to boutique hotels that are compatible with their natural surroundings while providing quality services. Eco-accommodation structures minimise the environmental impact on natural and cultural assets and involve landscape design and gardens and sustainable design construction, use green technologies, integrate the local community into the development and implementation of eco-accommodation buildings, and ensure environmental and cultural education for its visitors (Hakim and Nakagoshi, 2014 ). Accommodation structures, which are crucial for tourism activities, play an important role in the promotion and maintenance of traditional living culture for their visitors.

For centuries, Cyprus has been an important tourism centre due to its geographical location, Mediterranean climate, rich history and cultural heritage. As an island in the Mediterranean, Cyprus connected with other countries via the sea and maintained trade relations. The arrival of people from other countries began with British administrative and military officers during the British administration (1878–1960) (Turkan, 2008 ). After the division of the island in 1974 into north and south, Ercan Airport was opened in 1976, connecting the north with the outside world through means other than sea transportation. In the early 1980s, tourism became more active in Cyprus, and small holiday resorts were built and opened (Bıçak and Turkan, 2018 ). Since the 2000s, most accommodation buildings, particularly those along the eastern and northern coastlines, have been multi-storey and luxurious modern buildings that provide services based on the triangle of sea, bed, and sea (Ölçer, 2011 ; Emekli, 2003 ).

The residents of the island managed to continue their rural life and traditional living culture since the distances between the settlements are not too far and transportation is easy. The sustainable traditional lifestyle on the island provided positive conditions for ecotourism. Since 2005, Bağlıköy (Ambelikou), Büyükkonuk (Komi Kebir) and Dipkarpaz (Risokarpaso) were selected for the introduction of ecotourism, and the houses built with local architectural characteristics were restored and transformed into boutique hotel-style buildings. Annual ecotourism days are organised for the exhibition and selling of local food, beverages and handcrafts; and folk dance and various rural life events are held, all of which promotes and preserves the traditional life and cultural assets of Cyprus.

Ecotourism has recently become popular in Cypriot domestic and foreign tourism. The housing buildings at the related villages reflecting the traditional architectural characteristics of the island have been restored for use in ecotourism, and additional spaces and new accommodation buildings have been constructed to eliminate the shortcomings. These ecotourism accommodation buildings were chosen as the subject matter of our study with the aim of contributing to the improvement and sustainability of ecotourism since the traditional cultural assets of the island can only be promoted through accommodation buildings with traditional architectural characteristics. Because of this, future ecotourism accommodation buildings should be designed and built with the traditional architectural nature of the island.

Since the early 2000s, ecotourism has become so important among worldwide tourism activities that Cyprus’s domestic and foreign tourism visitors prefer ecotourism as their first choice. In line with such choices, there is an increasing need for accommodation buildings as a significant component in ecotourism. Considering the findings from our field studies on the architectural characteristics of the existing accommodation buildings in ecotourism villages, which were conducted to support the sustainability of ecotourism activities in Cyprus, the aim of this study is to make recommendations on the architectural characteristics of future ecotourism accommodation buildings that would promote and maintain the traditional living culture and all other local cultural heritage through spaces with traditional architectural characteristics of the island furnished with local authentic fittings.

Cyprus is an important tourism destination due to its location, rich historical and cultural heritage and Mediterranean climate (Bıçak and Turkan, 2018 ). Cyprus is particularly compatible with the notion of ecotourism since rural areas that are very close to urban life opportunities yet merged with nature still operate in a traditional way. The existing accommodation buildings used in tourism activities are not sufficient in terms of reflecting and promoting the historical pattern, traditional architecture and living culture of the island; hence, they cannot be useful for ecotourism. Therefore, there are not enough accommodation buildings in the villages to meet the increasing demand for ecotourism. As a result of our study, we identified the architectural characteristics that have a major role in the island’s ecotourism activities and proposed these for the design of accommodation buildings. While there are various studies on ecotourism in Cyprus, our study is the first detailed and comprehensive study on how ecotourism accommodation buildings contribute to the promotion of ecotourism through future accommodation buildings with the proposed architectural characteristics. Moreover, the study findings make a major contribution to the correct performance and sustainability of ecotourism through the new ecotourism facilities to be built with the proposed architectural characteristics.

Starting from the concept of tourism as the basis of our research, the types of tourism, the accommodations in tourism, the concept of ecotourism and its properties and effects, the ecotourism villages in Cyprus, the architectural characteristics of accommodation buildings in such villages and the architectural characteristic recommendations for the design of new ecotourism accommodation buildings are the focus of our study.

The research process table is shown in Table 1 .

Theoretical framework

Ecotourism is generally defined as nature-conscious travel that aims to protect the environment and consider the welfare of the local community (Ayman, 2013 ). In other words, the concept of ecotourism comprises travels to visit or study the landscape, flora and fauna, and activities unique to such places (Soykan, 2003 ). According to Elizabeth Boo, ecotourism is nature-oriented tourism protecting nature and improving tourism by fundraising for parks, protected areas and surrounding communities and organising environmental training courses for the local community (Erkut, 2005 ). Kutay noted that ecotourism is considered a development model at natural sites and is planned as a part of biological source-based tourism within a socioeconomic structure (Özyaba, 2001 ). The World Tourism Organisation recognises ecotourism as responsible travel to natural areas with the aim of protecting the environment and enhancing the welfare of the local community. Ecotourism, which has grown and continues to grow, involves travelling to a place where the natural environment and unique culture are protected and where tourists can interact with their surroundings to learn about the local community and culture (Özhan, 2007 ). The concept of ecotourism was first used by Hector Ceballos-Lascurain in 1983. According to Hector Ceballos-Lascurain, ecotourism has the least impact on the environment; it covers visits to unspoiled or unpolluted natural areas with the special purpose of analysing, observing and living with the landscape, wildlife and rural concepts. The most important aspect of ecotourism is the inclusion of the local community; hence, socioeconomic benefits are acquired (Boo, 1993 ).

The trend in ecotourism has the fastest growth among the worldwide tourism industries. The most important factors that provide significance to ecotourism are as follows (Hawkins and Lamoureux, 2001 ):

International awareness.

Desire for nature-oriented experience.

Necessity to preserve natural resources for future generations.

The main characteristics of ecotourism are respect, responsibility and sustainability. The following four principles are always emphasised in all definitions of ecotourism (Erdoğan, 2003 ; Polat, 2008 ):

Natural environment.

Ecological and cultural sustainability.

Education and explanation of topic.

Economic benefits at the local level.

Ecotourism also aims to benefit from both natural and cultural features. The rural life, mountain and village houses chosen for accommodation, the tastes of local cuisine and the ability to camp in unspoiled nature are some of the characteristics of ecotourism activities. With respect to ecotourism, which focuses on existing resources, the main aim is to transfer daily life habits towards an activity (Polat, 2008 ).

Ecotourism accommodation buildings, which have a different approach than the accommodations for other types of tourism, are mainly boutique hotels that fit within their natural surroundings and provide quality service. They are mainly small-scale establishments that operate as family businesses.

Ecolodges were first introduced at the First International Forum on Ecological Accommodation in 1994 in the US Virgin Islands. In 1995, a guideline about ecolodge facilities, “The First International Ecolodge Guidelines”, was developed during an international conference held in Costa Rica. Consequently, the first international definition of ecolodge facilities was provided accordingly. Based on this definition, the essential components of the first ecolodge facility are as follows (Wood, 2002 ; Demir and Çevirgen, 2006 ):

Protect the natural and cultural elements of its surroundings.

Minimal negative impact on the natural environment during construction.

The physical and cultural texture of the facility should blend with the local architectural styles and scenery and colours.

Use of alternative practices to meet long-term water demands and minimise water consumption.

Solid waste and wastewater systems should be established with effective management.

Contribute to sustainable development of the local community through research programs.

Efforts to collaborate with the local community.

Offer ecological and cultural training courses from which local employees and tourists can also benefit.

Meet the energy needs by merging passive designs and modern installations with sustainable use.

Ecotourism in Cyprus

Cyprus is a small island where the industry sector has not developed very much, and the production sector mainly focuses on agriculture and animal husbandry. The local community have maintained their rural life and traditional living culture since the distances between the settlements are not too far and transportation is easy. The sustainable traditional lifestyle on the island has provided positive conditions for ecotourism.

Büyükkonuk (Komi Kebir) was chosen as a pilot ecotourism village in 2005 to revive tourism in Cyprus. Within the scope of such activities, the locals were provided training about ecotourism, and several conferences were held as well. Later, with the ecotourism activities initiated in Bağlıköy (Ampelikou) and Dipkarpaz (Rizokarpaso), ecotourism in Cyprus became popular and developed. Special ecotourism days are organised annually in ecotourism villages where local food and beverages and handcrafts are sold and folk dance shows and various rural life activities are held, enabling the promotion and maintenance of the traditional lifestyle and cultural assets of Cyprus. The houses built with local architectural characteristics are restored and transformed into boutique hotels to serve their visitors.

Bağlıköy (Ampelikou) is a village in Lefke, Cyprus, with 200 habitants, stone streets, houses built with traditional materials and a richness in nature where people still live in a traditional way (Tietze, 2002 ; LEKAD, 2009 ). Bağlıköy is a typical eco-village due to its traditional architectural texture, traditional lifestyle, local produce from fertile soils, traditional handcrafts and Cyprus cuisine. It became an eco-village in 2013, its locals were trained about ecotourism, and the Ecotourism Volunteers Association was established, which ensured awareness of natural beauties and the environment and protected cultural heritage items and local texture. As a part of ecotourism activities, village houses were restored as accommodation buildings, local products became much more important, and an annual eco-day event was planned (Figs. 1 and 2 ).

Ampelikou general appearance.

Ampelikou: a view from eco-day. https://www.havadiskibris.com/baglikoyde-paluze-tadinda-etkinlik-2/ .

Dipkarpaz (Rizokarpaso) village is in the district of İskele with a population of 2349. It is located on the far east tip of the Karpasia Peninsula and is disconnected from urban life due to the insufficiency of the transportation axis and means as well as its distance from cities. However, this has favoured the survival of traditional island life in the village with all of its properties. The ecotourism facilities in the Karpasia Peninsula were first opened in 2009, and the first one was called ‘Arch House’. The traditional houses that have the historical texture of Dipkarpaz were restored and transformed into ecotourism eligible accommodation facilities. In 2013, the “Multi-Purpose Community Centre” (ÇATOM Coop.), the first Women’s Cooperative in Dipkarpaz, was founded to develop and sustain ecotourism and to support women and farmers in village life. Products made by women are sold on eco-day festivals and fairs under the brand of this cooperative (Figs. 3 and 4 ).

Risokarpaso general appearance.

Risokarpaso ÇATOM Cooperative.

With its population of 2860 people, Büyükkonuk (Komi Kebir) is a settlement built on top of a necropolis from the Bronze Age (Tuğun and Karaman, 2014 ). In 2005, Büyükkonuk village was declared a pilot village for eco- and agrotourism sites with the aim of reviving tourism in the area. Hence, trainings and seminars on ecotourism were organised for the locals. In collaboration with the SME Centre, several workshops were held to merge the local community with the concept of ecotourism. The handcrafts of Büyükkonuk, cultural events and festivals are important both for visitor attraction and for improving domestic and foreign tourism. The ‘Eco-Day’ festival is held in Büyükkonuk twice a year in May and October with major participation to support the local community in the village and preserve the local cuisine. The objectives of the eco-day festival are to improve environmental awareness, promote local and regional heritage and sell the local delicacies and the natural and organic produce of the local community. The very old traditional houses at the village square have been restored and put in service as accommodation buildings and restaurants for ecotourism activities. Büyükkonuk, the first eco-village in the region, serves ecotourism with its history, social and cultural assets and local architectural texture (Figs. 5 and 6 ).

Komikebir general appearance.

Komikebir-craft stand.

Methodology

Our research was conducted with a qualitative method covering a literature review on basic concepts and on-site field work. Therefore, an in-depth literature review on the concepts of tourism and ecotourism in particular was performed as the basis of our study, examining the types of tourism accommodation buildings, ecotourism accommodation buildings and ecotourism in Cyprus through the related journals, books, articles and thesis works.

As part of the meetings with the related institutions regarding the accommodation buildings in the ecotourism villages in Cyprus, which is the main subject matter of our study, the relevant institutions, associations and individuals whom we contacted provided the following information: the documentation on the registered tourism accommodation buildings and ecotourism accommodation buildings from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment; the information on the location, current situation and contact details of ecotourism accommodation building owners in the related villages from the Municipalities of Lefke, Büyükkonuk and Dipkarpaz; the information on the role of Lefke in ecotourism, ecotourism villages in the area and the procedures on how the ecotourism accommodation buildings in Bağlıköy, Yeşilırmak and Yeşilyurt became a part of ecotourism from the Chairman of the Lefke Tourism Association; the detailed information on the integration of ecotourism accommodation buildings in Karpasia into tourism activities and their contribution from the Chairman of Karpasia Eco-Agrotourism Cooperative and Board Members and officials from the Ecotourism Volunteers Association; the information and documentation on the history of existing accommodation buildings, restoration process, official procedures in transforming accommodation buildings and the benefit of such buildings for the regional ecotourism from the owners/managers of the existing accommodation buildings.

No surveys were used for our study. Only several interviews were held with the related persons and institutions for information purposes.

A total of fifteen ecotourism accommodation buildings were analysed on-site through the field studies performed examining the accommodation buildings in the ecotourism villages in Cyprus, which are Bağlıköy (Ambelikou), Büyükkonuk (Komi Kebir), Dipkarpaz (Risokarpaso), Yeşilyurt (Pentageia), Yeşilırmak (Limnitis) and Kumyalı (Kumyalik). Outputs were generated on the number of floors and the architectural characteristics, the courtyards that provide indoor-outdoor space, the building materials, the construction systems, the room systems, the façade details, the interior elements and the furnishings. The measurements and observations required to identify the spaces in buildings and determine the functional relation between the spaces were performed, and their individual layout sketches were developed. The indoor and outdoor spaces of buildings were photographed to identify the existing status of accommodation buildings and support our study.

Our field study findings on the architectural characteristics of ecotourism accommodation buildings are presented via a systematic table. The common architectural characteristics of existing ecotourism accommodation buildings were identified based on follow-up assessments.

Pursuant to the findings generated from our interviews and architectural observations, the majority of ecotourism accommodation buildings are built with the traditional architectural characteristics. Some of the old buildings were restored and became a part of ecotourism, while the others are new buildings partially reflecting the traditional architectural characteristics. Future accommodation buildings should have the properties to reflect traditional architecture and living culture in their location, layout, material, and furnishing, all of which would maintain and ensure the sustainability of ecotourism. Hence, our study provides architectural characteristic recommendations for future ecotourism accommodation buildings.

The following table reflects our research plan, outline of our activities and overall process (Table 2 ).

Case study (ecotourism accommodation buildings in Cyprus)

Within the framework of our field study conducted on ecotourism accommodation buildings in Cyprus, the layout sketches of two accommodation buildings in Bağlıköy (Ampelikou) (Bağ Evi, Ambelikou Guest House), three in Büyükkonuk (Komi Kebir) (Ayphodios Guest House, Asut Guest House, Galifes Guest House), six in Dipkarpaz (Rizokarpaso) (Castle Carpasia Guest House, Karpasia Natura Guest House, Villa Lembos Hotel, Glaro Garden Hotel, Revaklı Ev Guest House, Karpaz Arch House) and one in Yeşilyurt (Pentageia) (Pendaya Eco Garden), two in Yeşilırmak (Limnitis) (Vouni King Hotel, Erson Hoca’s Organic Farm) and one in Kumyalı (Kumyalik) (Nitovikla Garden Hotel) were generated, and the buildings were photographed upon visiting them on-site and identifying their architectural characteristics.

Among the fifteen ecotourism accommodation buildings that are under the scope of our research, thirteen are in the village centre where active rural life continues, and two of them (Ayphodios Guest House, Erson Hoca’s Organic Farm) are located outside the villages. They are not high-storey buildings, yet all of them have courtyards.

The accommodation buildings are mainly built with masonry construction using traditional materials such as ashlar, adobe and wood. In some of the accommodation buildings (Villa Lembos, Glaro Garden Hotel, Erson Hoca’s Organic Farm, Karpasia Natura Guest House, Vouni King Hotel, Nitovikla Garden Hotel), reinforced concrete carcass systems and modern materials were also used together with masonry. Adobe was only used in the walls, stone walls, door-window frames, arch and wall coverings, while wood was used for door windows, ceiling carrier systems, shading elements and railings (Figs. 7 – 10 ).

Example of an adobe structure.

Example of reinforced concrete construction.

Example of a piecewise structure.

The majority of the accommodation buildings were scattered in design, and the layouts were organised in a rectangular form (Figs. 11 and 12 ).

Plan sketch—Risokarpaso.

The roof systems of accommodation buildings are generally either flat or slightly inclined roofs covered with bricks. Flat roof and saddle back and jerkinhead were used in six of the accommodation buildings (Castle Karpasia Guest House, Karpasia Natura Guest House, Glaro Garden Hotel, Karpaz Arch House, Pendeya Eco Garden Hotel, Nitovikla Garden Hotel).

Almost all of the accommodation buildings have a simple façade with wooden doors and windows. The arch stoas in four of the accommodation buildings (Galifes Guest House, Revaklı Ev Guest House, Karpaz Arch House, Nitovikla Garden Hotel) also pepped up the façades (Figs. 13 – 16 ).

An example of a structure built with stone material—Komikebir.

An example of a portico and arched structure—Risokarpaso.

An example of a building with stone materials—Risokarpaso.

An example of reinforced concrete construction—Kumyalık.

In general, the floors are covered with ceramic, while the ceilings are mainly built with straw roofs spread on rectangular wooden beams. The ceilings of four accommodation buildings (Asut Guest House, Karpasia Natura Guest House, Villa Lembos, Glaro Garden Hotel) are plastered and painted white (Figs. 17 and 18 ).

Authentic furnishing example—Komikebir.

The bedrooms have authentic beds made with wood, iron and brass; wooden carved chests, armchairs and tables; rugs on the floor; and curtains embellished with handcrafts for the final touch. The reception and sitting areas in public spaces are decorated with authentic wooden armchairs and sofas and a coffee table, sideboard, showcase cabinet and shelves. A wooden table with legs made on a wood lathe and woven straw chairs are placed in the dining areas (Figs. 19 – 22 ).

Authentic furnishing example—Kumyalik.

An example of a stone arched structure—Komikebir.

Example of a wooden rafter ceiling—Komikebir.

Ceiling and floor sample—Risokarpaso.

Findings and evaluation (table of eco-tourism accommodation buildings)

Pursuant to the comparisons and evaluations regarding the architectural characteristics of Cyprus ecotourism accommodation buildings, the accommodation buildings are located in rural settlement villages, and the majority of them have been restored and made functional. While some of the buildings are old housing units with traditional architectural characteristics, the others are new buildings with traditional architectural elements.

The old buildings have one or two stories with a courtyard built with masonry construction method using stone, adobe and wooden materials. The roof systems are brick-covered saddle or flat roof. Most of these buildings have arch porches built with ashlar along their sleeping units. There are wooden shutters on the simple face of the buildings. The floor materials are local marble plates, polished concrete and ceramic, while the ceilings have reed mats on rectangular wooden columns. All indoor furnishings in all buildings are authentic local materials made with wood, iron and brass.

Most of the new accommodation buildings are single storey, whereas the others are built with two or three stories with courtyards. They are mainly built with bricks in reinforced concrete carcass systems. The new buildings are generally fragmented and in a rectangular layout plan. Most of them are covered with flat roofs, and some have brick-covered saddle roofs. The floors of the accommodation buildings, which have simple façades with wooden doors and windows, are covered with ceramic material. The ceilings are generally plastered and painted white. The indoor furnishings are comprised of local authentic furniture made with wooden materials.

The architectural characteristics of the ecotourism accommodation buildings under the scope of our study are reflected in the table below (Table 3 ).

Conclusion and recommendations

Accommodation buildings, with their location, architecture and authentic elements and services, are crucial for the existence and sustainability of ecotourism as a kind of tourism that promotes and maintains local cultural assets.

The ecotourism accommodation buildings that are covered by our study are houses in rural settlement villages and have traditional architectural characteristics; here, people have the chance to live within the traditional lifestyle surrounded by streets integrated with nature.

Since the buildings do not have many stories, visitors can enjoy village life together with the traditional living culture in which people can sit and eat outdoors surrounded by nature.

The use of traditional materials promotes the traditional architecture of Cyprus, while the insulation properties of materials provide structural comfort during summer and winter. Moreover, the materials are from local suppliers, which has also added value for the construction economy.

The accommodation buildings are designed as scattered on the land, allowing them to be customised by the utilisation nature of different functions, while their connection with outdoor spaces as well as being low-rise buildings ensures integration with nature and detached living.

In terms of roof systems, the buildings have flat or slightly inclined roof structures that fit with the low-precipitation Mediterranean climate.

The buildings’ simple façades, doors and windows made from wood fit the Mediterranean climate, just as the traditional materials, stone arch porches and indoor-outdoor living spaces reflect the traditional architecture that has a major place in Cypriot life, and this is all provided for the enjoyment of visitors.

Although ceramics are used for the flooring, the use of traditional materials and construction techniques in the old and restored buildings and the ceilings of new accommodation buildings conserve the interior characteristics of local architecture.

Most interior furnishings are similar. The bedrooms and common areas have authentic furniture and furnishings made with wood, iron and brass, reflecting the traditional interior design of the island.

Consequently, our architectural recommendations for the design of future sustainable ecotourism accommodation buildings are based on our findings regarding the architectural characteristics of the ecotourism accommodation buildings in Cyprus.:

New ecotourism accommodation buildings should be in rural areas that are isolated from urban life and where unique Cyprus flora and fauna exist, traditional living activities still live on, and local and original production is performed.

New buildings should be low-rise buildings with courtyards inside to provide better quality service for visitors, better utilisation of rural life opportunities and provision of living service in a close relationship with nature.

To support the economy, contribute to structural soundness, and promote the sustainability of traditional architecture and local material resources, the main building materials should be stone, adobe and wood, which are still available for easy access on the island.

While accommodation buildings with low bed capacity may be single buildings, most should be designed as scattered buildings with bedrooms and common areas connected through a courtyard to be functionally compatible with a traditional rural lifestyle in touch with nature.

The roof systems should be flat roofs or brick-covered slightly inclined roofs to fit with the Mediterranean climate and traditional architecture.

To accommodate the higher temperatures of the Mediterranean climate and to reflect the traditional architecture, the windows should have wooden shutters, and semi-open spaces (terraces, arch porches, traditional balconies) should be used to create the outdoor spaces that have a vital place in traditional outdoor life in the Mediterranean climate.

Local and traditional materials (stone plate, wood, straw mat) should be used for walls, flooring and ceilings.

Wooden, brass and iron materials that reflect the living culture and ethnographical cultural assets of Cyprus and that are still used in rural areas should be used for the furnishings of accommodation buildings.

Moreover, electricity should be generated from the solar energy resources that are a benefit of the Mediterranean climate, which would make it possible to meet hot water needs; rainwater harvesting systems should be available as an additional source for water demand; and wastewater should be treated to be used outdoors and in landscaping with the aim of minimising the environmental impact on natural and cultural assets and contributing to ecotourism.

Pursuant to our findings, the future ecotourism accommodation buildings that would be built based on our recommendations regarding the location, number of floors, materials, roof system, façade by climate, indoor organisation, furnishings and renewable energy resources would promote the cultural values of the island and bring major contributions to sustainable ecotourism in Cyprus.

Data availability

Data can be made available on request.

Ayman O (2013) Doğa Dostu Tatil, National Geographic Traveler, April, 38

Boo E (1993) Eco-tourism planning for protected areas, eco-tourism: a guide for planners and managers. North Bennington, Vermony: The Eco-tourism Society. pp. 15–31

Bıçak T, Turkan Z (2018) Two examples of cultural tourism and accomodation buildings in Northern Cyprus Karpaz Arch House-Lefke Gardens Hotel. Master Thesis. Lefkoşa, Near East University Institute of Graduate School of Applied Science. p. 597

Bıçak T, Turkan Z (2018) Cultural tourism in The North Cyprus and two example of accommodation buildings: Karpaz Arch Houses-Lefke Gardens Hotel. Master Thesis. Lefkoşa, Near East University Institute of Graduate School of Applied Science. p. 595

Demir C, Çevirgen (2006) A eco tourism management. Ankara, Nobel publication, (1. Basım), pp. 70–71

Emekli G (2003) The place of Pergamon and Ephesus in the cultural tourism of Izmir, Aegean. Geogr J 12:39–50

Google Scholar  

Erdoğan N (2003) Environment and (Eco)tourism. ERK publication, Ankara

Erkut FÇ (2005) Evaluation of Akçay valley and Madran mountain as eco-tourism resource. Unpublished Master Thesis. Aydın, Adnan Menderes University, Institute of Social Sciences. p. 53

Hakim L, Nakagoshi N (2014) Eco-tourism and climates changes: the ecolodge contribution i̇n global warming mitigation. J Trop Life Sci 4(1):26–32

Article   Google Scholar  

Hawkins DE, Lamoureux K (2001) Global growth and magnitude of eco-tourism. The encyclopedia of eco-tourism B. David (editör). CABI Publishing, London, pp. 37–62

Kozak N, Kozak MA, Kozak M (2014) General tourism information principles-concepts. Ankara, Detay Publication. p. 49

LEKAD (2009) Lefke and Surrounding Villages Solidarity and Development Association (LEKAD). Voice of the West, 2009, Number: 7

Ölçer EÖ (2011) On questioning the local and authenic in cultural tourism and reproducing exhausted spaces. Turkish Stud ume 6/4:255–262

Özhan T(2007) Conversation with Taha Özhan on colonialism and new colonialism. Old New, number 5, pp. 44–51

Özyaba M (2001) Searching for eco-tourism possibilities and it’s effects on urban and regional economy in the Eastern Black Sea region’s high plateaus. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. Karadeniz Technical University, Institute of Social Sciences, Trabzon, p.16

Polat T (2008) Eco-tourism Karapınar district and its neighborhood. Published by Karapınar Municipality, Konya, p 1

Polat T (2008) Eco-tourism KarapınaR District and Its Neighborhood. Published by Karapınar Municipality, Konya, p 2

Soykan F (2003) Rural tourism and its importance for Turkish tourism, Aegean. Geogr J 12:1–11

Tietze A (2002) Historical and Etymological Turkey Turkish Dictionary. İstanbul, Simurg Publication, p. 259

Turkan Z (2008) The formation and development of Kyrenia harbour within the historical city texture. Işık Bookstore Publication, Nicosia, p 10

Tuğun Ö, Karaman AA (2014) Sustainability model for gaining the core villages to the eco tourism. Megaron J 9:321–337

Wood ME (2002) Eco-tourism: principles. Practices and policies for sustainability. United Nations Publication, France

Yörük ÜK (2003) The study of disability factor in designing tourism buildings. Master Thesis. İstanbul, Yıldız Teknik University, Institute of Science, p. 23

Download references

Author information

Miray Dizem Üzümoğlu

Present address: Near East University, Graduate Education Institute, North Cyprus, Cyprus

Authors and Affiliations

Near East University, Faculty of Architecture, North Cyprus, Cyprus

Zihni Turkan

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miray Dizem Üzümoğlu .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. Ethical approval was not required because no survey, numerical and graphical research was conducted.

Informed consent

The approval of all the participants interviewed in the study was obtained.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Üzümoğlu, M.D., Turkan, Z. Architectural characteristics of accommodation buildings within the context of sustainable ecotourism in Cyprus: evaluation and recommendations. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 9 , 422 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01443-7

Download citation

Received : 13 May 2022

Accepted : 14 November 2022

Published : 28 November 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01443-7

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

• Search Menu
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Acquisition
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music and Religion
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Lifestyle, Home, and Garden
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Ethics
• Business Strategy
• Business History
• Business and Technology
• Business and Government
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic History
• Economic Systems
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Public Policy
• Public Administration
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Developmental and Physical Disabilities Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

Hotels and Tourism

Kevin J. James is Professor of History at the University of Guelph in Canada, where he holds the Scottish Studies Foundation Chair and serves as Director of the Centre for Scottish Studies. His research programs have explored the history of the hotel visitors' book, hotels in wartime, and the history of country house hotels.

• Published: 18 August 2022
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

Although commercial accommodation can claim a very long pedigree, the hotel as an institution is often distinguished from previous types of lodging in terms of its built form and its symbolisms. Hotels have historically been sites of technological innovation, intercultural encounters, and cultures of sociability shaped by distinctive spatial regimes. Hotels are also sights—places of wonder, pilgrimage, and celebrity. Although historians, sociologists, playwrights, and authors have long engaged with microspaces of the Western hotel, and the landscapes in which it is situated, there remain many other comparatively unexplored dimensions of hotel history, and places such as the Global South, which demand closer attention.

Hotels have enjoyed considerable scholarly attention and are currently situated at the heart of diverse research agendas: hotels and geopolitics; 1 hotels, resort cultures, and medical discourses; 2 hotels as businesses; 3 hotels and the building life cycle; 4 gender and hotel culture; 5 hotels and technological diffusion; 6 hotels and the construction of civic and national identities; 7 hotels and colonialism; 8 hotels and labor structures; 9 hotels and systems of race, class, and ethnicity; 10 hotel construction and design histories; 11 and relationships between hotels and urban morphologies. 12 Individual hotel histories occupy coffee tables. 13 Beyond the empirically rich but occasionally hagiographical histories of particular establishments, scholarly dissections of the hotel as an institutional type are numerous. The critical historiography of the hotel in German and in French is especially vibrant; 14 there is incipient interest in the hotels of the Global South that is rich and expanding. 15 Indeed, although historians may dispute the periodization of the hotel’s “Golden Age,” or even the value of that concept, few would deny that since around 2000 hotel scholarship has enjoyed a Golden Age of its own.

Many of these inquiries extend and deepen long-standing interest in the hotel as a beacon of modern life and as a shaper and signifier of cultural, economic, and social relations. Whereas an earlier critical historiography of the hotel often treated it as a signifier of transience and even of the pathologies of urban industrial capitalism, 16 more recent work emphasizes its role in building civic identity and middle-class cultures, primarily but not exclusively in urban milieus. 17 This new wave of scholarship has a strong focus on interrogating the position of the hotel within discourses of nationality and modernity. It often embraces examinations of the hotel’s material form, especially in histories of construction and design. 18 Such studies reveal the imbrication of symbolisms and technology and affirm the importance of exploring symbolisms as well as material functions associated with hotels. 19 Although there is considerable historical attention to the hotel as an artifact of culture in the widest sense, fewer scholars examine it through the lens of tourism. Indeed, the hotel, like tourism itself, remains an elusive category that unites complex and overlapping spaces and practices.

Definitional Questions

What is a hotel and its inception be dated, if not as a specific architectural form, then as a discursively produced category? As far as the provision of accommodations, the hotel is part of a long history interweaving lodging, hospitality, and travel. People have resorted to a marked diversity of such places of rest for as long as humans have been mobile. Lodgings might be broadly described as permanent structures supplying core elements of hospitality—nourishment, protection, and shelter—to guests (here, like hosts, the term denotes relational distinctions and by no means elides the commercial dynamics that were often at play). Some lodgings, such as inns, operated on the basis of a monetary exchange, with accommodation as one of their core activities. Others, such as monasteries, had other purposes, and offered accommodation to guests based on implicit, underlying rules of reciprocity: monetary contributions might be expected from those who stayed overnight; periods of accommodation may also have been limited by custom or convention. Medieval inns and monasteries are instructive examples of sites that served different populations as both permanent and temporary dwellings (see Craig , this volume). Landlords of inns and their families typically were housed under the same roof as their guests, while clergy shared their monastic compounds, if not their quarters, with travelers. Spaces occupied by hosts and guests were often conspicuously demarcated, auguring an enduring feature of lodgings such as grand hotels, whose staff were often housed in separate quarters and separate floors, as well as more intimate lodging houses, boarding houses, guest houses, and bed and breakfasts, where hosts’ and guests’ spaces were conspicuously marked.

Resources played a critical role in determining where a traveler sought refuge. Those who could not afford an inn would often stay in private dwellings. 20 Elites, too, enjoyed hospitality in private homes after presenting letters of introduction, sometimes to strangers: a privilege stemming from their socioeconomic status. Gender shaped access to specific forms of hospitality because it influenced mobility. Even the most devout and well-credentialed female pilgrims, for instance, might be refused a bed for the night in monasteries, while being welcomed in other institutions. Ethnicity and faith had enduring ways of structuring access to, and treatment in, lodgings: in Ottoman Jerusalem European Christians were often housed in commercial facilities operated by ethno-religious minorities such as Greeks and Armenians. 21 Given the subtlety of some customary regimes that implicitly governed access and comportment in different jurisdictions, mechanisms gradually developed over the centuries to regulate the provision of hospitality, which came to rely both on conventions and on a developing body of law to structure and codify mutual obligations. Legal distinctions emerged between inns and hotels on one hand, which were regarded under English common law to constitute permanent structures offering various levels of accommodation to travelers, and, on the other hand, boarding houses, private hotels, and other establishments charging for room and board, requiring reservations in advance and reserving the right, unlike the public inn and hotel, to refuse their services to specific individuals. 22

Inns and monasteries were only two Western institutions used as temporary lodgings over many centuries: they had non-Western counterparts, such as the Japanese shukubo that welcomed Buddhist pilgrims. The sheer diversity of lodging forms makes even the development of a historical typology challenging: Can a chronology for the development of the hotel be identified, and can a continuous narrative of the distinctiveness of its built form(s) and cultural symbolism(s) be established while acknowledging the variety of its manifestations?

Whereas debates over the origin of modern tourism largely focus attention on the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with preceding eras often seen as exhibiting the characteristics of “proto-tourism,” the commercial hostelry clearly has a much longer pedigree, and commercial lodgings have seldom been associated exclusively with the tourist market. There are, however, ways in which the hotel form can be interwoven within narratives of tourism that mark it as an important infrastructure in that sector’s development. There is little doubt, for instance, that hotels were available to travelers, especially in major urban centers, on the Grand Tour. 23 A number of lodgings that bore the name in cities such as Florence became famous for their hosts and were places where Grand Tourists and local elites mingled in the course of the eighteenth century. Travelers often took careful notes about their lodgings, and sometimes improvised ratings systems in an era before they were formalized in guidebooks and by trade bodies (see Verhoeven , this volume).

Although there remains debate over the relationship between the Grand Tour and the rise of tourism, the hotel supplies an element of institutional continuity—the appellation generally signaling a place of elite accommodation, modeled after (and borrowing the name of) private French hotels particuliers . Michael Riley offers an especially compelling case for seeing the hotel as an institution that was defined by the cultural capital required to access and navigate it. 24 This culture extended the ethos of earlier elite private domestic hospitality spaces. The development of the hotel in material form, and as a specific category in the lexicon of travel, tended to be based on this premise and on these premises: a business entity operating on a commercial basis as a specialized lodging type for travelers. It supplied greater amenities, and took a more ornate external form, offered more extensive and often sumptuous amenities, and adopted a more elaborate system of internal spatial organization than preceding contemporary lodging types. The hotels of the Grand Tour, like their French namesakes, were largely private residences. But by the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century the term hotel more regularly and routinely denoted a purpose-built structure such as those that emerged in Paris, London, and New York. In places such as Tokyo, it inspired emulation, but was also adapted in form and use. In common law jurisprudence it was characterized by a contractual obligation to receive all paying members of the public, though cultural capital and cost were among the features that made many categories of hotel exceptionally exclusive institutions. It did not take long, though, for the term to be conflated with purpose-built lodgings more generally, occupying a broad continuum of comfort, from the rugged hostelries of the Australian frontier to the nascent palace hotels of the Atlantic seaboard to the large-scale resort facilities of central Europe. By the mid-nineteenth century the term was in such widespread use as to suggest that it had lost its luxury form, though when commentators invoked the term to denigrate inferior accommodation, it reflected a lingering set of associations between the hotel and less refined lodging-spaces. 25

The nineteenth-century Western hotel was also constructed discursively as a “new” and “modern” space, distinguished from other, more rustic types, whether the French auberge , the German Gastof , the Italian pensione , the Spanish posada , the English inn, the Swiss chalet, the Japanese ryokan , or other buildings that were largely associated with rurality, and served as discursive foils to the hotel’s bold modernity. Although hotels were especially associated with urban environments, they also played a key role in the programmatic development of rural recreational areas, including many which participated in the commodification of nature, the production and promotion of new landscapes, and the operation of tourism networks existing in nonurban environments. The study of the hotel’s role in developing rural tourism networks reinforces the importance of exploring how they operated as local and regional enterprises, especially in cooperation and conflict with actors, and generated a broad range of ancillary activity. 26

Whatever the rural story, hotel history privileges the urban grand hotel in its nineteenth and early twentieth century forms, a tendency buttressed by popular representations that depict them as central to modern Western life. The conventional narrative of hotel history charts a period of decline during the early twentieth century, as new architectural forms, deeply entwined with evolving cultures of mobility, systems of transport, business organization, service cultures, and innovations in building construction and design eclipsed it. An example is the automobile-centered chain motel, which boasts a fascinating history of its own (see Pearson , this volume). 27 Of course this contention elides the sheer variety of building types that claimed the hotel designation as a matter of convention. The “family” and “commercial” hotel, for example, offered neither the scale nor the culture of the grand hotel. They were distinguished from boarding houses and similar “guest house” lodgings through their purpose-built form. What united them all, humble or grand, was an alignment with new cultures of mobility, forms of consumption, and cultures of sociability. All lodging types supplied a place of rest and a bed for the night, but hotels offered something more: tangible participation in an evolving culture. To take part, consumers had to learn new rules, so etiquette books devoted chapters to hotel comportment and writers also educated the public on the institution’s novel characteristics, as well as its deep roots.

Hotel Genealogy

The hotel encompassed a variety of structures and forms, but it broadly stabilized as a discursive and structural category over the decades. Many thought-provoking studies of hotels, often developed through “building biographies,” tell this story. But it is not merely a modern academic enterprise. Meditations on hotels and hotel life can be dated to the nineteenth century, when a hotel genealogy was expounded in the periodical press, and was nourished by appraisals of the structures of modern life. Contemporary commentators believed that the hotel was a signifier of social, economic, and cultural change, although the discourses evaluating it located ancient antecedents.

The hotel was imagined to be a lodestar of Western modernity. Even so, they adopted different national forms. Thus, the American hotel stood for American exceptionalism: a center of especially intense sociability in a restless and mobile nation, a laboratory for technology, a place that shaped civic identity, and a center of distinctive social practices, including hotel residency. 28 Early modern scholars have shown the inn to be an immensely important commercial as well as political space, a critical element of the evolving public sphere. 29 But the idea that the hotel was physically distinctive, instrumentally different, and uniquely modern exercised enormous influence over the popular imagination, and loomed large over hotel histories.

Nineteenth-century observers marveled at the hotel’s novelty, especially its scale, as well as its spatial and functional complexity, while also refusing to believe that it had emerged ex nihilo . They located many of its historical coordinates in an Eastern form: the caravanserai. This deeper history was itself a product of Western industrialization, the commodification of leisure time, and the extended compass of popular travel. The caravanserai idea was nourished by intensified tourism to the Holy Land in the nineteenth century. 30 Paratexts in holy books, as well as analysis of Biblical lexica, propounded the institution’s deep history and explained how inns found in the Old and New Testaments may have corresponded to historical resting places now in ruins or decline. The grandest of them was the caravanserai, and a related form, the khan. They had been erected in a vast geographic compass that included Persia, North Africa, and Mughal India, as well as the ancient Tea Horse Road connecting China and South Asia, often by rulers or as private philanthropic acts to supply rest to travelers and to support trade. 31

Caravanserais took many forms. But to nineteenth-century writers, they were totemic places of hospitality that combined impressive scale, elaborate ornamentation, and comparatively rudimentary accommodation. They were associated with the romance of the Silk Road, liminal places on routes connecting East and West, Muslim, and Judeo-Christian. In part because most Western travelers had no first-hand experience of these lodgings, they were able to imaginatively fashion them through an Orientalist lens while also claiming them as distant ancestors to their own modern, more select, and comfortable hostelries. Chief among the popularizers of the caravanserais, who wrote of grand buildings erected around a large open courtyard, were self-styled adventurers whose intrepid travels fired the imagination. English writer William Hepworth Dixon recounted his exploits in a number of travel books. In his tour through the Holy Land he charted the rise of the caravanserai beginning with the Old Testament, contending that a Syrian khan or a “caravanserai is not, and never was, an ‘inn,’ as we use this word in London, Sydney, and New York: a house in which you find good food and a clean bed, an obliging hostess, a cheery welcome, and a heavy bill. Such things are not of the East.” 32 Instead, it was a “fort and a mart; a refuge from thieves; a shelter from the heat and dust, a place where a man and his beast may lodge, where a trader may sell his wares, and a pilgrim may slake his thirst.” The noblest examples dotted the roads between:

Jerusalem and Alexandria, between Damascus and Ptolemais, between Gidara and Sidon, [and] were monuments of piety and pity, built by their founders without thought of gain, and were almost as sacred in character, as durable in material, as either a synagogue or a mosque. Even when the wars of race or religion swept away towns and villages from these roads, the khans were allowed by common consent to remain; being considered as a sort of holy property, like the springs and the wells, in which all mankind had an equal and a common right … What a hospital is in a modern war, a khan was in an ancient war: a secular building sanctified by its noble use. It was always an edifice set apart, even when it stood in the midst of a great city, having its own walls and gates, and its own set of rules. 33

Although many caravanserais were described as having fallen into ruin, serving as stark signifiers of the East’s decline and the decaying fortunes of the old Silk Road, their history activated comparisons with the modern hotel, another hive of commerce and sociability, with its own quasi-sacred status to some writers. Like the caravanserai, did not hotel life also operate according to its own logic? If the comparison was imperfect, it was romantic and suited the purpose of lending the dignity of antiquity to the hotel’s origins.

Modernity and Nationalism

Whatever the fantasy, Western hotels were actually quite different, and that difference fueled chauvinism. 34 The modern hotel, although understood by many contemporaries as broadly constituting a definable “type,” became a vehicle through which claims to innovation, and advanced stages of social, economic, and cultural development, were formulated in national terms. 35 Americans crowed about the advanced character of their hotel culture. Britons reiterated this same notion in anxious evaluations of their own institutions. British travelers often scorned Irish hotels, just as Scottish hotels became the subject of irreverent caricatures used to malign Presbyterianism and frugality, as well as to castigate the monopoly of the Highland magnate. 36 On the continent, Swiss “hotel science” was upheld as an exemplar of national character. The French claimed credit for the institution’s very origins. Meanwhile, British travelers in the Mediterranean often disparaged local accommodation while embracing those lodgings that they believed had been designed specifically for them (after all, why were there so many boasting the name “Hotel Anglais”).

Although there were innumerable types of hotels, they could all be characterized by a number of distinguishing features. First, they were purpose-built, which contrasted with historic forms of accommodation such as monasteries, as well as with contemporaneous forms such as boarding houses. Second, they dwarfed other lodgings. Third, they utilized new forms of capital structure such as limited liability, which enabled investment, and contrasted with earlier approaches. Fourth, they featured cutting-edge technologies such as gas-lights, hydraulic lifts, and new techniques and materials of construction. Fifth, they were operated using a hierarchical management structure. Sixth, they were laid out using a complex spatial configuration mixing public and private spaces: bedrooms on the one hand, and parlors, reading-rooms, shops, and so forth on the other. 37 Finally, they offered an ineffable “cachet” that came from patronizing (and indeed working for) such an institution. Combined, they made the grand hotel the epitome of both the hotel type and of industrial, capitalist society, with its divisions of labor, its fine social gradations, inventive design, comforts, and capacity to shape commerce and sociability. Perhaps inevitably its complex mixture of public and private spaces as well as hierarchies of rooms and floors generated tensions. In this respect, the hotel was regarded as a laboratory for dissecting modernity: both inclusive and exclusive, welcoming and alienating. The hotel could generate anxiety as much as marvel, and its symbolic and discursive instrumentality was evident when nostalgists turned their attention, and their affections, to purportedly more intimate and continuous lodging types. 38

Hotel Nostalgia

The English inn long supplied a touchstone for a rich literary tradition spanning centuries, from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Johnson. Now lodgings conceived on a new scale and operated utilizing new forms of “scientific” management sparked a wave of reflection. Such rumination blossomed into an expansive hotel nostalgia in the early twentieth century. The charm of homely hospitality was seen to yield to the rigors of managerial efficiency. The massive scale was decried as an anonymizing force that obliterated individuality. The hotel’s features manifested the impersonal character of modern life. Thus, the hotel’s putative antithesis—the timeless, rustic English inn—became a touchstone of nostalgic, valorizing discourse. Such critiques, foreshadowing the interwar contemplations of Siegfried Kracauer, 39 responded to two incentives: ongoing disquiet about the hotel’s capacity to extinguish individuality and tear asunder traditional bonds of community, and efforts to reclaim a distinctively English institution. The stark contrast between the hotel and the inn was captured in a powerful trope: guests being reduced to nothing more than a room number, their names, and personalities effaced by the exigencies of efficient management. As a writer in the York Herald lamented in 1874: “I hate your new gigantic hotels. A man loses his individuality in them. He sinks into being a mere number. Number 71 wants this, and 71 wants that.” 40

This discourse was especially pronounced in Britain where disquiet about hotel life was conflated with anxiety over British decline. Great European resorts and colonial hotels continued to draw patronage, but change was in the air. Twilight was falling on the colonial enterprise. Suburbanization generated locational challenges for urban hotels. The automobile augured a vast restructuring of spatial and social relationships. Ironically, the increasingly fetishized inn became even more accessible to day travelers who could visit this icon of a lost realm by automobile.

The interwar period also witnessed an accelerating reversal of the more-than-century-old evolution of the grand hotel as a place that subsumed the ethos of the elite private abode. In America, the Statler chain democratized its amenities, while in Britain many stately homes were repurposed in the post–World War II era. This process was not limited to stately homes. In Danes Lye, Wiltshire, England, the press reported on the conversion of a mid-sized private residence dating from the mid-nineteenth century into a “comfortable and cosy private hotel … accommodating only a small party, and therefore visitors … do not become engulfed in a modern caravanserai or transformed into mere numerals, but retain their individuality and find that their personal likes and dislikes are respected.” 41 After World War II, this process was extended through the expansion of the “country house hotel,” especially in Britain and Ireland, but also in other areas of Europe. The evolution of the country house hotel manifested many of the ambivalences associated with hotel life, but in this case reversed the migration of the ethos of the aristocratic private dwelling to a purpose-built edifice. By offering a repurposed private home as an oasis from urban life and preserving the dignities and styles that the modern motel eschewed, the country house hotel revealed deep tensions between the democratic imperatives of commercial hospitality and the elite origins of the hotel. In Britain it also belonged to a new re-framing of commercial hospitality that reflected ambivalence toward hotel modernity and a deep nostalgia toward “traditional” lodging forms. 42

Hotel Lives and Cultures

Hotels are also ideal laboratories in which to explore the meanings of leisure travel itself. A useful definition of tourism encompasses the practices and identities of people traveling partly but not exclusively for recreational purposes, their activities marked by a movement away from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Like tourism, hotels have been inextricably linked to histories of transport and mobility, work, and leisure. Like tourism, hotels’ spaces, inhabitants and their varied dwelling-practices defy easy generalization and underscore behaviors and places that fall in between the familiar and the unfamiliar, motion and rest. 43

Although specialization within the hotel category developed, hotel guests often used the spaces provided in myriad ways. Even facilities that did not supply showrooms or other commercial places offered bars, restaurants, and salons where guests might transact business. Likewise, tourists did not limit themselves to hotels that bore the tourist appellation.

Many hotels have historically catered predominantly to recreational travelers, especially in spaces, from the seaside to mountains to theme parks, that were historically associated with the commercialization of leisure. 44 Tourists were often nudged not only to particular hotels, but particular types, depending on their resources and preferences, by textual sources such as tourist guidebooks, some produced by the hotels themselves (see Schaff , this volume and Butler , this volume). The body of textual materials that were produced in the interest of hotel promotion by establishments, from postcards to printed views and prospects from the hotel to maps and pamphlets, are important (and often neglected) sources for exploring strategies to naturalize the hotel as the principal site of orientation in urban environments.

Hotels were knitted into the social, economic, and cultural fabric of resorts. They were also integral to colonial hill stations, demonstrating the historical imbrication of the familiar and the foreign that is a hallmark of tourism (see Jennings , this volume). The multiplicity of functions ascribed to hotels were often the very features that insulated guests from the outside world, providing familiar food, amenities, and styles of service. Indeed, if the standardization of amenities was a hallmark of the American Statler chain in the early twentieth century—with the chain adopting precise “service codes” 45 and a corporate philosophy focused on customer service 46 —in the postwar period the Hilton Hotel projected the power of American industrial capitalism internationally. Americans could be “at home” in a Hilton abroad. Alternatively, locals could indulge in a form of escape while sampling American culture without needing leaving their country. 47 The imperative of standardization underpinned the identities and corporate strategies of many chains, beginning with E. M. Statler’s hotel chain and elaborated by Kemmons Wilson’s Holiday Inns, among others. 48 Hotels—exterior design, amenities, and codes of staff behavior—conformed to templates that produced a predictable experience. The development of a franchise hotel model departed from the looser affiliations of other enterprises, and earlier chains that brought together architecturally distinct buildings that offered a consistent hotel “culture” and service standard under a single owner—such as Frederick Gordon Hotels Co., Ltd. in Britain.

Almost all hotels combined some measure of both adventure and retreat, novelty and familiarity. Their spaces, regimes of sociability, and ineffable cultures were often too complex to be controlled. Ruth Craggs has underscored the disruptive potential of hotels. 49 With their unique physical affordances and spaces that assembled diverse people across the public–private binary, they could offer scope for contesting and challenging codes which structured life outside the hotel’s walls—in her case the color barriers of Southern Rhodesia. Tourists could participate in this dynamic by producing space that permitted such transgressions. The distinctive spatial dimensions of the hotel could also promote challenges to normative behaviors formulated and reinforced in the outside world, by guests and hosts alike, even as the hotel might reinforce prevailing distinctions of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. 50

Guests did not merely “withdraw” to hotels to find comfort in familiar service, amenities, and fare: many hotels supplied menus and décor inspired by, and retinues of staff drawn from, the locality and region. Moreover, the experiences of hotel workers, as much as hotel guests, suggest that they have had to navigate foreign and familiar codes. In many establishments, workers, whether in the upscale urban grand hotel, the colonial resort hotel, or the post–World War II chain hotel, negotiated profoundly unfamiliar codes and amenities. Sometimes hierarchies of hotel labor also reproduced ethnic and racial distinctions and placed groups that were held to be closer to the hotel’s principal clientele in positions of authority over Indigenous labor. Moreover, as hotel science took hold, and the corporate culture of the hotel chain developed, workers encountered the discipline associated with standard codes of interaction and levels of service. In the grand urban hotels of Europe and America, workers were among the first to experience the hotel as a vector for the dissemination of goods, consumption patterns, technologies and other dimensions of hotel life. This encounter was even more marked in non-Western environments.

Colonial Hotels

Colonialism offers a valuable framework for exploring these encounters, and for interrogating the transnational history of the hotel. One should approach the story cautiously. Although these institutions gestured, often in Orientalist ways, to the building forms or decorative features of Indigenous institutions, they nonetheless manifested Western modernity on far-flung shores. They were knitted within colonial travel networks and served as nodes for the transmission of people, capital, technologies, goods, and values (see Jennings , this volume). But these places, including examples in Singapore and Indochina, were also implicated in capital and cultural flows that were shaped by the hotels, and which evolved with them. 51 Hotels in European concessions in China, for instance, were often among the most conspicuous markers of the Western presence, as well as nerve-centers organizing commerce. 52 The role of foreign capital in the construction of the colonial- and postcolonial-era hotel offers a prism to explore how forms of capitalism worked in the hospitality sector, from the deployment of private capital to the expansion of chain systems in the wake of decolonization, in concert with other elements of the travel and tourism sector, such as airlines and railways, with which hotels were often partnered. 53

What happened within the hotel is just as important as understanding its construction and management, and here it is insufficient to see the hotel as merely projecting and transmitting Western values, technologies, and habits. Maurizio Peleggi has offered an elegant way out of narrowly treating it as a vector of colonialism. He approaches the colonial hotel as a zone of transmission in both directions, and of interaction: a zone of comfort and of contact rather than a vessel and vector of Western culture. 54 Bricolage characterized the colonial hotel aesthetic, which combined building design (and sometimes materials) from the metropole, with more than a concession to the climatic, aesthetic, and other features of the locality and region. The result was hotels in places such as Egypt that were not so much transplants or enclaves as testaments, in their menus and design, to the hybridity of the imperial experience. Such establishments framed the tourist’s view outside the hotel (and vice versa), while also narrating, in aesthetic flourishes, in furniture, in menus and in labor, meanings of “native” space. In some colonial spas, narratives of Indigenous origins were bound with promotional strategies. 55 In others, the same sites became centers of where Indigenous culture influenced settler practices. 56 Partly adopting elements of the Western model, hotels were also used by local, non-Western consumers. These hybrid features and functions linking places and cultures did not terminate with the formal end of Western colonialism: instead hotels continued to serve as complex symbols and conduits that maintained strong links between external tourist markets in the former metropole and destination preferences in former colonies, such as those between France and the French Caribbean and North Africa. 57

If the hotel, like tourism itself, blurs the space between rest and motion, and the familiar and the foreign, hotels can also become attractions in their own right, as architectural and aesthetic marvels, and as sites of technological innovation and application. Especially from the second-half of the twentieth century, they were programmatically incorporated within commercial leisure brands.

Hotels as Sights

Clearly, the history of the modern hotel is one of adaptation, imbrication, and hybridity. It is bound up with the politics of empire, nation, and region. The Canadian railway hotel château style, for example, was the product of interweaving the building forms of “founding” European peoples of Scottish and French background into a distinctive style. 58 In other cases, values and ideals were more localized, such as in post–World War II Miami where a bold modern leisure architecture proclaimed the city’s identity as a place of ease and luxury. 59 Deliberate adaptation of hotel forms and aesthetics to regional influence was also evident in the whimsical construction and interior design of hotels by the Fred Harvey Company in the southwestern United States during the early twentieth century. These sites helped to produce the Santa Fe and Pueblo Revival Styles, mixing Spanish and native influences to create hostelries such as Santa Fe’s La Fonda, as well as National Park Service rustic 60 in the El Tavor in the Grand Canyon (1905), with its “Swiss chalet” and “Norwegian villa” bricolage. 61 In this way, as sights many hotels became part of a national or regional symbolic landscape, seeking inspiration from the past while producing new institutional forms. California’s Mission style offers another example, epitomized by Riverside’s Mission Inn. It opened in 1903 and eventually incorporated a range of American and European influences as it expanded. 62 This phenomenon was not restricted to purpose-built structures. In some cases, such as the parador and pousada lodgings of Spain and Portugal, respectively, the creation of hotel networks was part of a deliberate state-driven scheme to commercialize heritage properties, through a programmatic effort to create a network of hostelries. 63 More recently, in places such as South America, the conversion of religious institutions, large private homes, formal colonial-era buildings, and other structures into hotels signals ways that the hotel sector has continued to be embedded within networks of national “patrimony.”

Hotels historically attracted the public gaze, as well as structured it, providing physical affordances through which people both inside and outside engaged with the buildings themselves and with spaces beyond. Because they were often landmark structures, hotels were sites—and sights—of interest during their construction. Opening day often became a ceremonial event that enhanced the establishment’s status as an institution by inviting celebration, and celebritization, as well as habitation. The destruction of hotels, deliberate or otherwise, similarly invited spectatorship. As monuments to invention, nineteenth-century hotels engendered marvel. Like factories, they were deliberately included in many tours that knitted together vanguard institutions of the Industrial Age. Marveling at the technologization of American hotels, the flamboyance of the colonial hostelry, and the distinctiveness of the hotel form in different national, regional, and local settings affirmed tourists’ travel practices. These apprehensions and appreciations of the hotel as an attraction became even more pronounced as lodgings were incorporated within commercial fantasy scapes. In the post–World War II era, the Las Vegas Strip became a site of experimentation, taking the liminal and hybridized character of hotel culture to new heights. Designers offered deliberate recreations of global sites, producing a playful mélange. The hotel life cycle of destruction and rebirth emphasized the transitory nature of the hotel itself and attracted interest in the hotel scape as a site for interrogating hyperreality and simulacra. 64 Similarly, Disney Parks embraced the themed hotel as a way of incorporating the guest within an entire system of all-encompassing engagement with the Disney narrative. Here the hotel and the brand merge, and hotels are celebritized. 65

The relationship between the hotel and celebrity is complex and symbiotic. Hotels often served as refuge from the public gaze, but at other times they provided stages for the performance and production of celebrity, including that of famous hoteliers such as César Ritz in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and Conrad Hilton in the post–World War II era. The presence of a famous or infamous guest can elevate the reputation of a hotel, and the visitors’ book, named rooms, and other artifacts serve as conspicuous markers of the memorialization of their patronage. Hotels were often backdrops for iconic or historic events such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s famous “bed-in” for peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal in 1969. The Watergate Hotel was famously implicated in the resignation of a president. The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles was the stage for the tragedy of Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 murder and Martin Luther King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis the same year. At the Treetops Hotel in Africa, destined to be burned down in the later Mau rebellion, Princess Elizabeth II learned of her accession to the throne. But history has also been deployed as a strategy by hotels to cultivate “heritage” brands and identities, through curation of a narrative by means of “restoration” and “preservation” that produces and transmits a freighted idea of the hotel as a place in which past and present, the old and the new mingle. Among the most famous such sites which have made efforts to cultivate grandeur by a bygone era without concession to modern convenience, often at great cost as they work within the constraining parameters of older structures, are Raffles Hotel in Singapore, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, the Oberoi Maidens in Delhi and a multitude of establishments in Europe and America that have sought to commercialize history. Raffles Hotel in particular has generated a large body of critical scholarship exploring the relationship of heritage to institutional and national identity, and the wider political environment. In provincial urban centers and important commercial cities such as Penang, where Raffles’ establishment, the Eastern Hotel, was founded by the Sarkies Brothers in 1884, hotels have been deeply implicated in colonial and post-colonial navigation of commerce, tourism, and travel, and in the articulation and projection of national identities. 66 The interweaving of the hotel within these projects betrays them as trans-national and trans-historical institutions, underscoring how they can be used to study how narratives of the past are materially and discursively produced in the context of modern tourism and travel.

The Hotel in History

There remain agendas connecting tourism to the hotel that merit further elaboration; this conclusion offers space, to mention only a few. Because of the nature of hotel labor, which historically has drawn on diverse pools (family labor in smaller establishments, transitory and casual workers in other hotels, and highly hierarchically structured labor forces in large lodgings), profiles and divisions of labor within hotels require more attention in business histories. Labor and hotel construction can be profitably explored in more systematic ways, as well. Complex historical relationships between hotels, labor and citizenship also demand attention—not least because hotels often boasted exceptionally cosmopolitan workforces, with the potential to be disproportionately impacted in war and other crises.

Other agendas connect the functions of lodging to specialized operations within larger establishments: What, for instance, is the relationship between the hotel and the restaurant? 67 Although there has been superb work on the gendered spaces of hotel interiors, more could be done on the relationships between sex, sexuality, and hotels both at the center of civic life and those on the geographic and social margins, as has been done on Japanese love hotels. 68 And greater systematic analysis of the association of hotel spaces with the rituals of marriage can add to the work done on the honeymoon, 69 while the relationship between death and the hotel, especially through suicide, could illuminate complex spatial practices. What accounts for the downward trajectory of the once “respectable” hotel, and how does it relate to changing urban morphologies? Although race and class have been foregrounded in terms of the ways people operated within hotel space and hotel culture, and youth culture and hostels have been studied (see Jobs , this volume), 70 differential access to the hotel based on (dis)ability would repay attention. The many centuries of jurisprudence addressing inns, hotels, private hotels, and other types of establishment have produced different categories of accommodation in specific jurisdictions with varying contractual obligations between host and guest. In English and American law, nomenclature diverged in places (the tavern, for instance, was conflated with the inn in America from an early stage, and there the obligations of the private hotel in terms of liability for guests’ goods were different from those in other places). For the most part, the definitional precision that has created historically distinct institutions showed the extent to which the businesses and their operations emerge within discrete legal and other institutional contexts. The law in England, for instance, was compelled to grapple with the identity of guests who had claimed a long residency in a hotel: Could people received as travelers have their rights extinguished or diminished in such cases? 71 The evolving legal personalities of hotels, and their social, economic, and cultural implications, have not been fully incorporated into critical historical scholarship. Legal history, however, is central to the evolution of the identities of these places and people.

Beyond such questions are a host of others informed by directions in history that embrace the spatial turn in analyses of securitization and globalization. Institutions and states have had to balance discretion and intrusion in the interest of safety and of service: the historical identity of grand hotels rested to some extent on highly bespoke service, while also recognizing many guests’ desires to be unimpeded and unobserved in their activities. This has represented a tension at the heart of the hotel. How were systems of corporate and state surveillance enacted within the putatively private, as well as the public space, of the hotel, through regimes of registration, as well as informal reporting mechanisms such as hotel staff? How did hotels in the Global South develop, outside the frameworks of colonialism and globalization, and how might a more autonomous narrative of their history be written? 72 There is tantalizing evidence of how the story of early colonial lodgings can be explored with a view to illuminating the strategies of Indigenous populations to participate in developing infrastructures while protecting culture. 73 What has been the environmental imprint of the hotel, from heritage hotels to the date-stamped lifespan of the Las Vegas Strip? 74 Finally, in view of the superb work done on the hotel as a site of refuge, as targets and of places of securitization, and of the hotel’s embroilment in hot and cold conflicts, and in an era in which mobility is explored not only in relation to people, but also to pathogens, how have hotels served as vectors for disease, as conduits to safety? Hotels as sites of transmission—of values, technologies, capital—and as a center of connection and sociability underline this point. How have they shaped the spread of disease or been repurposed to mitigate it as centers of quarantine and of medical treatment? These are timely questions that invite explorations of historical case studies and demonstrate the rich capacity of the hotel and tourism history to intersect and then inform other fields of inquiry.

Further Reading

Berger, Molly W.   Hotel Dreams: Luxury, Technology, and Urban Ambition in America, 1829–1929 . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 2011 .

Google Scholar

Google Preview

Davidson, Robert A.   The Hotel: Occupied Space . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018 .

Fregonese, Sara , and Adam Ramadan . “Hotel Geopolitics : A Research Agenda.” Geopolitics 20, no. 4 ( 2015 ): 793–813.

James, Kevin J.   Histories, Meanings and Representations of the Modern Hotel . Bristol: Channel View Publications, 2018 .

Maudlin, Daniel. “ The Urban Inn: Gathering Space, Hierarchy and Material Culture in the Eighteenth-Century British Town. ” Urban History 46, no. 4 ( 2019 ): 617–648.

Morrison, Kenneth.   Sarajevo’s Holiday Inn on the Frontline of Politics and War . London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016 .

Peleggi, Maurizio. “ The Social and Material Life of Colonial Hotels: Comfort Zones as Contact Zones in British Colombo and Singapore, ca. 1870–1930. ” Journal of Social History 46, no. 1 ( 2012 ): 124–153.

Seng, Eunice. “ Temporary Domesticities: The Southeast Asian Hotel as (Re)presentation of Modernity, 1968–1973. ” The Journal of Architecture 22, no. 6 ( 2017 ): 1092–1136.

Sandoval-Strausz, Andrew K.   Hotel: An American History . New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007 .

Wharton, Annabel Jane.   Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004 .

1   Sara Fregonese , “Between a Refuge and a Battleground: Beirut’s Discrepant Cosmopolitanisms,” Geographical Review 102, no. 3 (2012) 316–336 ; Sara Fregonese and Adam Ramadan , “Hotel Geopolitics: A Research Agenda,” Geopolitics 20, no. 4 (2015): 793–813 ; Kevin James , “Aliens, Subjects and the State: Surveillance in British Hotels during World War I,” Immigrants & Minorities 36, no. 3 (2018): 199–123 ; Antoni Kapcia , “The Siege of the Hotel Nacional, Cuba, 1933: A Reassessment,” Journal of Latin American Studies 34, no. 2 (2002): 283–309 ; Neil MacMaster , “The Algerian Café-Hotel: Hub of the Nationalist Underground, Paris 1926–1962,” French Politics, Culture & Society 34, no. 2 (2016): 57–77 .

2   Luis Alonso-Álvarez , “The Value of Water: The Origins and Expansion of Thermal Tourism in Spain, 1750–2010,” Journal of Tourism History 4, no. 1 (2012): 15–34 ; Alastair J. Durie , “A Fading Movement: Hydropathy at the Scottish Hydros, 1840–1939,” Journal of Tourism History 4, no. 1 (2012): 57–74 ; Ronan Foley , Abbey Wheeler , and Robin Kearns , “Selling the Colonial Spa Town: The Contested Therapeutic Landscapes of Lisdoonvarna and Te Aroha,” Irish Geography 44, nos. 2/3 (2011): 151–172 ; Heather Hause , “Fountains of Youth: Medical Tourism in Green Cove Springs, Florida, 1845–1900,” Journal of Tourism History 8, no. 3 (2016): 239–259 ; Jean-Christophe Lefevre , Histoire de l’Hôtellerie: Une Approche Économique (Paris: Editions Publibook, 2011) ; Kenneth Morrison , Sarajevo’s Holiday Inn on the frontline of politics and War (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) ; Adam T. Rosenbaum , “Grounded Modernity in the Bavarian Alps: The Reichenhall Spa Culture at the Turn of the Twentieth Century,” Central European History 47, no. 1 (2014): 30–53 ; Jill R. Steward , “Moral Economies and Commercial Imperatives: Food, Diets and Spas in Central Europe: 1800–1914,” Journal of Tourism History 4, no. 2 (2012): 181–203 ; Heasim Sul , “The Tubs of Pleasure: Tudor and Stuart Spas,” International Journal of the History of Sport 16, no. 1 (1999): 148–158 ; Laurent Tiossot , “L’hôtellerie de luxe à Genève (1830–2000),” Entreprises et histoire 1 (2007): 17–33 ; John K. Walton , “Family Firm, Health Resort and Industrial Colony: The Grand Hotel and Mineral Springs at Mondariz Balneario, Spain, 1873–1932,” Business History 56, no. 7 (2014): 1037–56 ; Richard White , “From the Majestic to the Mundane: Democracy, Sophistication and History among the Mineral Spas of Australia.” Journal of Tourism History 4, no. 1 (2012): 85–108 .

3   Joel A. C. Baum , “The Changing Basis of Competition in Organizational Populations: The Manhattan Hotel Industry, 1898–1990,” Social Forces 74, no. 1 (1995): 177–204 ; Cédric Humair , “The Hotel industry and its Importance in the Technical and Economic Development of a Region: The Lake Geneva case (1852–1914),” Journal of Tourism History 3, no. 3 (2011): 237–265 ; Paul L. Ingram , The Rise of Hotel Chains in the United States, 1896–1980 (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996) ; Virginie Jourdain , “L’hôtellerie Bruxelloise 1880–1940: Acteurs, Structures et Logiques Spatiales d’un Secteur Multiforme,” Revue belge d’histoire contemporaine/Belgisch tijdschrift voor nieuwste geschiedenis 42, nos. 2–3 (2012): 220 ; Rex Pope, Rex. “A Consumer Service in Interwar Britain: The Hotel Trade, 1924–1938,” Business History Review 74, no. 4 (2000): 657–682 ; Mary Quek , “Globalising the Hotel Industry 1946–68: A Multinational Case Study of the Intercontinental Hotel Corporation,” Business History 54, no. 2 (2012): 201–226 ; Gerrit Verhoeven , and Nina Payrhuber , “‘Les Pèlerins de La Saison Sèche’: Colonial Tourism in the Belgian Congo, 1945–60,” Journal of Contemporary History 54, no. 3 (2019): 573–593

4   Bernard L. Jim , “’Wrecking the Joint’: The Razing of City Hotels in the First Half of the Twentieth Century,” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 25 (2005): 288–315 ; Donald McNeill and Kim McNamara , “The Life and Death of Great Hotels: A Building Biography of Sydney’s “The Australia,” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 37, no. 1 (2012): 149–163 .

5   Teresa Bernardi , and Matteo Pompermaier , “Hospitality and Registration of Foreigners in Early Modern Venice: The Role of Women within Inns and Lodging Houses,” Gender & History 31, no. 3 (2019): 624–45 ; Carolyn Brucken , “In the Public Eye: Women and the American Luxury Hotel,” Winterthur Portfolio 31, no. 3 (1996): 203–20 ; Barbara Penner , “’Colleges for the Teaching of Extravagance’: New York Palace Hotels,” Winterthur Portfolio 44, nos. 2/3 (2010): 159–191 ; Theresa Mackay , “Women at Work: Innkeeping in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland 1790–1840,” Journal of Scottish Historical Studies 37, no. 2 (2017): 155–176 ; Nikki Mandell , “A Hotel of Her Own: Building by and for the New Woman, 1900–1930,” Journal of Urban History 45, no. 3 (2019): 517–541 ; Ann Peters , “A Traveler In Residence: Maeve Brennan and the Last Days of New York,” Women‘s Studies Quarterly 33, no. 3 (2005): 66–89 .

6   Molly W. Berger , Hotel Dreams: Luxury, Technology, and Urban Ambition in America, 1829–1929 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011) ; Lisa Pfueller Davidson , “‘A Service Machine’: Hotel Guests and the Development of an Early-Twentieth-Century Building Type,” Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 10 (2005): 113–129 .

7   Daniella Ohad Smith , “Hotel Design in British Mandate Palestine: Modernism and the Zionist Vision,” Journal of Israeli History 29, no. 1 (2010): 99–123 ; Karl B. Raitz , and John Paul Jones III , “The City Hotel as Landscape Artifact and Community Symbol,” Journal of Cultural Geography 9, no. 1 (1988): 17–36 .

8   Maurizio Peleggi , “The Social and Material Life of Colonial Hotels: Comfort Zones as Contact Zones in British Colombo and Singapore, ca. 1870–1930,” Journal of Social History 46, no. 1 (2012): 124–153 ; Blake C. Scott , “Revolution at the Hotel: Panama and Luxury Travel in the Age of Decolonisation,” Journal of Tourism History 10, no. 2 (2018): 146–164 ; Colette Zytnicki , “Le Réseau Hôtelier de La Société Des Voyages et Des Hôtels Nord-Africains: Un Chantier Pour l’histoire Coloniale Du Maghreb,” Outre-Mers: Revue d’Histoire 1 (2015): 277–283 ; Annabel Wharton , “Economy, Architecture, and Politics: Colonialists and Cold War Hotels,” History of Political Economy 31, no. 4 (1999): 285–299 .

9   Jeremy Milloy , “A Battle Royal: Service Work Activism and the 1961–1962 Royal York Strike,” Labour/Le Travail 58 (2006): 13–40 ; Paolo Raspadori , “Becoming Workers? Strikes by Hotel and Restaurant Staff in Italy (1902–1923),” International Review of Social History 60, no. 3 (2015): 379–411 ; Tom Ericsson , “Women, Family and Small Business in Late Nineteenth-Century Sweden,” History of the Family 6, no. 2 (2001): 225–239 ; LouAnn Wurst , “‘Human Accumulations’: Class and Tourism at Niagara Falls,” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 15, no. 2 (2011): 254–266 .

10   Myra B. Young Armstead , “Revisiting Hotels and Other Lodgings: American Tourist Spaces through the Lens of Black Pleasure-travelers, 1880–1950,” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 25 (2005): 136–159 ; Elif Bayraktar Tellan , “Pera Inns: The Emergence of Hosting as a Business in Istanbul in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century,” Journal of Tourism History 8, no. 2 (2016): 127–146 ; A. K. Sandoval-Strausz , “Travelers, Strangers, and Jim Crow: Law, Public Accommodations, and Civil Rights in America,” Law & History Review 23, no. 1 (2005): 53–94 .

11   Lisa Hirst , “A Rather Messy Approach: Understanding the Queen’s Hotel, Birmingham, 1837–1857,” Journal of Design History 33, no. 1 (2020): 16–33 ; Lynda Skipper , “The Evolution of Wallpaper Interior Design Schemes in a Commercial Setting: The Interiors of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel (Midland Grand Hotel), London 1870s–1980s,” Journal of Design History 30, no. 3 (2017): 315–334 .

12   Habbo Knoch , “Life on Stage: Grand Hotels as Urban Interzones around 1900,” in Creative Urban Milieus: Historical Perspectives on Culture, Economy, and the City , eds. Martina Heßler and Clemens Zimmermann (Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 2008), 137–157 ; Donald McNeill , “The Hotel and the City,” Progress in Human Geography 32, no. 3 (2008): 383–398 . A. K. Sandoval-Strausz , “Homes for a World of Strangers: Hospitality and the Origins of Multiple Dwellings in Urban America,” Journal of Urban History 33, no. 6 (2007): 933–964 .

13   Kevin J. James , Histories, Meanings and Representations of the Modern Hotel (Bristol: Channel View Publications, 2018) .

14 In France, see, for example, Lefevre, Histoire de l’Hôtellerie and Alexandre Tessier , Le Grand Hôtel: l’invention du luxe hôtelier, 1862–1972 (Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2012) .

15   Melina Piglia , “The Awakening of Tourism: The Origins of Tourism Policy in Argentina, 1930–1943,” Journal of Tourism History 3, no. 1 (2011): 57–74 ; Frank F. Taylor , “The Ordeal of the Infant Hotel Industry in Jamaica, 1890–1914,” Journal of Imperial & Commonwealth History 16, no. 2 (1988): 201–217 ; Evan R. Ward , “Footprints, Frontiers, and Empires: Latin American Tourism Development, 1840–1959,” History Compass 12, no. 1 (2014): 42–50 .

16 See, for instance, Norman Sylvester Hayner , Hotel Life (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1936) .

17   Berger, Hotel Dreams ; A. K. Sandoval-Strausz , Hotel: An American History (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007) .

18   Joseph M. Siry , “The Architecture of Earthquake Resistance,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 67, no. 1 (2008): 78–105 .

19   Jonathan Clarke , “Like a Huge Birdcage Exhaled from the Earth: Watson’s Esplanade Hotel, Mumbai (1867–1871), and Its Place in Structural History,” Construction History 18 (2002): 37–77 .

20   Felicity Heal , Hospitality in Early Modern England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990) .

21   Shimon Gibson , Yoni Shapira , and Rupert L. Chapman III , Tourists, Travellers, and Hotels in Nineteenth-Century Jerusalem (London: Routledge, 2017) . For a valuable case study of Ottoman Salonica, see Mark Mazower , “Travellers and the Oriental City, c. 1840–1920,” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 12 (2002): 59–111 .

22 See Stanley Giffard Halsbury and Quintin Hogg Hailsham , Halsbury’s Laws of England, Being a Complete Statement of the Whole Law of England , 2nd ed. (London: Butterworth & Co, 1935), vol. 18, 135–165 .

23   Rosemary Sweet , Cities and the Grand Tour: The British in Italy, c. 1690–1820 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012) .

24   Michael Riley , “Hotels and Group Identity,” Tourism Management 5, no. 2 (1984): 102–109 .

25   Kevin J. James , “The Irishness of the Irish Inn: Narratives of Travel Accommodation in Ireland from Union to Home Rule,” Studies in Travel Writing 17, no. 1 (2013): 22–42 .

See, for example, Humair, “The Hotel Industry and Its Importance.”

27   Warren J. Belasco , Americans on the Road: From Autocamp to Motel, 1900–1945 (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1979) ; M. Concepcion Diez-Pastor , “‘Albergues de Carretera’ (Highway Inns): A Key Step in the Evolution of Spanish Tourism and Modernist Architecture,” Journal of Tourism History 2, no. 1 (2010): 1–22 ; John A. Jakle , “Motel by the Roadside: America‘s Room for the Night,” Journal of Cultural Geography 1, no. 1 (1980): 34–49 ; John A. Jakle , Keith A. Sculle , and Jefferson S. Rogers , The Motel in America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002) ; Ben Kamin , Room 306: The National Story of the Lorraine Motel (East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2012) ; Per Lundin , “Confronting Class: The American Motel in Early Post-War Sweden,” Journal of Tourism History 5, no. 2 (2013): 305–324 ; Cara Rodway , “Managing Quasi-Domesticity at the Roadside: Postwar Female Moteliers and the Space of Reinvention,” Women’s Studies 40, no. 8 (2011): 1030–1051 ; Sarah Treadwell , “The Motel: An Image of Elsewhere,” Space and Culture 8, no. 2 (2005): 214–224 .

28   Molly W. Berger , “The American Hotel,” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 25 (2005): 6–9 ; Berger, Hotel Dreams ; Sandoval-Strausz, Hotel: An American History . For a fascinating case study of the Flagler hotels in Florida as material manifestations of an ideology of reconciliation, see Reiko Hillyer , “The New South in the Ancient City: Flagler’s St. Augustine Hotels and Sectional Reconciliation,” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 25 (2005): 104–135 .

29   James R. Brown , “Drinking Houses and the Politics of Surveillance in Pre-industrial Southampton,” in Political Space in Pre-industrial Europe , ed. Professor Beat Kümin (Farnham: Ashgate, 2009), 61–80 ; Jamie L. H. Goodall , “Tippling Houses, Rum Shops and Taverns: How Alcohol Fuelled Informal Commercial Networks and Knowledge Exchange in the West Indies,” Journal for Maritime Research 18, no. 2 (2016): 97–121 ; John Hare , “Inns, Innkeepers and the Society of Later Medieval England, 1350–1600,” Journal of Medieval History 39, no. 4 (2013): 477–497 ; Maarten Hell , “Trade, Transport, and Storage in Amsterdam Inns (1450–1800),” Journal of Urban History 40, no. 4 (2014): 742–761 ; Beta Kumin , “Useful to Have, but Difficult to Govern: Inns and Taverns in Early Modern Bern and Vaud,” Journal of Early Modern History 3, no. 2 (1999): 153–175 ; Daniel Maudlin , “Inns and Elite Mobility in Late Georgian Britain,” Past & Present 247, no. 1 (2020): 37–76 ; Daniel Maudlin , “The Urban Inn: Gathering Space, Hierarchy and Material Culture in the Eighteenth-Century British Town,” Urban History 46, no. 4 (2019): 617–648 .

30   Antón M. Pazos , ed., Nineteenth-Century European Pilgrimages: A New Golden Age (Abingdon: Routledge, 2020) .

31   Mary Fawler Maude , Manners and Customs Noticed in Various Passages of Holy Scripture, Illustrated by Extracts from the Works of Travellers (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1845), 73–79 .

32   William Hepworth Dixon , The Holy Land , 4th ed (London: Chapman and Hall), 92 .

  Dixon, The Holy Land , 94.

34   David Bowie , “Pure Diffusion? The Great English Hotel Charges Debate in The Times , 1853,” Business History 58, no. 2 (2016): 159–178 .

35 See Barbara Black’s treatment of London hotels, Hotel London: How Victorian Commercial Hospitality Shaped a Nation and Its Stories (Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2019) . For Paris, see Tessier, Le Grand Hôtel. Elaine Denby provides a broad survey in Grand Hotel, Reality and Illusion: A Cultural and Architectural History (London: Reaktion Books, 1998) .

36   James, “The Irishness of the Irish Inn” ; K. J. James , “The “McAutocrat of the breakfast-table”: Highland Hospitality in Nineteenth-century Travel Writing,” Hospitality & Society 9, no. 2 (2019): 161–181 .

37   Tom Avermaete , and Anne Massey , eds. Hotel Lobbies and Lounges: The Architecture of Professional Hospitality (London: Routledge, 2013 ; Carol Berens , Hotel Bars and Lobbies (New York: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, 1997) .

38   Charlotte Bates , “Hotel Histories: Modern Tourists, Modern Nomads and the Culture of Hotel-Consciousness,” Literature & History 12, no. 2 (2003): 62–75 .

39   Siegfried Kracauer , “The Hotel Lobby” (first published 1927), in The City Cultures Reader , 2nd ed., eds. Malcolm Miles , Tim Hall , and Iain Borden (London: Routledge, 2000), 33–39 .

  York Herald , October 7, 1874.

41   Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser , May 27, 1922 .

42   David Lowenthal , The Past Is a Foreign Country: Revisited (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015) .

43   Patrizia Battilani , and Francesca Fauri , “The Rise of a Service-Based Economy and its Transformation: Seaside Tourism and the Case of Rimini,” Journal of Tourism History 1, no. 1 (2009): 27–48 .

44   David Jarratt , “The Development and Decline of Morecambe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: A Resort Caught in the Tide,” Journal of Tourism History 11, no. 3 (2019): 263–283 .

45   Statler Service Codes, with which is Incorporated ‘Statler’s Talk to His Patrons’ (Buffalo: Statler Press, n.d.) .

46   Davidson, “’A Service Machine’” ; Lisa Pfueller Davidson , “Early Twentieth-Century Hotel Architects and the Origins of Standardization,” Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 25 (2005): 72–103 .

47   Annabel Jane Wharton , Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004) .

48   Jakle, Sculle, and Rogers, The Motel in America . For a perspective on how the biographical lens distorts the business history of hotels, see Dennis Nickson , “‘Colorful Stories’ Or Historical Insight? A Review of the Auto/Biographies of Charles Forte, Conrad Hilton, JW Marriott and Kemmons Wilson,” Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research 21, no. 1 (1997): 179–192 .

49   Ruth Craggs , “Towards a Political Geography of Hotels: Southern Rhodesia, 1958–1962,” Political Geography 31, no. 4 (2012): 215–224 .

50   Maria O’Donovan , “A Trip to the Mountains: Travel and Social Relations in the Catskill Mountains of New York,” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 15, no. 2 (2011): 267–728 ; for hotel workers, see Roy C. Wood , “Deviants and Misfits: Hotel and Catering Labor and the Marginal Worker Thesis,” International Journal of Hospitality Management 11, no. 3 (1992): 179–182 . For a highly instructive comparative perspective on the role of race in structuring hotel culture, see Christian M. Rogerson , and Jayne M. Rogerson , “Racialized Landscapes of Tourism: From Jim Crow USA to Apartheid South Africa,” Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series 48, no. 48 (2020): 7–21 .

51   Srilata Ravi , “Modernity, Imperialism and the Pleasures of Travel: The Continental Hotel in Saigon,” Asian Studies Review 32, no. 4 (2008): 475–490 .

52   Thierry Sanjuan , ed., Les Grands Hôtels en Asie: Modernité, Dynamiques Urbaines et Sociabilité (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2003) .

53   Jack Simmons , “Railways, Hotels, and Tourism in Great Britain 1839–1914,” Journal of Contemporary History 19, no. 2 (1984): 201–222 .

  Peleggi, “The Social and Material Life of Colonial Hotels.”

55   Richard White , “From the Majestic to the Mundane: Democracy, Sophistication and History Among the Mineral Spas of Australia,” Journal of Tourism History 4, no. 1 (2012): 85–108 .

56   Vaughn Scribner , “‘The happy effects of these waters’: Colonial American Mineral Spas and the British Civilizing Mission,” Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 14, no. 2 (2016): 409–49 .

57   Yasser Elsheshtawy , “City Interrupted: Modernity and Architecture in Nasser’s Post-1952 Cairo,” Planning Perspectives 28, no. 3 (2013): 347–371 .

58   Rhodri Windsor Liscombe , “Nationalism or Cultural Imperialism? The Château Style in Canada,” Architectural History 36 (1993): 127–144 .

59 The literature on Lapidus is extensive; see, as one example, Alice T Friedman , “Merchandising Miami Beach: Morris Lapidus and the Architecture of Abundance,” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 25 (2005): 216–253 .

60 A helpful review of architectural styles in American parks can be found in Linda Flint McClelland , Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape Design of the National Park Service, 1916–1942 (Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1993) . For a related discussion of Catskills architecture, see Harvey K. Flad , “The Parlor in the Wilderness: Domesticating an Iconic American Landscape,” Geographical Review 99, no. 3 (2009): 356–376 .

61   Marta Weigle , “Exposition and Mediation: Mary Colter, Erna Fergusson, and the Santa Fe/Harvey Popularization of the Native Southwest, 1902–1940,” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 12, no. 3 (1992): 117–150 .

62 See Maurice Hodgen , “Riverside‘s Mission Inn: The Beginning of a Landmark,” Southern California Quarterly 90, no. 1 (2008): 27–54 . Roberto Lint Sagarena , “Building California’s Past: Mission Revival Architecture and Regional Identity.” Journal of Urban History 28, no. 4 (2002): 429–444 .

63   Sasha Pack , Tourism and Dictatorship: Europe’s Peaceful Invasion of Franco’s Spain (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) ; Justin Crumbaugh , Destination Dictatorship: The Spectacle of Spain‘s Tourist Boom and the Reinvention of Difference (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2010) . For Portugal see Marta Prista , “From Displaying to Becoming National Heritage: The Case of the Pousadas de Portugal,” National Identities 17, no. 3 (2015): 311–331 .

64   Stefan Al , The Strip: Las Vegas and the Architecture of the American Dream (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2017) ; Giovanna Franci , Federico Zignani , and Jose Gamez . Dreaming of Italy: Las Vegas and the Virtual Grand Tour (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005) ; Stephanie Malia Hom , “Italy without Borders: Simulacra, Tourism, Suburbia, and the New Grand Tour,” Italian Studies 65, no. 3 (2010): 376–397 ; Karen Jones , “ ‘The Old West in Modern Splendor’: Frontier Folklore and the Selling of Las Vegas,” European Journal of American Culture 29, no. 2 (2010): 93–110 ; Nancy B. Reed , “The Classical Heritage in Neon Lights: Las Vegas, Nevada,” Journal of American & Comparative Cultures 24, nos. 1/2 (2001): 147–152 . A classic text that informs many studies of Ls Vegas is Umberto Eco , Travels in Hyperreality: Essays , trans. William Weaver (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986) .

65   Alan Bryman , Disney & His Worlds (London: Routledge, 2003) ; Janet Wasko , Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001) .

66 There is an extensive literature on Raffles Hotel. See, for example, Joan C. Henderson , “Conserving Colonial Heritage: Raffles Hotel in Singapore,” International Journal of Heritage Studies 7, no. 1 (2001): 7–24 , and Daniel P. S. Goh , “Capital and the Transfiguring Monumentality of Raffles Hotel,” Mobilities 5, no. 2 (2010): 177–195 .

67   Paul Freedman , “American Restaurants and Cuisine in the Mid-Nineteenth Century,” New England Quarterly 84, no. 1 (2011): 5–59 ; Andrew P. Haley , Turning the Tables: The Aristocratic Restaurant and the Rise of the American Middle Class, 1880–1920 (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2011) .

68   Kevin D. Murphy , “‘Secure from All Intrusion’: Heterotopia, Queer Space, and the Turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century American Resort,” Winterthur Portfolio 43, nos. 2/3 (2009): 185–228 ; Bryant Simon , “New York Avenue: The Life and Death of Gay Spaces in Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1920–1990,” Journal of Urban History 28, no. 3 (2002): 300–327 ; for love hotels, see Sarah Chaplin , Japanese Love Hotels: A Cultural History (London: Routledge, 2007) .

69   Kris Bulcroff , Richard Bulcroff , Linda Smeins , and Helen Cranage , “The Social Construction of the North American Honeymoon, 1880–1995,” Journal of Family History 22, no. 4 (1997): 462–490 ; Barbara Penner , “Doing it Right: Postwar Honeymoon Resorts in the Pocono Mountains,” in Architecture and Tourism , eds. Medina Lasansky and Brian McLaren (Berg: Oxford, 2004), 207–223 ; Barbara Penner , Newlyweds on Tour: Honeymooning in Nineteenth-Century America (Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire Press, 2009) .

70   Nikolaos Papadogiannis , “‘Keeping with Contemporary Times’: Social Tourism and West German Youth Hostel Organizations, 1950s–1980s,” Journal of Contemporary History 51, no. 3 (2016): 660–687 .

71 See the report of Lamond v. Richard and the Gordon Hotels (Ltd.) in the Court of Appeal, The Weekly Reporter 45 (1897): 289–291

72 A notably vibrant area of study is the most industrialized country in Africa; see Jayne M. Rogerson , “The Changing Accommodation Landscape of Free State, 1936–2010: A Case of Tourism Geography,” African Journal for Physical Health Education, Recreation and Dance 19, no. 3 (2013): 86–104 ; Jayne M. Rogerson , “The Early Development of Hotels in Johannesburg ca 1928–1963,” African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure 7, no. 4 (2018): 1–16 ; Jayne M. Rogerson , “Johannesburg’s Iconic Hotels: The Life and Death of the Two Carltons,” in New Directions in South African Tourism Geographies , eds. Jayne M. Rogerson and Gustav Visser (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2020), 55–74 ; Christian M. Rogerson and Jayne M. Rogerson , “The Evolution of Hotels in Johannesburg 1890–1948: A Case of Historical Urban Tourism,” GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites 23, no. 3 (2018): 738–747 ; Christian M. Rogerson , “From Liquor to Leisure: The Changing South African Hotel Industry, 1928–1968,” Urban Forum 22, no. 4 (2011): 379–394 ; Alice Magombo , Christian M. Rogerson , and Jayne M. Rogerson , “Accommodation Services for Competitive Tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa: Historical Evidence from Malawi,” Bulletin of Geography: Socio-Economic Series 38, no. 38 (2017): 73–92 .

73   Tatiana Seijas , “Inns, Mules, and Hardtack for the Voyage: The Local Economy of the Manila Galleon in Mexico,” Colonial Latin American Review 25, no. 1 (2016): 56–76 .

74 For a case study, see Karl Byrand , “Integrating Preservation and Development at Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin, 1915–1940,” Historical Geography 35 (2007): 136–159 .

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Chapter 3. Accommodation

Learning Objectives

• Explain the contribution the accommodations sector makes to Canada’s economy
• Identify how a hotel category is determined, and describe different hotel categories in Canada
• Explain the meaning and structure of independent ownership, franchise agreements, and management contracts
• Summarize current accommodation trends
• Discuss the structure of hotel operations

Original author & revisions: Rebecca Wilson-Mah

Introduction to Tourism Copyright © 2020 by NSCC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Chapter 16 Hospitality and Tourism

Learning Objectives

• Understand what tourism is: definition, components, and importance.
• Understand the economic, social, and environmental benefits and costs of tourism.
• Define hospitality and the pineapple tradition.
• Identify the types of hotel categories and how they are determined.
• Examine the different categories of food service operations.
• Understand the different types of events, meetings, and conventions.

The tourism industry is often cited as the largest industry in the world, contributing 10 percent of the world’s GDP. In 2016 there were over 1.2 billion international tourists: that’s a substantial economic impact and movement of goods and services! [1] Tourism is also considered an export and is unique in that the consumers come to the product where it is consumed on-site. Before we dig any deeper, let’s explore what the term “tourism” means.

Definition of Tourism

There are a number of ways tourism can be defined. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) embarked on a project from 2005 to 2007 to create a common glossary of terms for tourism. It defines tourism as follows:

A social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which imply tourism expenditure. [2]

In other words, tourism is the movement of people for a number of purposes (whether business or pleasure). It is important to understand the various groups and constituencies involved in this movement. Of course it includes the tourist, but also the vast array of businesses providing goods and services for the tourist, the government and political structure of a destination, and the local residents of the destination community itself. Each of these components are necessary parts of a successful tourism destination and operate within private and public sectors, the built environment, and the natural environment. All these come together to create the processes, activities, and outcomes of tourism.

If it all seems a little overwhelming, it might be helpful to break tourism down into broad industry groups, each of which will be covered in this chapter:

Accommodation and Lodging

• Food and Beverage Services (F & B)

Recreation and Entertainment

• Convention & Event Management

Travel Services

• Private Clubs

Benefits and Costs of Tourism

Tourism impacts can be grouped into three main categories: economic, social, and environmental. These impacts are analyzed using data gathered by businesses, governments, and industry organizations. Some impacts gain more attention than others. It is also important to recognize that different groups and constituencies are impacted differently.

Economic Impacts of Tourism

The tourism industry has a huge economic impact that continues to expand to new markets and destinations. According to the UNWTO, in 2016 “The total export value from international tourism amounted to US$ 1.5 trillion.” [3]  Regions with the highest growth in terms of tourism dollars earned (2016 vs 2015) are Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Americas Europe. Only the Middle East posted negative growth at the time of the report. As well, the UNWTO’s Tourism 20 3 0 Vision report predicts that international arrivals will reach nearly 1.8 billion by 2030. [4] Figure 16.2 provides additional information about the impact of tourism worldwide. The global pandemic of 2020 which limited or in some cases ceased any citizen travel has had a direct and significant impact on global tourism, as outlined in Figure 16.2.

Positive impacts from the prior economic boom include robust foreign exchange, increases in income, and GDP growth. Tourism can also offer diverse employment opportunities, can be developed with local products, and is often compatible with other economic activities within a destination. Tourism often injects money into the community that leads to secondary economic development as well. For example, successful resorts may create the need for a commercial laundry facility or a pet boarding business.

However, there are also negative impacts. Property values may increase to the point of unaffordability for local residents, and the seasonality of the tourism industry may create a feast-or-famine economy. As with any economy, if too many resources are focused on just one industry, communities may be vulnerable to any unexpected economic, social, or environmental changes. One example is the New Jersey shore after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The tourism industry was severely impacted, leaving no economic fallback for local residents.

Social Impacts of Tourism

In addition to the economic benefits of tourism development, positive social impacts include an increase in amenities (e.g., parks, recreation facilities), investment in arts, culture, heritage and tradition, celebration of indigenous communities, and community pride. Tourism also has the potential to break down language, socio-cultural, religious, and political barriers. When developed conscientiously, tourism can, and does, contribute to a positive quality of life for residents and promotes a positive image of the destination.

However, as identified by the United Nations Environment Programme, negative social impacts of tourism can include: change or loss of indigenous identity and values; culture clashes; changes in family structure; conflict within the community for the tourism dollar; and ethical issues, including an increase in sex tourism, crime, gambling, and/or the exploitation of child workers. [5]

Environmental Impacts of Tourism

Tourism relies on, and greatly impacts, the natural environment in which it operates. In some destinations, there is a great appreciation of the environmental resources as the source of the tourism industry, and as such there are environmental protection policies and plans in place. Tourism has helped to save many delicate ecosystems and their flora and fauna. Preservation of these important resources benefits not only the tourist but also the local residents as well.

Even though many areas of the world are conserved in the form of parks and protected areas, tourism development can still have severe negative economic impacts. According to The United Nations Environment Programme, these can include the depletion of natural resources (water, forests, etc.), pollution (air pollution, noise, sewage, waste and littering), and physical impacts (construction activities, marina development, trampling, loss of biodiversity, and spread of disease). [6]

The environmental impacts of tourism can reach beyond local areas and have an effect on the global ecosystem. One example is increased air travel, which is often identified as a major contributor to climate change.

Whether positive or negative, tourism is a force for change around the world, and the industry is transforming at a staggering rate.

The Hospitality Industry

When looking at tourism it is important to consider the term hospitality. Some define hospitality as “the business of helping people to feel welcome and relaxed and to enjoy themselves.” [7] Simply put, the hospitality industry is the combination of the accommodation and food and beverage groupings, collectively making up the largest segment of the industry.

The pineapple has long been the symbol of hospitality. The Caribs, indigenous people of the Lower Antilles in the Caribbean, first used it as such a symbol. The Spaniards knew they were welcome if a pineapple was placed at the entrance to the village. This symbolism spread across Europe and North America where it became the custom to carve the shape of a pineapple into the columns of residences. [8] It is now common to see the image of the pineapple as a sign of welcome, warmth and hospitality.

The types of employees and resources required to run an accommodation business—whether it be a hotel, motel, or even a campground—are quite similar. All these businesses need staff to check in guests, provide housekeeping, employ maintenance workers, and provide a place for people to sleep. As such, they can be grouped together under the heading of accommodation and lodging . Figure 16.4 summarizes the various groupings within the industry.

Figure 16.4: The scope of the hospitality industry.

Hotel Types

Hotels are typically referred to by hotel type or other classifications. Hotel type is determined primarily by how it will function and what amenities will be included within the property. Size, location, service levels and type of business or targeted market segments are additional classifications. Industry also classifies hotels by chain scale … separating hotels into categories determined by their average daily rates. Various ownership structures and brand affiliations also differentiate hotels.

Classifications

Hotels may be classified on a number of different variables. Type of Hotel : There are numerous classifications by hotel type including all-inclusive hotels, all-suite properties, B&B/Inns, boutique, convention/conference centers, condo hotels, resort, extended stay, full service, casino, limited service and timeshare properties. Size and Complexity: A hotel can be classified by the number of guest rooms it has; hotel sizes can range from a small boutique hotel with fewer than 50 rooms to a large resort hotel with more than 1,000 rooms. The complexity of the hotel is determined by the volume and number of additional revenue generating functions such as the square feet of available conference space, number of F&B operations and additional services and amenities like pools, fitness centers, spas, golf, etc. Location: The location of a hotel can also determine the type of guest served. An airport hotel may be very different from a city-center property in an urban environment, or a remote island resort or a small quaint bed and breakfast located on top of a mountain. Hotels that specialize in conferences, may locate near entertainment destinations like Las Vegas or Disney theme parks to provide pre-post conference activities for attendees. Service Level: The level of service provided is also a key variable, ranging from an inexpensive budget or economy hotel, (Limited or Focused Service Hotels) which may have limited services and amenities, to upscale and luxury hotels (Full Service Hotels) with many services and a wide range of amenities. Market Segmentation: Figure 16.5 outlines the characteristics of specific hotel types that have evolved to match the needs of a particular traveler segment. As illustrated, hotels adapt and diversify depending on the markets they desire and need to drive occupancy levels and generate revenues. Some hotels will specialize in a specific market segment, but in today’s competitive environment, most hotels will target a combination of these segments.

Figure 16.5: Types of hotel market segments and their key characteristics.

There are several other industry related organizations, such as Forbes and AAA which provide Consumer Ratings for individual hotels … another form of classifying a property. Forbes has traditionally awarded one to five “Stars” and AAA, one to five “Diamond” ratings. Additionally, many social media applications like Trip Advisor offer hotel property ratings to consumers.

Chain Scale: Smith Travel Research (STR) is an organization that provides the lodging industry with global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. STR classifies the lodging industry into six chain scale segments according to their respective brand Average Daily Rate (ADR). The six segments are defined as Luxury ; Upper Upscale ; Upscale ; Mid-Scale with F&B ( Upper Mid-Scale ); Mid-Scale without F&B ( Mid-Scale ) and Economy . Through STR’s 30—plus years of service to the hospitality industry—they have developed vital benchmarking performance solutions, established market trend transparency and provided data used by the investment community to support hotel development projects. Their core product, the STAR report, provides hotel owners and operators with comparative performance data between their property and a defined set of market competitors and allows you to follow trends in hotel occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPar). Developers, investors, industry analysts, hotel brands and management companies all utilize STR data when determine what type of hotel to build and what location would provide maximum opportunity for success.

The type of ownership, brand affiliation and management are also very important variables in the classification of hotels. Owners may manage their own hotels independently but in today’s competitive environment, they would likely sign a Franchise Agreement with a nationally recognized brand as well as a Management Contract with a hotel management company to manage the property. A hotel chain such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt or IHG (Intercontinental Hotel Group) is comprised of multiple brands: Marriott, following their recent merger with Starwood currently has 30 different hotel brands, with each name representing a different level of price, service or targeted market segments.

Branding Decision

Selecting a brand affiliation is one of the most significant decisions hotel owners must make. [9] The brand affiliation selected will largely determine the cost of hotel development or conversion of an existing property to meet the standards of the new brand. The affiliation will also determine a number of things about the ongoing operation including the level of services and amenities offered, cost of operation, marketing opportunities or restrictions, and the competitive position in the marketplace. For these reasons, owners typically consider several branding options before choosing to operate independently or to adopt a brand affiliation.

Franchise Agreements

Another managerial and ownership structure is franchising. A hotel franchise enables individuals or investment companies (the franchisee) to build or purchase a hotel and then buy or lease a brand name to become part of a chain of hotels using the franchisor’s hotel brand, image, loyalty program, goodwill, procedures, cost controls, marketing, and reservations systems. [10]

A franchisee becomes part of a network of properties that use a central reservations system with access to electronic distribution channels, regional and national marketing programs, central purchasing, revenue management support, and brand operating standards. A franchisee also receives training, support, and advice from the franchisor and must adhere to regular inspections, audits, and reporting requirements.

Selecting a franchise structure may reduce investment risk by enabling the franchisee to associate with an established hotel company. Franchise fees can be substantial, and a franchisee must be willing to adhere to the contractual obligations with the franchisor. [11] Franchise fees typically include an initial fee paid with the franchise application and continuing fees paid during the term of the agreement. These fees are usually a percentage of revenue but can be set at a fixed fee. The total percentage of sales ranges significantly for hotels from 3.3⁠–14.7 percent with a median of 11.8 percent. [12]

Management Contracts

It is common for ownership to utilize a management contract , which is a service offered by a management company to manage a hotel or resort for its owners. Owners have two main options for the structure of a management contract. One is to enter into a management agreement with an independent third-party hotel management company to manage the hotel. There are hundreds of these companies, but some of the large organizations include Aimbridge, Benchmark Hospitality, Crescent Hotels, Interstate Hotels, and White Lodging. A slightly different option is for owners to select a single company to provide both the brand and the expertise to manage the property. Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt, are companies that provide this second option to owners.

Food and Beverage Services

The food and beverage sector is commonly known to industry professionals by its initials F&B. The F&B sector grew from simple origins to meet the basic needs for food and beverage services to increasing demand for unique experiences and broader options. As the interests of the public became more diverse, so too did the offerings of the F&B sector. The increasing awareness and demand for organic, sustainable, local or craft options as well as special dietary needs in food and beverage continue to challenge this industry. In addition, in order to better attract and serve a diverse array of diners, the F&B industry now consists of a variety of segments. The following is a discussion of each.

Quick-Service Restaurants

Formerly known as fast-food restaurants, examples of  quick-service restaurants , or QSRs, include Chick-fil-A, Subway, and Pizza Hut. This prominent portion of the food sector generally caters to both residents and visitors, and it is represented in areas that are conveniently accessed by both. Brands, chains, and franchises dominate the QSR landscape. While the sector has made steps to move away from the traditional “fast-food” image and style of service, it is still dominated by both fast food and food fast; in other words, food that is purchased and prepared quickly, and generally consumed quickly as well.

Fast-Casual Restaurants

Fast-Casual restaurants focus on higher quality ingredients than QSR’s and provide made-to-order food in an environment that does not include table service. Customers usually queue and order at a counter. The seating area is more upscale and comfortable. Examples would include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panera and Jason’s Deli.

Full-Service Restaurants

Full-service restaurants  are perhaps the most fluid of the F&B operation types, adjusting and changing to the demands of the marketplace. Consumer expectations are higher here than with QSRs. [13] The menus offered are varied, but in general reflect the image of the restaurant or consumer’s desired experience. Major segments include fine dining, family/casual, ethnic, and upscale casual.

Fine dining restaurants are characterized by highly trained chefs preparing complex food items, exquisitely presented. Meals are brought to the table by experienced servers with sound food and beverage knowledge in an upscale atmosphere with table linens, fine china, crystal stemware, and silver-plate cutlery. The table is often embellished with fresh flowers and candles. In these businesses, the average check, which is the total sales divided by number of guests served, is quite high (often reviewed with the cost symbols of three or four dollar signs: $$$ or $$$$.) Examples include the Inn at Little Washington, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Capitol Grille.

Casual restaurants serve moderately-priced to upscale food in a more casual atmosphere. Casual dining comprises a market segment between fast casual establishments and fine dining restaurants. Casual dining restaurants often have a full bar with separate bar staff, a larger beer menu and a limited wine menu. This segment is full of chains such as Chili’s, Outback, Red Robin and Cracker Barrel as well as many independent restaurants in regional or local markets.

Family restaurants  offer affordable menu items that span a variety of customer tastes. They also have the operational flexibility in menu and restaurant layout to welcome large groups of diners. An analysis of menus in family/casual restaurants reveals a high degree of operational techniques such as menu item cross-utilization, where a few key ingredients are repurposed in several ways. Both chain and independent restaurant operators flourish in this sector. Examples of chains in this category would be Golden Corral, Cici’s Pizza and Ponderosa Steakhouse.

Ethnic restaurants  typically reflect the owner’s cultural identity, Vietnamese, Cuban, Thai, etc. The growth and changing nature of this sector reflects the acceptance of various ethnic foods within our communities. Ethnic restaurants generally evolve along two routes: toward remaining authentic to the cuisine of the country of origin or toward larger market acceptance through modifying menu items. [14] Examples would be P.F. Chang’s, Tara Thai or Pei Wei.

Wineries, Cideries, Local Craft Beer, and Distilleries 

The beverage industry continues to evolve as well with a strong focus on local craft beers, wines, cider and distilling. Wineries exist in almost every state, with over 300 in Virginia as of 2022. [15] Wine, bourbon, cider trails and brew pub crawls, etc. are used to generate awareness and create experiences for customers. Wineries often use event space or festivals to take advantage of the beauty of the winery and supplement their revenues.

Alcohol sales, in many ways, have continued to evolve as a unique source of tourism revenue across the United States and around the world. From wine tours in Napa, California to scotch whisky tastings in Edinburgh, Scotland consumers are seeking different tastes as a part of their travels. Alcohol producers range from small first-generation entrepreneurs to wineries that have carried a family name for decades. The size of operation can also vary considerably from small wineries that produce very small batches to huge corporations, like Constellation Brands, that control and sell multiple brands of wine, beer and liquor from producers around the world. Constellation Brands – www.cbrands.com

Wine and wineries have attracted consumer dollars and consumer interest for hundreds of years. Consumers not only purchase wine to taste, but many also purchase wine to collect and even use as an investment. With respect to tourism, wineries are uniquely positioned to provide a special consumer experience. Wineries are often on beautiful, well-manicured farms with elaborate tasting rooms and event venues. Growers, as a part of their story or sales pitch, will review the local terroir. The “terroir” is the blend of culture, climate, soil and terrain factors that allow for the unique growing conditions of one or more grape varieties, from which the wine is made. [16]

Because of the dependency on climate, the industry is constantly evolving due to climate change. New varietals are introduced in areas where they could not grow even 50 years ago. An interesting example is the recent popularity of the “British Sparkler”. Across the English Channel, French wine and champagne brands are well-known. However, in recent years, British wine growers have been able to create exceptional sparkling wines from similar chalky soil and the same Chardonnay varietal. [17]

Cideries and Industry Legislation

The Craft Beverage Modernization and Reform Act of 2015 (CBMA) was a huge shot in the arm for entrepreneurs in the beverage industry. Overall, this act loosened the alcohol control laws permitting growers, brewers and distillers to distribute product easier. [18] , [19] A portion of this act was referred to as the “Cider Act” as it enabled farmers to open Cider tasting rooms and more easily distribute canned and bottled product. [20] Multiple states like Connecticut followed suit in easing state alcohol tax and control laws. [21] Cider was the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry between 2013-2014, with a growth rate of over 75%, stealing market share from wine and beer. [22] Another version of the CBMA was passed in 2019 further extending consumer access to cider.

Local Craft Beer

In most parts of the world the offering of a cold beer goes hand in hand with hospitality. While a few global corporations do control large portions of world-wide distribution, in the United States there has been a steady growth in American Craft beer, in recent decades. The combination of the growing popularity of home brewing clubs in the 1970’s and 1980’s, combined with the use of the internet to share and promote brews in the 1990’s and then the easing of alcohol distribution laws has created the craft brewing category. Total breweries in the United States including Regional Craft, Microbreweries, Taprooms, Brewpubs and large commercial breweries have grown from 4847 in 2015 to 8884 in 2020, according to the Brewers Association www.brewersassocaition.org. These brewery categories vary mainly based on size of production and the percent of beverage sales vs. onsite food sales. [23]

Craft beer makers typically pick from three very different growth strategies. The first strategy is more personal and closer to the rebel mentality of many craft beer makers. These brewers strive to leverage local resources and develop new local traditions to promote their products. Many of these brewers self-distribute their product, if it is sold outside of the brewery tasting rooms. Nearly every mid-size city in the country has an example this localized strategy. Big Lick Brewing in Roanoke, VA is an ideal example of this approach.

The second strategy is the “grow and sell” plan. A successful local brewer may fall into this plan, with a little luck, or it may be a strategy from the start to help support large scale growth. In this strategy the success of the brewer grows from a local market to a regional market. Their beer is distributed by one or more distributors who is aligned with a large national brewer. The national brewer takes note of the regional brewer growth and rather than compete directly, they purchase the regional brewer; they buy their competitor. For the smaller brewer this deal is often significant and it represents an ideal retirement strategy. The acquisition of Devils Back Bone by Anheuser Busch/Inbev is a good example. [24]

The third strategy is rarer. In this case the local brewer has more access to resources and is able to grow the brand on a large scale, moving from local to regional to a national brand, on their own. To help propel the growth of this brand it must be exceptional. To distribute the beer outside of the local market this brewer will develop multiple relationships with distributors to help support strategic growth, as market share and production grow. Sierra Nevada out of Chico, CA is one of the few such beer brands that has been able to thread this needle.

Distilleries and Mixology

Like wine and beer, distilled spirits often are a reflection of the local culture and geography. In the United States as of August 2021 there were 2290 craft sprit producers with about a third of those focused on whisky production. [25] Consumer brand preferences run strong in many categories and liquor is no exception. Craft distillers strive to create powerful branding, to not just sell the next drink, but to create customers for life. These branding programs share the brands history, geography, chemistry and culture with customers as part of an educational tasting experience. The Makers Mark Ambassador program and its sprawling distillery operation, with multiple tasting rooms, is a perfect example.

In the last few years, tequila has been the spirits category with the best growth. In 2020 it was North America’s fastest growing alcoholic beverage category with 5.7 billion dollars in annual sales. [26] Celebrity endorsements along with changing consumer demographics has helped fuel the growth in this category. According to US Census Reports, Hispanic and Latino demographic growth was 23% between the 2010 and 2020 census. [27] This change in consumer demographics certainly modified the overall market composition and created new opportunities for some distillers.

The evolving industry

The COVID pandemic has let the “genie out of the bottle” in more ways than one. Restaurant owners appealed to lawmakers for some flexibility in providing alcohol to customers, in the name of saving industry jobs, and in 2019 another revision of a Craft Beverage Modernization Act 2019 was passed. [28] Many states took alcohol control laws a step further, in favor of retailer and bar owners, and permitted cocktails to go as a new legal revenue stream for business owners. Multiple states have since made the changes permanent, while some continue to have the laws on the books, as a temporary relief strategy, during the pandemic. [29]

Institutional Food Service

Institutional f ood s ervice is large scale and often connected to governmental (National Parks) or corporate level organizations. Often run under a predetermined contract, the institutional F&B sector includes:

• Educational institutions
• Prisons and other detention facilities
• Corporate staff cafeterias
• National Park restaurants and concessions
• Cruise ships
• Airports and other transportation terminals and operations

Examples of companies who focus on Institutional Food Service are Compass, Sodexho, Aramark.

Accommodation Food Service

This sector includes hotel restaurants and bars, room service, and self-serve dining operations (such as a breakfast room).  Hotel restaurants are usually open to the public and reliant on this public patronage in addition to business from hotel guests. Collaborations between hotel and restaurant chains have seen reliable pairings such as the combination of Shula’s Steakhouse and Marriott Hotels.

Restaurant Industry Profitability and Cost Control

According to the National Restaurant Association, QSRs have the highest pre-tax profit margin at 6.6 percent, while full-service restaurants have a margin of 6.1 percent. There will be significant variances from these percentages at individual locations, even within the same brand. [30]

Figure 16.16: Restaurant operating expenses as a percent of revenue.

A number of costs influence the profitability of an F&B operation. Some of the key operating expenses (as a percentage of revenue) are detailed in figure 16.16 [31] , above, where food cost and salaries & wages are the two major expenses, each accounting for approximately a third of the total. Other expenses include rental and leasing of venue, utilities, advertising, and depreciation of assets. These percentages represent averages, and will vary greatly by sector and location.

Cost control and containment is essential for all F&B businesses. Demanding particular attention are the labor, food, and beverage costs, also known as the operator’s primary costs. In addition to these big ticket items, there is the cost of reusable operating supplies such as cutlery, glassware, china, and linen in full-service restaurants.

Recreation can be defined as the pursuit of leisure activities during one’s spare time [32] and can include vastly different activities such as golfing, sport fishing, and rock climbing. Defining recreation as it pertains to tourism, however, is more challenging.

Let’s start by exploring some recreation-based terms that are common in the tourism industry. Outdoor recreation can be defined as “outdoor activities that take place in a natural setting, as opposed to a highly cultivated or managed landscape such as a playing field or golf course.” [33]   This term is typically applied to outdoor activities in which individuals engage close to their community. When these activities are further away, and people must travel some distance to participate in them, they are often described as “adventure tourism”. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), adventure tourism is “a trip that includes at least two of the following three elements: physical activity, natural environment, and cultural immersion.” [34]

Ultimately, categorization is based on a combination of several factors, including manner of engagement in the activity (risk exposure, experience requirement, group or solo activity), the distance travelled to access the activity, and the type of environment (proximity to nature, level of challenge involved) in which the activity occurs.

According to the 2021 Global Adventure Tourism Market Report, the global adventure travel market is expecting an elevation of $2.02 billion (in U.S. dollars) by 2030 and is witnessing a compound annual growth rate of 10.7 percent from 2020-30. [35]

Entertainment

Entertainment is a very broad category which overlaps with many of the areas discussed elsewhere in this chapter, like hotels and accommodation. Two major types of entertainment that we’ll discuss here are gaming and theme parks.

Gaming has grown significantly in the United States and globally. The number of casinos in the United States has been growing since 2010, as shown in figure 16.18. Casinos are found all over the United States in major cities, riverboats, and on Native American lands. However, US casino revenue has been relatively flat, while global gaming revenues have been on the increase, largely due to Asian market growth. Most casinos involve other facets of the Hospitality industry such as lodging, F&B, golf, entertainment, spas, etc., but they also have the added challenges of casino operations.

Theme Parks

Theme parks have a long history dating back to the 1500’s in Europe, and have evolved ever since. Today, it is hard not to compare any amusement park destination to Disneyland and Disney World. Opened in 1955 in sunny California, Disneyland set the standard for theme parks. Theme parks outside of California and Florida are often highly seasonable operations challenged with significant staffing and training requirements each year.

Convention and Event Management

A convention is a large meeting of people with similar interests who meet for a period of at least a few days to discuss their field. An  event  is a gathering at a given place and time, usually of some importance, often celebrating or commemorating a special occasion.

Both conventions and events can be extremely complex projects, which is why, over time, the role of meeting planners has taken on greater importance. The development of education, training programs, and professional designations such as CMPs (Certified Meeting Planners), CSEP (Certified Special Events Professional), and CMM (Certificate in Meeting Management) has led to increased credibility in this business and demonstrates the importance of the sector to the economy.

Meeting planners may be independent contractors hired to facilitate the planning process, work directly for the company full time to coordinate their meeting, or work for hotels, conference centers and event venues directly.

• The various tasks involved in meeting and event planning include:
• Conceptualizing/theming
• Site inspection & selection
• Logistics and planning
• Human resource management
• Marketing and public relations
• Budgeting and financial management
• Sponsorship procurement
• Management and evaluation

Event Categories

Mega-events.

A m ega-event is a large scale, highly prestigious event such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, or a global economic summit. These events typically gain tremendous media coverage and have major economic impacts on the host location, both positive and negative. High levels of tourism (1 million visitors) associated with a mega-event brings revenue, but the revenue may be outweighed by substantial capital and social costs incurred by the host. The events are often awarded to host destinations through a bidding process and gain tremendous media coverage.

Special Events

A special event is a one-time or infrequent specific ritual, presentation, performance, or celebration. Special events are planned and created to mark a special occasion, such as a presidential inauguration or the Queen of England’s 90 th birthday. Like mega-events, there may be significant media coverage and economic impact for the host city or destination.

Hallmark Events

A hallmark event is a unique event that is often identified with the location where it is held, like Carnival in Rio de Janeiro or Oktoberfest in Munich. Hallmark events contribute significant economic benefits and even can create a competitive advantage for the host city or destination that attracts tourists.

A festival is a themed public celebration that conveys, through a kaleidoscope of activities, certain meaning to participants and spectators. Festivals are often celebrations of community or culture and feature music, dance, or dramatic performances. Examples include Lollapalooza, the Cannes Film Festival, and Junkanoo in the Bahamas.

Local Community Events

A local community event is generated by and for locals; although it may attract tourists, its main audience is the local community. The community may experience measurable economic impacts, as might happen at The Steppin’ Out Street Fair in Blacksburg (think hotel stays and eating out). Fundraisers and community picnics are also examples in this category.

Meetings and Conventions

The tourism industry also has a long history of creating, hosting, and promoting meetings and conventions that draw business travelers. In fact, Convention and Visitor Bureau’s (CVB’s) work hard to attract these meetings and conventions to their city to drive economic benefit for hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, etc.

There are several types of such events

Conventions  generally have very large attendance, and are held on a regular schedule but in different locations. They also often require a bidding process.  Political conventions are one such example.

Association M eetings or C onferences are held regionally and nationally for hundreds of associations or events focused on specific themes. Examples would be the National Restaurant Association Annual Convention, ComicCon, or the National Auto Show.

Corporate M eetings will vary significantly in size and purpose and include regional or national sales meetings, shareholder meetings, training sessions, or celebrations. The location will vary depending on the nature of the meeting. They may be held at an airport property, a traditional corporate meeting facility or even an upscale resort.

Trade S hows and T rade F airs  can be stand-alone events, or adjoin a convention or conference.

S eminars , W orkshops , and R etreats are examples of smaller-scale events.

As meeting planners have become more creative, meeting and convention delegates have been more demanding about meeting sites. No longer are hotel meeting rooms and convention centers the only type of location used; non-traditional venues have adapted and become competitive in offering services for meeting planners. These include architectural spaces such as airplane hangars, warehouses, or rooftops and experiential venues such as aquariums, museums, and galleries. [36]

Transportation and travel services are another large element of the tourism industry. This area includes cruise ships, airlines, rail, car rentals, and even ride sharing such as Uber and Lyft. Each of these segments is impacted significantly by fuel costs, safety issues, load factors and government regulation.

If you’ve ever been on a cruise, you are in good company. According to CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), 23 million passengers were expected to go on a cruise worldwide on 62 member lines in 2015. [37] The industry employs over 900,000 people. [38]

Over 55 percent of the world’s cruise passengers are from North America, and the leading destinations (based on ship deployments), according to CLIA are: [39]

• The Caribbean (36 percent)
• The Mediterranean (20 percent)
• Northern Europe (11 percent)
• Australia/New Zealand (6 percent)
• Alaska (6 percent)
• Asia (5 percent)
• South America (3 percent)

The t ravel services sector is made up of a complex web of relationships between a variety of suppliers, tourism products, destination marketing organizations, tour operators, and travel agents, among many others. Under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), the travel services industry group includes “establishments primarily engaged in travel arrangement and reservation services. Examples … are tourist and travel agencies; travel tour operators and wholesale operators; convention and visitors’ bureaus; airline, bus, railroad and steamship ticket offices; sports and theatrical ticket offices; and airline, hotel and restaurant reservation offices.” [40] Tourism services support industry development and the delivery of guest experiences.

Travel Agencies

A travel agency is a business that operates as the intermediary between the travel industry (supplier) and the traveler (purchaser). Part of the role of the travel agency is to market prepackaged travel tours and holidays to potential travelers. The agency can further function as a broker between the traveler and hotels, car rentals, and tour companies. [41] Travel agencies can be small and privately owned or part of a larger entity.

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

Online travel agents (OTAs) are companies that aggregate accommodations and transportation options and allow users to choose one or many components of their trip based on price or other incentives. Examples of OTAs include Booking.com, Expedia.com, Hotwire.com, and Kayak.com. OTAs are gaining popularity with the travelling public. Revenue of leading online travel agencies (OTAs) worldwide rose in 2021 over the previous year, after dropping sharply in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite the substantial increase, however, the figures did not catch up yet with pre-pandemic levels. Overall, Booking was the OTA recording the highest revenue in 2021, generating nearly 11 billion U.S. dollars. Expedia placed second on the ranking, with roughly 8.6 billion U.S. dollars that year. [42]

Tour Operators

A tour operator packages all or most of the components of an offered trip and then sells them to the traveler. These packages can also be sold through retail outlets or travel agencies. [43] Tour operators work closely with hotels, transportation providers, and attractions in order to purchase large volumes of each component and package these at a better rate than the traveler could by purchasing individually.

Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs)

Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) include national tourism boards, state/provincial tourism offices, and community convention and visitor bureaus around the world. DMOs promote “the long-term development and marketing of a destination, focusing on convention sales, tourism marketing and service” [44] .

Country Clubs

Country c lubs are another part of the Hospitality industry with a very different service strategy focusing on serving members who will develop relationships with the staff compared to a more transactional service interaction in lodging, restaurants or airlines.

Country clubs do not focus as strongly on profit as they do on maximizing member satisfaction, retention and growth while maintaining an attractive fee structure. Country (or city) clubs, will typically have restaurant and bar operations, catered events and other amenities such as golf, tennis, pool, fitness facilities, etc. Depending on the type of club, family and youth events are important to maintain and grow membership.

Strong customer service, culinary, event management and general management skills are necessary to be successful in clubs.

Chapter Video

As in any other fast-moving industry, the landscape in Hospitality and Tourism is always changing. This video explores 10 of the more important current trends impacting the industry.

Key Takeaways

• The Tourism industry is the largest industry in the world with significant benefit and costs to a region. The global competition for the tourism dollar is significant within the US and between countries.
• Hotels vary significantly in size, quality, purpose, chain affiliation, and ownership. The complexity of the operation and leadership vary as well.
• Food and Beverage is made up of a wide variety of restaurant types from QSR, Fast Casual, Fine Dining and Ethnic. Institutional food service in business , hospitals, education, parks and concessions are a significant part of the Food and Beverage industry.
• The evolution of tastes and consumer expectations in food and beverage continue to provide opportunity and challenges in the industry for ethnic sustainable, organic, local, craft, and other unique experiences.

Portions of this chapter were adapted from Westcott, Morgan (Ed)  Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality in BC.   CC BY 4.0.   https://opentextbc.ca/introtourism . Available for free at: http://open.bccampus.ca.

Figure 16.1: Tourists gather at the Eiffel Tower. Siebe Warmoeskerken. 2018. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/mxNrtFzOd-I .

Figure 16.2: The impact of global tourism before and after the pandemic. Kindred Grey. 2022. CC BY 4.0 . Data from https://wttc.org/Portals/0/Documents/Reports/2021/Global%20Economic%20Impact%20and%20Trends%202021.pdf [international spending, GDP, and jobs]; https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.TRVL.ZS [global service exports]. https://archive.org/details/16.2_20220627 .

Figure 16.3: The Pineapple Hotel in Liverpool. Rodhullandemu. 2012. CC BY-SA 3.0 . https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pineapple,_Park_Road,_Liverpool.jpg .

Figure 16.6: Example of a hotel market segmentation by STR’s Chain Scale. Kindred Grey. 2022. CC BY 4.0 . https://archive.org/details/16.6_20220627 .

Figure 16.7: The San Diego Marriott. Christina Hsu. 2009. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 . https://flic.kr/p/6KZ5Cv .

Figure 16.8: The Inn at Virginia Tech, managed by Benchmark Hospitality. Anastasia Cortes. 2016. Public domain. Provided by Steve Skripak.

Figure 16.9: Fine dining. Delightin Dee. 2021. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/_WI3DGseB3g .

Figure 16.10: Subway is a quick-service restaurant. Szymon12455. 2018. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/-jv94-xYy-E .

Figure 16.11: Panera is a fast-casual restaurant. Mike Mozart. 2014. CC BY 2.0 . https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panera_Bread_(13883443466).jpg .

Figure 16.12: A fine-dining restaurant in the Netherlands. Ronan Kruithof. 2019. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/PCE0T5i4pDI .

Figure 16.13: Afton Mountain Vineyards, VA. Kevin Oliver. 2017. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 . https://flic.kr/p/V9h6v5 .

Figure 16.14: Beer being brewed in steam-fired kettles in a Brazillian brewery. Roberta keiko Kitahara Santana. 2019. Unsplash license. https://unsplash.com/photos/RfL3l-I1zhc .

Figure 16.15: Restaurant industry career path. Kindred Grey. 2022. CC BY 4.0 . https://archive.org/details/16.15_202206 .

Figure 16.16: Restaurant operating expenses as a percent of revenue. Adapted from National Restaurant Association (2016). Restaurant Operations Report 2016 Edition. Washington, D.C.

Figure 16.17: Adventure tourism: whitewater rafting in Argentina. Jonatan Lewczuk. 2018. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/hN7jhC_YWk0 .

Figure 16.18: U.S. and global casino revenues (2005-2019). (2005-2015) Data Retrieved from:  https://gaming.unlv.edu/reports/national_annual_revenues.pdf ; 2016 data retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20170301070205/http://gaming.unlv.edu/reports/national_monthly.pdf ; 2017 data retrieved from: https://www.americangaming.org/resources/state-of-the-states-2018-the-aga-survey-of-the-commercial-casino-industry/ ; 2018 data retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20190201140714/https://gaming.unlv.edu/reports/national_monthly.pdf ; 2019 data retrieved from: https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/us-commercial-casinos-won-436-billion-2019-37-71069042; Global revenue data retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/271577/global-casino-gaming-market-revenue/ ; Number of commercial casinos data retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/187972/number-of-us-commercial-casinos-since-2005/ .

Figure 16.19: Disney is one of the most well-known theme parks. Bastien Nvs. 2020. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/g3CR0UJ1CyM .

Figure 16.20: The Bejing olympics is an example of a mega-event. zhang kaiyv. 2021. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/VAnriQouDIw .

Figure 16.21: Mardi Gras in New Orleans, 2018. Cayetano Gil. 2018. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/T0tb5Olqkis .

Figure 16.22: Cruise ship near St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Peter Hansen. 2017. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/MeGmdPNe36w .

Figure 16.23: The Old Course at Half Moon Bay, CA. Cristina Glebova. 2022. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/ihZwGiVMUCY .

• World Tourism Organization UNWTO (2015). “Why Tourism?” Retrieved from: http://www2.unwto.org/content/why-tourism ↵
• United Nations Statistics Division (2010, December). “Tourism as an Internationally Traded Service and Beyond.” Newsletter of the Interagency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services. No. 6. p. 1. Retrieved from: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/tradeserv/tfsits/newsletter/TFSITS_newsletter_6.pdf ↵
• World Tourism Organization UNWTO (2015). “Exports from International Tourism Rise 4% in 2015.” Retrieved from: http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2016-05-03/exports-international-tourism-rise-4-2015 ↵
• Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators (2010). “UNWTO Tourism Vision 2020 Forecast Released.” Retrieved from: http://www.abto.org.bt/2010/06/unwto-tourism-2020-vision-forecast-released/ ↵
• United Nations Environment Programme (2016). “Negative Socio-Cultural Impacts from Tourism.” Retrieved from: http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/Business/SectoralActivities/Tourism/FactsandFiguresaboutTourism/ImpactsofTourism/Socio-CulturalImpacts/NegativeSocio-CulturalImpactsFromTourism/tabid/78781/Default.aspx ↵
• United Nations Environment Programme (2016). “Tourism’s Three Main Impact Areas.” Retrieved from: http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/Business/SectoralActivities/Tourism/TheTourismandEnvironmentProgramme/FactsandFiguresaboutTourism/ImpactsofTourism/EnvironmentalImpacts/TourismsThreeMainImpactAreas/tabid/78776/Default.aspx ↵
• Discover Hospitality (2015). “What is Hospitality?” Retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20150814071021/http://discoverhospitality.com.au/what-is-hospitality ↵
• L. P. Coyle (1982). “Pineapple” in World Encyclopedia of Food . New York: Facts on File. p. 517. ↵
•   C. Crandell, K. Dickinson, and G. I. Kanter (2004). "Negotiating the hotel management contract" In Hotel Asset Management: Principles & Practices . East Lansing, MI: University of Denver and American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. ↵
• S. Rushmore (2005). “What Does a Hotel Franchise Cost?” Canadian Lodging Outlook. Retrieved from: www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_4th/Oct05_FranchiseCost.html ↵
• Ibid.; N. Migdal (n.d.). “Franchise Agreements vs. Management Agreements: Which One Do I Choose?” Hotel Business Review. Retrieved from: hotelexecutive.com/business_review/2101/test-franchise-agreements-vs-management-agreements-which-one-do-i-choose ↵
• Stephen Rushmore Jr., Erin S. Bagley (2014). “2014 United States Hotel Franchise Fee Guide.” HVS. Retrieved from: http://www.hvs.com/article/7097/2014-united-states-hotel-franchise-fee-guide/ ↵
• H. G. Parsa, K. R. Lord, S. Putrevu, and J. Kreeger (2015). “Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in Services; Will Consumers Pay for It?” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. Vol. 22. pp. 250-260. ↵
• A. H. Mak, M. Lumbers, A. Eves, and R. C. Change (2012). “Factors Influencing Tourist Food Consumption.” International Journal of Hospitality Management. Vol. 31. No. 3. pp. 928-936. ↵
• Virginia is for Wine Lovers. (n.d.) Virginia is for Lovers. Retrieved from:  https://www.virginia.org/things-to-do/food-and-drink/wineries ↵
• Kathleen Willcox, July 6, 2017, “Climate change is putting English Sparkling Wine on the Map” Retrieved from https://www.vinepair.com/articles ↵
• Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015, S. 1562, 114th Cong. (2015). Retrieved from: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1562/text ↵
• Wyden, Ron (2015). One Pager Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015. Retrieved from: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/One%20Pager.pdf ↵
• CIDER Act, H. R. 600, 114th Cong. (2015). Retrieved from: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/600/text ↵
• Pazniokas, Mark and Moore, Maya. (2019) CT Legislature Passes Law to Help Beer, Cider Makers, Hartford Business Journal. Retrieved from: https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/ct-legislature-passes-law-to-help-beer-cider-makers ↵
• Jaken Emen, “What the Country’s New Cider Act Means for You” Retrieved from: https://www.eater.com/2016/1/28/10854324/new-us-cider-act ↵
• Brewers Association (n.d.), For Small & Independent Craft Brewers, Brewers Association. Retrieved from: https://www.brewersassociation.org ↵
• Hudson Lindenberger, June 16, 2021 , “Alcohol Consumption In the US Saw Its Most Significant Volume Gain in Almost Two Decades” Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hudsonlindenberger/2021/06/16/alcohol-consumption-in-the-united-states-saw-its-most-significant-volume-gain-in-almost-two-decades-in-2020/?sh=5b55ed8b724d ↵
• Maisey, Jeff (2016, May 19). Devil of a Deal, Virginia Craft Beer. Retrieved from: https://virginiacraftbeer.com/devil-of-a-deal ↵
• Maker’s Mark Ambassador Program (n.d.) Maker’s Mark Ambassador Experience. Retrieved from: https://www.makersmark.com/ambassadors ↵
• Fortune Business Insights (n.d.). Tequila Market Share, Size & COVID-19 Impact Analysis. Report ID: FBI104172. Retrieved from: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/tequila-market-104172 ↵
• U.S. Census Bureau, (2021, August 12). 2020 Census Illuminates Racial and Ethnic Composition of the Country. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html ↵
• Pete Johnson, P. (2020, November 17). Craft Beverage Modernization and tax reform act. Brewers Association. Retrieved from: https://www.brewersassociation.org/current-issues/craft-beverage-modernization-and-tax-reform-act-24 ↵
• Lucas, A. (2021, June 1). To-Go Cocktails Will Stick Around in at Least 20 States After the Pandemic. CNBC. Retrieved from: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/28/to-go-cocktails-will-stick-around-in-at-least-20-states-after-covid.html ↵
• American Restaurant Association and Deloitte Development LLC (2016). 2016 Restaurant Operations Report . Washington, D.C.: National Restaurant Association. p. 5. ↵
• Ibid. ↵
• J. Tribe (2011). The Economics of Recreation, Leisure, and Tourism , 4th ed. Oxford, England: Elsevier. ↵
• Tourism BC (2013). “2009/2010 Outdoor Recreation Study.” Destination British Columbia. Retrieved from: http://www.destinationbc.ca/getattachment/Research/Research-by-Activity/All-Research-by-Activity/Outdoor-Recreation-Study-2009-2010,-January-2013/Outdoor-Recreation-for-Distribution-14Jan13-FINAL-DRAFT-(2).pdf.aspx ↵
• United Nations World Tourism Organization (2014). Global Report on Adventure Tourism . UNWTO and the Adventure Tourism Trade Association. p. 12. Retrieved from: http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/final_1global_report_on_adventure_tourism.pdf ↵
• Publisher. (2021, August 16). Adventure Travel is Trending Upward. Leisure Group Travel. Retrieved from: https://leisuregrouptravel.com/adventure-travel-is-trending-upward/ ↵
• K. Colston (2014, April 24). "Non-Traditional Event Venues – Endless Entertainment." Retrieved from: http://helloendless.com/non-traditional-event-venues/ ↵
• CLIA (2016). CLIA 2015 Annual Report: One Voice: Advancing Our Industry Together . Cruise Lines International Association. p. 10. Retrieved from: http://www.cruising.org/docs/default-source/market-research/clia_2015_annualreport_web.pdf?sfvrsn=0 ↵
• CLIA (2015). CLIA 2015 Cruise Industry Outlook: Cruising to New Horizons and Offering Travelers More . Cruise Lines International Association. p. 28. Retrieved from: http://www.cruising.org/docs/default-source/research/2015-cruise-industry-outlook.pdf ↵
• Government of Canada (2014). “NAICS 2007: 5615 Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services.” Statistics Canada. Retrieved from: http://stds.statcan.gc.ca/naics-scian/2007/cs-rc-eng.asp?criteria=5615 ↵
• C. Goeldner and B. Ritchie (2003). Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies , 9th ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ↵
• Published by Statista Research Department, & 24, M. (2022, May 24). Revenue of Leading OTAs Worldwide 2021. Statista. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/934995/revenue-of-leading-otas-worldwide/ ↵
• The Destination Marketing Association International (2014). “The value of DMOs.” Retrieved from: http://www.destinationmarketing.org/value-dmos ↵

Chapter 16 Hospitality and Tourism Copyright © by Adapted by Ron Poff is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Chapter 3. Accommodation

Rebecca Wilson-Mah

Learning Objectives

• Explain the contribution the accommodations sector makes to Canada’s economy
• Identify how a hotel category is determined, and describe different hotel categories in Canada
• Explain the meaning and structure of independent ownership, franchise agreements, and management contracts
• Summarize current accommodation trends
• Discuss the structure of hotel operations

In essence, hospitality is made up of two services: the provision of overnight accommodation for people travelling away from home, and options for people dining outside their home. We refer to the accommodation and food and beverage services sectors together as the hospitality industry. This chapter explores the accommodation sector, and the Chapter 4 details the food and beverage sector.

In Canada, approximately 25% to 35% of visitor spending is attributed to accommodation, making it a substantial portion of travel expenditures.

There were 8,090 hotel properties with a total of 440,123 rooms in Canada in 2014. Direct spending on overnight stays was $16.7 billion, and the year’s average occupancy rate was forecast at 64%. Across the country the sector employed 287,000 people (Hotel Association of Canada, 2014). According to go2HR, “with a projected rate of annual employment growth of 1.5 per cent, there will be 18,920 job openings between 2011 and 2020” (2015a).

In order to understand this large and significant sector, we will explore the history and importance of hotels in Canada, and review the hotel types along with various ownership structures and operational considerations. To complete the chapter, we will identify accommodation alternatives and specific trends that are affecting the accommodation sector today.

Spotlight On: The Hotel Association of Canada

The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) is the national trade organization advocating on behalf of over 8,500 hotels. Founded over 100 years ago, the association also provides professional development resources, discounts with vendors, and industry research including statistics monitoring and an extensive member database. For more information, visit the Hotel Association of Canada website : www.hotelassociation.ca

The History of Hotels in Canada

As we learned in Chapter 2, travel in Europe, North America, and Australia developed with the establishment of railway networks and train travel in the mid-1800s. The history of Canada’s grand hotels is also the story of Canada’s ocean liners and railways. Until the use of personal cars became widespread in the 1920s and 1930s, and taxpayer-funded all-weather highways were created, railways were the only long-distance land transportation available in Canada.

Both of Canada’s railway companies established hotel divisions: Canadian Pacific Hotels and Canadian National Hotels (Canada History, 2013). The first hotels were small and included Glacier House in Glacier National Park, BC, and Mount Stephen House in Field, BC. The hotel business was firmly established when both companies recognized the business opportunity in the growth of tourism, and they soon became rivals, building grand hotels in select locations close to railway stops.

Spotlight On: Canadian Pacific Hotels

Under the guidance of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) chief engineer and visionary William Cornelius Van Horne, a hotel empire was born (Canada History, 2013). Van Horne was a pioneer of tourism, and like Thomas Cook in the UK, he saw the potential for tourism that was made possible by the railway. Van Horne was famously quoted in 1886, “If we can’t export the scenery, we’ll import the tourists.” In 1999, many historic CPR properties joined the Fairmont brand. For more information, visit  the Fairmont website : www.fairmont.com/about-us/ourhistory/

Banff Springs Hotel opened in 1888, and other hotels soon followed, including the Château Frontenac in Quebec City (1893), the Royal York in Toronto (1929), and the Hotel Vancouver (1939). These hotels remain in operation today and are landmarks in their destinations, functioning as accommodations and as local attractions due to their historic significance and outstanding architecture.

Through the 1950s and 1960s, an increase in motor traffic saw the rise of the motel. The word motel, used less commonly today, comes from the term “motorist’s hotel,” used to denote a hotel that provides ample parking and rooms that are easily accessible from the parking lot. Traditionally, these structures were designed with all the rooms facing the parking lot, and relied heavily on motor traffic from nearby highways (Diffen, 2015).

Today, there are a number of hotel types, which can be classified in multiple ways. Let’s explore these classifications in more detail.

Hotel Types

Hotels are typically referred to by hotel type or category. The type of hotel is determined primarily by the size and location of the building structure, and then by the function, target market, service level, other amenities, and industry standards.

Take a Closer Look: Hotelier

The magazine Hotelier , available online and in eight annual print editions, is a resource relied on by many industry professionals across Canada. Featuring profiles of successful hoteliers, information about specific brands and properties, and hosting events including a speaker series, Hotelier is a good resource for students wanting more information about the sector in a dynamic format. Read press releases, find out about upcoming events, and subscribe at the Hotelier Magazine website : www.hoteliermagazine.com

Classifications

Competitive set is a marketing term used to identify a group of hotels that include the competitors that a hotel guest is likely to consider as an alternative. These can be grouped by any of the classifications listed in Table 3.1, such as size, location, or amenities offered. There must be a minimum of three hotels to qualify as a competitive set.

Business hotels, airport hotels, budget hotels, boutique hotels, convention hotels, and casino hotels are some examples of differentiated hotel concepts and services designed to meet a specific market segment. As companies continue to innovate and compete to capture defined niche markets within each set, we can expect to see the continued expansion of specific concepts. For example, hotels found close to, or even within, convention facilities are a great match for meetings and events, as well as the SMERF  market (social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal segment of the group travel market).

Spotlight On: BC Hotel Association

The BC Hotel Association (BCHA) represents over 600 members and 200 associate members — accounting for 80,000 rooms and more than 60,000 employees. The association produces an annual industry trade show and seminar series, and publishes InnFocus magazine for professionals in the trade. For more information, visit the BC Hotel Association website : www.bchotelassociation.com

Table 3.2 outlines the characteristics of specific hotel types that have evolved to match the needs of a particular traveller segment. As you can see, hotels adapt and diversify depending on the markets they want and need to attract to stay in business.

Let’s now take a closer look at three types of hotel that have emerged to meet specific market needs: budget hotels, boutique hotels, and resorts.

Budget Hotels

The term budget hotel is challenging to define, however most budget properties typically have a standardized appearance and offer basic services with limited food and beverage facilities. Budget hotels were first developed in the United States and built along the interstate highway system. The first Holiday Inn opened in the United States in 1952; the first Quality Motel followed in 1963.

In Europe, Accor operates the predominant European-branded budget rooms. Accor has four hotel brands that were recently redesigned: hotelF1, ibis budget, ibis Styles, and ibis. These budget brands offer comfort, modern design, and breakfast on site; ibis Styles is all inclusive, with one price for room night, breakfast, and internet access (Accor, 2015).

The budget brands owned by Accor are an example of a shift toward the budget boutique hotel style. A relatively new category of hotel, budget boutique is a no-frills boutique experience that still provides style, comfort, and a unique atmosphere. Starwood has entered this category with a scaled down version of W with the new Aloft brand that debuted in Montreal in 2008 (Starwood Hotels, 2011).

Boutique Hotels

Canada currently has no industry standards to define boutique hotels, but these hotels generally share some common features. These include having less than 100 rooms and featuring a distinctive design style and on-site food and beverage options (Boutique Hotel Association, n.d.). As a reflection of the size of the hotel, a boutique hotel is typically intimate and has an easily identifiable atmosphere, such as classic, luxurious, quirky, or funky.

According to Bill Lewis, general manager for the Magnolia Hotel and Spa in Victoria, “guests seek out boutique hotels for their small size, individual design style, … and personalized service.”  He feels that “maintaining this service level in a small hotel allows for a very personalized and intimate experience that cannot be matched in large branded hotels” (personal communication, 2014).

A resort is a full-service hotel that provides access to or offers a range of recreation facilities and amenities. A resort is typically the primary provider of the guest experience and will generally have one signature amenity or attraction (Brey, 2009).

Examples of signature amenities include skiing and mountains, golf, beach and ocean, lakeside, casino and gaming, all inclusiveness, spa and wellness, marina, tennis, and waterpark. In addition, resorts also offer secondary experiences and a leisure or retreat-style environment.

Take a Closer Look: Condé Nast Best Hotels and Resorts in Canada 2014

Condé Nast Traveler and the CN publishing family have many well-regarded “best of” lists, one of which is the Best Hotels and Resorts in Canada. In 2014, three of the top 10 were in BC, with the Wickaninnish Inn and Black Rock Oceanfront Resort earning first and second place. You can read the rest of the list at,  “The Best Hotels and Resorts in Canada: 2014” : www.cntraveler.com/gold-list/2014/americas/canada

Now that we understand the classifications of hotel types, let’s gain a deeper understanding of the various ownership structures in the industry.

Ownership Structures

There are several ownership models employed in the sector today, including independent, management contract, chains and franchise agreements, fractional ownership, and full ownership strata units. This section explains each of these in more detail and provides examples of each.

Independent

An independent hotel is financed by one individual or a small group and is directly managed by its owners or third-party operators. The term independent refers to a management system that is free from outside control.

There are a number of very well-established independently branded hotels. These hotel companies have developed their own standards, support systems, policies and procedures, and best practices in all areas of the business. Independent hotels have the flexibility to customize or adjust their systems to position their property for success, and the location, product, service, experience, sales and marketing, and brand are all necessary for that success (Cabañas, 2014). An example of an independent hotel is the Wedgewood Hotel and Spa in Vancouver, founded by Eleni Skalbania, and currently co-owned by her daughter Elpie (Wedgewood, 2015).

Management Contract

Another business model is a management contract. This is a service offered by a management company to manage a hotel or resort for its owners. Owners have two main options for the structure of a management contract. One is to enter into a separate franchise agreement to secure a brand and then engage an independent third-party hotel management company to manage the hotel. SilverBirch Hotels is an example of a hotel management company that manages independent hotels and hotels operating under different major franchise brands, such as Marriott, Hilton, and Radisson (SilverBirch Hotels, 2015).

A slightly different option is for owners to select a single company to provide the brand and the expertise to manage the property. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts are companies that provide this option to owners. In 2014, the iconic Fairmont Empress hotel was purchased by Vancouver developer Nat Bosa and his wife Flora, who continued to retain Fairmont as the management company after the purchase (Meiszner, 2014).

Selecting a brand affiliation is one of the most significant decisions hotel owners must make (Crandell, Dickinson, & Kante, 2004). The brand affiliation selected will largely determine the cost of hotel development or conversion of an existing property to meet new brand standards. The affiliation will also determine a number of things about the ongoing operation including the level of services and amenities offered, cost of operation, marketing opportunities or restrictions, and the competitive position in the marketplace. For these reasons, owners typically consider several branding options before choosing to operate independently or selecting a brand affiliation.

Chains and Franchise Agreements

Another managerial and ownership structure is franchising. A hotel franchise enables individuals or investment companies (the franchisee ) to build or purchase a hotel and then buy or lease a brand name to operate a business and become part of a chain of hotels using the franchisor ’s hotel brand, image, goodwill, procedures, controls, marketing, and reservations systems (Rushmore, 2005).

A well-known franchise in BC is Coast Hotels. A franchisee with Coast Hotels becomes part of a network of properties that use a central reservations system with access to electronic distribution channels, regional and national marketing programs, central purchasing, and brand operating standards (Coast Hotels, 2015). A franchisee also receives training, support, and advice from the franchisor and must adhere to regular inspections, audits, and reporting requirements.

Selecting a franchise structure may reduce investment risk by enabling the franchisee to associate with an established hotel company. Franchise fees can be substantial and a franchisee must be willing to adhere to the contractual obligations with the franchisor (Migdal, n.d.; and Rushmore, 2005).  Franchise fees typically include an initial fee paid with the franchise application, and then continuing fees paid during the term of the agreement. These fees are sometimes a percentage of revenue but can be set at a fixed fee. Franchise fees generally range from 4% to 7% of gross rooms revenue (Crandell et al., 2004).

Fractional Ownership

In a fractional ownership model, developers finance hotel builds by selling units in one-eighth to one-quarter shares. This financing model was very popular in BC from the late 1990s to 2008 (Western Investor, 2012). Examples of fractional ownership include the Sun Peaks Ski Resort in Kamloops and the Penticton Lakeside Resort.

In this model, owners can place their unit in a rental pool. The investment return for owners is based on the term

s of the contract they have for their unit, the strata fees, and the hotel’s occupancy. Managing fractional ownership can be very time consuming for hotel owners or management companies as each hotel unit can have up to eight owners. If occupancy rates are too low, an owner may not be able to cover the monthly strata fees. For the hotel management company, attaining occupancy rate targets is necessary to ensure that the balance of revenue is sufficient to cover the hotel’s operating expenses.

Developers now anticipate that fractional ownership will not be used to finance new hotel builds in the future due to poor performance. There have been some high-profile collapses for hotel developers in BC, and between 2002 and 2012 fractional hotel owners experienced asset depreciation (Western Investor, 2012). It is uncertain how the market will perform in the next several years.

Full Ownership Strata Units

In this financing model, hotel developers finance a new hotel build with the sale of full ownership strata units. The sale of the condominium units finances the hotel development. Examples include the Fairmont Pacific Rim and the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.

Spotlight On: The BC Hospitality Foundation

The BC Hospitality Foundation (BCHF) was created to help support hospitality (accommodation and food and beverage) professionals in their time of need. It has expanded to become a provider of scholarships for students in hospitality management and culinary programs. To raise funds for these initiatives, the foundation hosts annual events including Dish and Dazzle and a golf tournament. For more information, visit the BC Hospitality Foundation website : bchospitalityfoundation.com

No matter what the ownership model, it’s critical for properties to offer a return on investment for owners. The next section looks at ways of measuring financial performance in the sector.

Financial Performance

According to hotel consultant Betsy McDonald from HVS International Hotel Consultancy, the “industry rule of thumb is that a hotel room must make $1 per night for every $1,000 it takes to build or buy. If the hotel costs $125,000 per [room], the room has to rent for $125 per night on average and you need 60% to 70% occupancy to break even” (McDonald, 2011).

Several terms and formulas are used to evaluate revenue management strategies and operational efficiency:

Occupancy is a term that refers to the  percentage of all guest rooms in the hotel that are occupied at a given time. 

Average daily rate (ADR) is a calculation that states the average guest room income per occupied room in a given time period. It is determined by dividing the total room revenue by the number of rooms sold.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR ) is   a calculation that combines both occupancy and ADR in one metric. It is calculated by multiplying a hotel’s ADR by its occupancy rate. It may also be calculated by dividing a hotel’s total room revenue by the total number of available rooms and the number of days in the period being measured.

Costs per occupied room (COPR) is a figure that states all the costs associated with making a room ready for a guest (linens, cleaning costs, guest amenities).

These terms and measurements allow hotel staff and management to track the success of the operation and to compare against competitors and regional averages.

Table 3.3 indicates the top five hotel companies in Canada based on revenue (Hotel Association of Canada, 2014). Note that the top two listings include units and revenues earned outside of Canada as these are international companies.

Across all ownership models, most properties have operational aspects in common. But before we take a closer look at the roles within a typical hotel, let’s review an important part of the accommodations sector in Canada and BC: camping and recreational vehicle (RV) stays.

Camping and RV Accommodation

A significant portion of travel accommodation is also provided in campgrounds and recreational vehicles (RVs). As the Canadian and BC tourism brands are closely tied to the outdoors, and these are two options that immerse travellers in the outdoor experience, it is no surprise that these two types of accommodation are popular options.

In 2011, 14% of Canadian households owned an RV, with over 1 million RVs on the road in the country that year. Economic activity associated with RVing generated approximately $14.5 billion. Across the country 3,000 independently owned and operated campgrounds welcomed guests for camping in RVs and in tents that year (CNW, 2014).

Spotlight On: Camping and RVing British Columbia Coalition

The Camping and RVing British Columbia Coalition (CRVBCC) represents campground managers and brings together additional stakeholders including the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association of BC and the Freshwater Fisheries Society. Their aim is to increase the profile of camping and RV experiences throughout BC, achieving this through a website, a blog, and media outreach. For more information, visit the Camping and RVing British Columbia Coalition website : www.campingrvbc.com

According to the Camping and RVing British Columbia Coalition (CRVBCC, 2014), BC is home to 340 vehicle accessible campgrounds managed by the BC Society of Park Facility Operators, and Destination British Columbia inspects and approves over 500 campgrounds across the province. Seven national parks within the province contain an additional 14 campgrounds, and the BC Recreation Sites and Trails Branch manages more than 1,200 backcountry sites including campgrounds and other facilities. Another 300 private RV parks and campgrounds play host to a mixture of longer-stay residents and overnight guests.

Spotlight On: the BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association

The BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association (BCLCA) was founded in 1944 to represent the interests of independently owned campgrounds and lodges. It provides advocacy and collaborative marketing, and promotes best practice among members. For more information, visit the BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association website : www.travel-british-columbia.com

In 2014, national industry associations began to call on the government for taxation relief and marketing help to ensure this segment of the sector could continue to thrive. They also highlighted the need to increase the operating hours and seasons of publicly funded campgrounds to match the private sector and to ensure continuity of service for guests (CNW, 2014). Closer to home, the BCLCA (see Spotlight On above) continues to advocate for equitable property tax arrangements, support with employment issues, and other policies relating to land and water use for their members.

Chapter 5 provides more in-depth information about the importance of the recreation sector to BC. For now, let’s move our discussion forward by taking a closer look at the common organizational structure of many accommodation businesses.

The organizational structures of operations and the number of roles and levels of responsibility vary depending on the type and size of accommodation. They are also determined by ownership and the standards and procedures of the management company. In this section, we explore the organizational structure and roles that are typically in place in a full-service hotel with under 500 rooms. These can also apply to smaller properties and businesses such as campgrounds — although in these cases several roles might be fulfilled by the same person.

Guest Services

Before we turn to examples of specific operational roles, let’s take a brief look at the importance of guest services, which will be covered in full in Chapter 9.

The accommodation sector provides much more than tangible products such as guest rooms, beds and meals; service is also crucial. Regardless of their role in the operation, all employees must do their part to ensure that each guest’s needs, preferences, and expectations are met and satisfied.

In some cases, such as in a luxury hotel, resort hotel, or an all-inclusive property, the guest services may represent a person’s entire vacation experience. In other cases, the service might be less significant, for example, in a budget airport hotel where location is the key driver, or a campground where guests primarily expect to take care of themselves.

In all cases, operators and employees must recognize and understand guest expectations and also what drives their satisfaction and loyalty. When the key drivers of guest satisfaction are understood, the hotel can ensure that service standards and business practices and policies support employees to deliver on these needs and that guest expectations are satisfied or exceeded.

Spotlight On: 4Hoteliers

4Hoteliers compiles world news for hotel, travel, and hospitality professionals. It features recent news releases and articles and a free e-newsletter distributed three times per week. For more information, or to subscribe, visit the 4Hoteliers website : www.4hoteliers.com

General Manager and Director of Operations

In most properties, the general manager or hotel manager serves as the head executive. Division heads oversee various departments including managers, administrative staff, and line-level supervisors. The general manager’s role is to provide strategic leadership and planning to all departments so revenue is maximized, employee relations are strong, and guests are satisfied.

The director of operations is responsible for overseeing the food and beverage and rooms division. This role is also responsible for providing guidance to department heads to achieve their targets and for directing the day-to-day operations of their respective departments. The director of operations also assumes the responsibilities of the general manager when he or she is absent from the property.

The controller is responsible for overall accounting and finance-related activities including accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, credit, systems management, cash management, food and beverage cost control, receiving, purchasing, food stores, yield management, capital planning, and budgeting.

Engineering and Maintenance

The chief engineer is the lead for the effective operation and maintenance of the property on a day-to-day basis, typically including general maintenance, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, kitchen maintenance, carpentry, and electrical and plumbing (Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, 2015). The chief engineer is also responsible for preventive maintenance and resource management programs.

Food and Beverage Division

The food and beverage director is responsible for catering and events, in-room dining, and stand-alone restaurants and bars. The executive chef, the director of banquets, and the assistant managers responsible for each restaurant report to the director of food and beverage. The director assists with promotions and sales, the annual food and beverage budget, and all other aspects of food and beverage operations to continually improve service and maximize profitability.

Human Resources

The human resources department provides guidance and advice on a wide range of management-related practices including recruitment and selection, training and development, employee relations, rewards and recognition, performance management, and health and safety.

Rooms Division

Front office.

Reporting to the director of rooms, the front office manager, sometimes called the reception manager, controls the availability of rooms and the day-to-day functions of the front office. The front desk agent reports to the front office manager and works in the lobby or reception area to welcome the guests to the property, process arrivals and departures, coordinate room assignments and pre-arrivals, and respond to guest requests.

Housekeeping

Reporting to the director of rooms, the executive housekeeper manages and oversees housekeeping operations and staff including the housekeeping manager, supervisor, house persons, and room attendants. An executive housekeeper is responsible for implementing the operating procedures and standards. He or she also plans, coordinates, and schedules the housekeeping staff. Room audits and inspections are completed regularly to ensure standards are met (go2HR, 2015b).

Reporting to the housekeeping supervisor, room attendants complete the day-to-day task of cleaning rooms based on standard operating procedures and respond to guest requests. Reporting to the housekeeping supervisor, house persons clean public areas including hallways, the lobby, and public restrooms, and deliver laundry and linens to guest rooms.

Reservations

Large full-service hotels typically have a reservations department, and the reservations manager reports directly to the front office manager. The guest’s experience starts with the first interaction a guest has with a property, often during the reservation process. Reservations agents convert calls to sales by offering the guest the opportunity to not only make a room reservation but also book other amenities and activities.

Today, with online and website reservations available to guests, there is still a role for the reservations agent, as some guests prefer the one-to-one connection with another person. The extent to which the reservations agent position is resourced will vary depending on the hotel’s target market and business strategy.

Sales and Marketing

The sales and marketing director is responsible for establishing sales and marketing activities that maximize the hotel’s revenues. This is typically accomplished by increasing occupancy and revenue opportunities for the hotel’s accommodation, conference and catering space, leisure facilities, and food and beverage outlets. The sales and marketing manager is responsible for coordinating marketing and promotional activities and works closely with other hotel departments to ensure customers are satisfied with all aspects of their experience (go2HR, 2015c).

Catering and Conference Services

In larger full-service hotels with conference space, a hotel will have a dedicated catering and conference services department. The director of this department typically reports to the director of sales and marketing. The catering and conference services department coordinates all events held in the hotel or catered off-site. Catering and conference events and services range from small business meetings to high-profile conferences and weddings.

Now that we have a sense of the building blocks of a typical hotel operation, let’s look at some trends affecting the sector.

Trends and Issues

The accommodation sector is sensitive to shifting local, regional, and global economic, social, and political conditions. Businesses must be flexible to meet the needs of their different markets and evolving trends. These trends affect all hotel types, regions, and destinations differently. However, overall, hoteliers must respond to these trends in a business landscape that is increasingly competitive, particularly in markets where the supply base is growing faster than demand ( Hotelier , 2014).

The Sharing Economy: Airbnb

The  sharing economy is a relatively new economic model in which people rent beds, cars, boats, and other underutilized assets directly from each other, all coordinated via the internet ( The Economist , 2013). Airbnb is the most prominent example of this model. It provides a platform for travellers and manages all aspects of the relationship without requiring any paperwork.

At Airbnb, the host who rents out the space controls the price, the description of the space, and the guest experience. The host also makes the house rules and has full control over who books the space. As well, both hosts and guests can rate each other and write reviews on the website (Cole, 2014).

Airbnb began in 2008 when the founders rented their air mattresses to three visitors in San Francisco (Fast Company, 2012). In fact, the name Airbnb is derived from “air mattress bed and breakfast.” However, Airbnb is not only for couch surfers or budget-conscious travellers; it includes a wide range of spaces in locations all over the world. When users create an account, they set the price and write the descriptions to advertise the space to guests (Airbnb, 2015). Since 2008, the Airbnb online marketplace has grown rapidly, with more than 1 million properties worldwide and 30 million guests who used the service by the end of 2014 (Melloy, 2015).

This and other innovations have changed the accommodation landscape as never before. Ten to 15 years ago online travel agents were a major innovation that changed the distribution and sale of rooms. But they still had to work with existing hotels, whereas Airbnb has enabled new entrants into the industry and thus increased supply.

On the supply side, Airbnb enables individuals to share their spare space for rent; on the demand side, consumers using Airbnb benefit from increased competition and more choice. An unanswered question is to what extent Airbnb has impacted the hospitality industry at large and how it will impact it in the future. A study completed in 2014 in Austin, Texas, indicates that lower-end hotels, and hotels not catering to business travellers, are more vulnerable to increased competition from rentals enabled by firms like Airbnb than are hotels without these characteristics (Zervas, Preserpio, & Byers, 2015).

Distribution and Online Travel Agents

Online travel agents (OTAs) are a valuable marketing and third-party distribution resource for hotels and play a significant role in online distribution (Inversini & Masiero, 2014). In the first quarter of 2014, 13.2% of hotel bookings for individual leisure and business travellers (TravelClick, 2014) were made through OTAs (for example, Expedia, Hotels.com, Kayak.com).

OTAs offer global distribution so that each hotel and chain can be available to anyone at the click of a button (Then Hospitality, 2014). Smaller independent hotels that do not have the global marketing and sales resources of a larger chain are able to gain exposure, sell rooms, and build their reputation through online guest ratings and reviews. OTAs also help hotels offer combined value and packaging options that are attractive to many consumers (for example, booking and search options for hotels, car rentals, air fare, attractions, and travel packages). Customized searches, travel guidance, and rewards points are also available when booking through an OTA. If a hotel or chain has an exceptional product and service, OTAs share guest ratings, which can increase the number of reservations and referrals.

Chris Anderson at the Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University analyzed 1,720 reservations made on the websites of six InterContinental Hotels brands (2012). Anderson found that every booking made on Expedia attracted three to nine reservations to the hotel’s site, suggesting the commission a hotel pays an OTA is a cost-effective expense, as it generates additional revenues.

The general industry guidance for hotels using OTAs is to ensure that this distribution channel is part of a broader sales strategy, coupled with sound customer relationship management practices.

Table 3.4 provides an overview of some of the distribution channels that are available to hoteliers.

For more on marketing in the services sector, see Chapter 8.

Online Bookings and Mobile Devices

In 2014, 27% of online bookings in leading regions in the United States were made by consumers using their mobile devices and tablets (Travel Click, 2014). As the trend continues, hoteliers are adapting their e-commerce strategy to respond appropriately and to understand what consumers in their hotel segment need, want, and expect from the mobile booking experience. According to Travel Click (2014), same-day reservations are also on the rise. Bookings made with mobile devices can be incentivized by offers for deals such as mobile-specific rate plans or discounts to directly target last-minute shoppers.

Table 3.5 was generated by a review of press releases (Hotel Analyst, 2014), and it provides some examples of mobile technologies and customized apps used by hotel companies.

The accommodation sector, and the hotel sector in particular, encompasses multiple business models and employs hundreds of thousands of Canadians. A smaller, but important segment in BC is that of camping and RV accommodators.

As broader societal trends continue and morph, they will continue to impact the accommodations marketplace and consumer. Owners and operators must stay abreast of these trends, continually altering their business models and services to remain relevant and competitive.

Now that we have a better sense of the accommodation sector, let’s visit the other half of the hospitality industry: food and beverage services. Chapter 4 explores this in more detail.

• Average daily rate (ADR): average guest room income per occupied room in a given time period
• BC Hospitality Foundation (BCHF): created to help support hospitality professionals in their time of need; now also a provider of scholarships for students in hospitality management and culinary programs
• BC Hotel Association (BCHA): the trade association for BC’s hotel industry, which hosts an annual industry trade show and seminar series, and publishes InnFocus magazine for professionals
• BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association (BCLCA): represents the interests of independently owned campgrounds and lodges in BC
• Camping and RVing British Columbia Coalition (CRVBCC): represents campground managers and brings together additional stakeholders including the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association of BC and the Freshwater Fisheries Society
• Competitive set: a marketing term used to identify a group of hotels that include all competitors that a hotel’s guests are likely to consider as an alternative (minimum of three)
• Costs per occupied room (CPOR): all the costs associated with making a room ready for a guest (linens, cleaning costs, guest amenities)
• Fractional ownership: a financing model that developers use to finance hotel builds by selling units in one-eighth to one-quarter shares
• Franchise:  enables individuals or investment companies to build or purchase a hotel and then buy or lease a brand name under which to operate; also can include reservation systems and marketing tools
• Franchisee: an individual or company buying or leasing a franchise
• Franchisor: a company that sells franchises
• Hotel Association of Canada (HAC): the national trade organization advocating on behalf of over 8,500 hotels
• Hotel type: a classification determined primarily by the size and location of the building structure, and then by the function, target markets, service level, other amenities, and industry standards
• Motel: a term popular in the last century, combining the words “motor hotel”; typically designed to provide ample parking and easy access to rooms from the parking lot
• Occupancy: the percentage of all guest rooms in the hotel that are occupied at a given time
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): a calculation that combines both occupancy and ADR in one metric
• Sharing economy: an internet-based economic system in which consumers share their resources, typically with people they don’t know, and typically in exchange for money
• SMERF: an acronym for the social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal segment of the group travel market
• On a piece of paper, list as many types of accommodation classifications (e.g., by size) as you can think of. Name at least five. Provide examples of each.
• When researching a franchisor, the cost of the franchise must be carefully considered. What other factors would you consider to determine the value of a franchise fee?
• How should lower-end hotels and hotels that do not cater to business travellers respond to increased competition from rentals enabled by firms like Airbnb?
• A hotel earns $3,000 on 112 rooms. What is its ADR?
• That same hotel has an occupancy of 75%. What is its RevPAR?
• How many independent campgrounds are there across Canada?
• How many vehicle-accessible campsites are there in BC?
• Airbnb enables hosts to rate their guests after a stay. Consider some other types of accommodation and list the pros and cons of rating guests.
• Draw an organizational chart for a 60-room boutique hotel, listing all the staff required to run the operation. Put the most influential people (e.g., the general manager) at the top and work your way down. How would you structure this differently from a larger full-service hotel? What would you keep the same?
• Read the Condé Nast list for Best Hotels and Resorts in Canada for 2014 (in the Take a Closer Look feature). Now find two other “best of” lists for BC, Canada, or global accommodations. What do the winners have in common? List at least three things. Now try to find at least two differences.

Case Study: Hotel for Dogs – Philanthropy and Media Coverage

In 2014, the media was taken by storm with a story about a hotel in North Carolina that combined philanthropy with their business model. The property expanded on the trend of allowing dogs in hotels by fostering rescues from a nearby shelter and allowing guests to adopt them. Guests appreciated the warm interactions with the animals and several dogs were adopted as a result (Manning, 2014).Not only did the property provide a valuable service and enhance the guest experience, but the story was repeated across multiple media outlets, creating publicity for the hotel.

This is an example of a current trend: allowing pets in hotels. Now choose from one of the following trends, and research it to answer the questions that follow:

• Carbon offset programs
• Customization
• Reputation management
• Digital concierge
• Themed sleep
• Lifestyle food choices
• Educational experiences
• Millennial traveller
• Sharing economy
• Green certified
• Extreme experiences
• Why do you think this trend has emerged? What market is it helping to serve?
• Find an example of a hotel that has responded to your chosen trend and explain how the trend has informed or changed the hotel’s business strategy or practice.
• Are there any trends that are not listed above that you think should be added? Try to name at least two. Why are these important accommodation trends today?

Accor. (2015). Brand portfolio, economy brands . Retrieved from www.accor.com/en/brands/brand-portfolio.html

Airbnb. (2015). How to host . Retrieved from www.airbnb.ca/help/getting-started/how-to-host

Anderson, C. (2012, November). The impact of social media on lodging performance . Retrieved from www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/abstract-16421.html

Boutique Hotel Association. (n.d.) Terminology and definitions for boutique and lifestyle hotels and properties. Retrieved from www.blla.org/lifestyle-hotels.htm

Brey, E. (2009). Resort definitions and classifications: A summary report to research participants. [PDF]  University of Memphis: Center for Resort and Hospitality Business. Retrieved from http://caribbeanhotelassociation.com/source/Members/DataCenter/Research-UofMemphis.pdf

Cabañas, A. (2014). “Chain” versus “independent” – A view from an operator of independent hotels. hospitalitynet . Retrieved from www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4064293.html

Canada History. (2013). The railroad. Retrieved from www.canadahistory.com/sections/eras/nation%20building/Railroad.html

CNW. (2014, May 1). Canadian RV and camping industry urges government to address critical infrastructure needs.  Retrieved from www.newswire.ca/en/story/1347701/canadian-rv-and-camping-industry-urges-government-to-address-critical-infrastructure-needs

Coast Hotels and Resorts. (2015) Management and franchises . Retrieved from www.maclabhotels.com/about_coast/management

Cole, S. (2014).  Fast company how a startup grows up: Lessons from AirBnB’s open air summit . Retrieved from www.fastcompany.com/3029758/how-a-startup-grows-up-lessons-from-airbnbs-openair-summit

Crandell, C., Dickinson, K., & Kanter, G. I. (2004). Negotiating the hotel management contract. In Hotel Asset Management: Principles & Practices. East Lansing, MI: University of Denver and American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.

CRVBCC. (2014). About us: The Camping and RVing British Columbia Coalition . Retrieved from www.campingrvbc.com/about/

Diffen. (2015). Hotel vs motel. Retrieved from www.diffen.com/difference/Hotel_vs_Motel

Economist, The. (2013). Silverstein, B. The rise of the sharing economy. Retrieved from www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573104-internet-everything-hire-rise-sharing-economy

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. (2015). Chief engineer job description . Retrieved from www.linkedin.com/company/fairmont-hotels-and-resorts?trk=job_view_topcard_company_name

Fast Company. (2012). Airbnb – Most innovative companies 2012 . Retrieved from www.fastcompany.com/3017358/most-innovative-companies-2012/19airbnb

go2HR. (2015a). Accommodations . Retrieved from www.go2hr.ca/bc-tourism-industry/what-tourism/accommodation

go2HR. (2015b). Executive housekeeper profile . Retrieved from www.go2hr.ca/career-profiles/executive-housekeeper

go2HR. (2015c). Director of sales and marketing in hotel profile . Retrieved from www.go2hr.ca/career-profiles/director-sales-and-marketing-hotel

Hotel Analyst. (2014). The intelligence source for the hotel investment community . Retrieved from http://hotelanalyst.co.uk

Hotel Association of Canada. (2014). Hotel industry fact sheet . [PDF] Retrieved from www.hotelassociation.ca/forms/Hotel%20Industry%20Facts%20Sheet.pdf

Hotelier. (2014, September 12). The 2014 hospitality market Report. Retrieved from  www.hoteliermagazine.com/the-2014-hospitality-market-report/

Inversini, A., Masiero, L. (2014). Selling rooms online: the use of social media and online travel agents.  International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26 (2), 272-292

McDonald, B. (2011). Canadian Monthly Lodging Outlook . Retrieved from www.hvs.com/Library/Articles/

Manning, S. (2014, December 31). This hotel is saving lives by matching guests with rescue pups.   Huffington Post . Retrieved from www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/31/hotel-rescue-dogs_n_6401418.html

Meiszner, P. (2014, June 27.) Fairmont Empress hotel in Victoria purchased by Vancouver developer. Global News. Retrieved from http://globalnews.ca/news/1421407/fairmont-empress-hotel-in-victoria-purchased-by-vancouver-developer/

Melloy, J. (2015, February 2). Airbnb guests triple hurting Priceline, HomeAway. CNBC. Retrieved from www.cnbc.com/id/102389442

Migdal, N. (n.d.) Franchise agreements vs. management agreements: Which one do I choose? Hotel Business Review . Retrieved from hotelexecutive.com/business_review/2101/test-franchise-agreements-vs-management-agreements-which-one-do-i-choose

Rushmore, S. (2005).  What does a hotel franchise cost? Canadian Lodging Outlook . Retrieved from www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_4th/Oct05_FranchiseCost.html

SilverBirch Hotels. (2015). About us . Retrieved from www.silverbirchhotels.com/about/

Starwood Hotels. (2011, April 12). Starwood to reach 60th hotel milestone in Canada . Retrieved from www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/about/news/news_release_detail.html?Id=2011-04-12-SI&language=en_US

Then Hospitality. (2014, April 15). The benefits of using online travel agencies (OTAs) . Retrieved from www.thenhospitality.com/blog/the-benefits-of-using-online-travel-agencies-otas

Travel Click. (2014). Business and leisure travelers continue to book more hotel reservations online . Retrieved from www.travelclick.com/en/news-events/press-releases/business-and-leisure-travelers-continue-book-more-hotel-reservations-online

Wedgewood Hotel & Spa. (2014). Luxury boutique Vancouver Hotel – Wedgewood Hotel & Spa . Retrieved from www.wedgewoodhotel.com

Western Investor. (2012). Investors burnt in hotel condos, fractionals . Retrieved from westerninvestor.com/index.php/news/ab/692-investors-burnt-in-hotel-condos-fractionals

Zervas, G., Preserpio, D., & Byers, J.W., (2015). The rise of the sharing economy: Estimating the impact of Airbnb on the hotel industry . Boston U. School of Management Research Paper No. 2013-16. Available at SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=2366898 or dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2366898

Attributions

Figure 3.1   Shot from balconey  by Alan Wolf  is used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.

Figure 3.2   Banff Springs Hotel  by Evan Leeson  is used under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.

Figure 3.3 JONETSUpanpac07  by Jonetsu.ca is used under a CC BY 2.0 license.

Figure 3.4 The Magnolia Hotel (Victoria) 2013  by Raul Pacheco-Vega is used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

Figure 3.5   Wedgewood Hotel  by Stewart Marshall  is used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

Figure 3.6  The Empress by   3dpete  is used under a CC BY ND 2.0 license.

Figure 3.7   Coast Bastion Hotel (Nanaimo)  by  Raul Pacheco-Vega  is used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.

Figure 3.8  Delta Sun Peaks Hotel  by jhopkins  is used under a CC BY 2.0 license.

Figure 3.9   Hotel Georgia, Rosewood Hotel Vancouver  by Rishad Daroowala is used under a CC BY-ND 2.0  license.

Figure 3.10   Night Neighbours  by James Wheeler is used under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0  license.

Figure 3.11   Vicky Lee at Delta Burnaby Hotel  by LinkBC  is used under a CC BY 2.0 license.

Figure 3.12   Scott and Tina Visit the Pan Pacific Vancouver  by Pan Pacific Hotel  is used under a CC BY 2.0 license.

Figure 3.13   Cafe Pacifica Restaurant 2013 Winter Menus  by Pan Pacific  is used under a CC BY 2.0 license.

Figure 3.14   Airbnb  by Gustavo da Cunha Pimenta  is used under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

Figure 3.15   Waiting at baggage claim  by hjl  is used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.

Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality in BC Copyright © 2015 by Rebecca Wilson-Mah is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Accommodation

• Living reference work entry
• Later version available View entry history
• First Online: 01 January 2015
• Cite this living reference work entry

• Robert M. O’Halloran 3  

227 Accesses

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

AHLA 2014a Lodging Industry Profile www.ahla.com/content.aspx?id=35603 (14 April).

AHLA 2014b Shifflet & Associates www.ahla.com/Green.aspx?id=25018&terms=glossary (15 April).

Gunn, C. 1979 Tourism Planning. New York: Crane Russack.

Google Scholar  

Levy-Bonvin, J. 2003 Hotels: A Brief History www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4017990 (16 April 2014).

STR Global 2014 A Guide to Our Terminology www.strglobal.com/resources/glossary/en-gb (9 August).

Tillotson, J. 2002 Food Brands: Friend or Foe? (Business and Nutrition) Nutrition Today 37(2):78-80.

UNWTO 2014 About Hotel Classification Systems www2.unwto.org/agora/about-hotel-classification-systems (16 April).

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

College of Business, East Carolina University, Rivers 152A, Greenville, 27858-4353, USA

Robert M. O’Halloran

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert M. O’Halloran .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

School of Hospitality Leadership, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wisconsin, USA

Jafar Jafari

School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

Honggen Xiao

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry.

O’Halloran, R.M. (2014). Accommodation. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_2-1

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_2-1

Received : 30 September 2014

Accepted : 30 September 2014

Published : 19 September 2015

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-01669-6

eBook Packages : Springer Reference Business and Management Reference Module Humanities and Social Sciences Reference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_2-2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_2-1

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• How The BTB Works
• Minister of Tourism
• Board of Directors
• Executive Management Team
• Marketing & Communications
• Industry Development
• Cruise & Capacity Development

Registrar Unit

• Administration and Human Resources
• Finance Department
• Strategic Plan 2019 – 2022
• Corporate Responsibility
• Committee Relations
• Travel Publications
• Sargassum Resource
• Tourism Asset Inventory
• AirBnB Resource
• Belize Drone Requirements
• Online Portal FAQ’s
• Travel Trade Shows
• Vacancy Application Form
• Belize COVID-19 Travel Updates
• Press Releases
• Media Gallery
• Media Requests
• Marketing Beat Newsletter
• Tour Operator
• Luxury Tourism: Private Aviation
• Nautical Tourism
• Tourism Development Plans
• Useful Links
• Belize Tourism History
• Matching Grant Program
• Retirement Program
• Tour Operator Insurance Support Program
• Tourism and Health Program
• Belize Earth Day: A Creatively Green Pop-Up!
• Industry Conference
• Digital Marketing Summit
• Taste of Belize
• Belize International Music and Food Festival 2.0
• National Tourism Awards
• Tour Guide Training
• Gold Standard Resources
• Tourism Gold Standard Hotels
• Tourism Gold Standard Tour Operators
• Tourism Gold Standard Sites
• Tourism Gold Standard Transportations
• Tourism Gold Standard Gift Shops
• Tourism Gold Standard Restaurants

Together we sustain and grow the Belize tourism industry… .

The Business Development, Registrar of Hotels & Timeshares department is strategic in its approach to developing the sustainable business growth of the Belize tourism industry and achieving goals through proactive, service-oriented approaches.

The Business Development Department is tasked with the development and implementation of robust systems that will ensure the growth and maximization of revenue collection from all BTB revenue streams. These systems serve to ensure taxpayer compliance with timely and accurate submissions and payment of taxes and fees by maintaining proper records and systems.

Additionally it is tasked with the licensing of all Hotels and Tourist Accommodations, Timeshares, Tour Guides, Tour Operators and administering the Qualified Retirement Program.

Acts & Policies:

• The Belize Tourism Board Act (Chapter 275) Revised Edition 2011
• The Belize Tourism Board Act (Chapter 275s) Revised Edition 2003
• The Hotels And Tourist Accommodation Act (Chapter 285) Revised Edition 2011
• The Hotels And Tourist Accommodation Act (Chapter 285S) Revised Edition 2003
• The Retired Persons (Incentives) Act (Chapter 62) Revised Edition 2011
• The Timeshare Act (CHAPTER 285:03) REVISED EDITION 2011

Business Development

Belize’s tourism business development, a sustainable focus.

Globally, tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors throughout the world. With our ability to foster unique travel experiences and a knack for creating amazing stories, Belize is currently considered one of the most attractive destinations for potential travellers. It is this level of desirability that Belize currently enjoys which continues to spur growth in the tourism industry, the largest economy earner for the country.

Due to the dynamics of tourism and potential for new businesses in the industry, the Business Development Unit of the BTB was formed. This Unit is tasked with leading the sustainable growth of the tourism industry. (Guided by the 20-year road map developed in 2012 – “National Sustainable Tourism Master Plan for Belize”).

The role of the Business Development Unit is to identify business development opportunities, evaluate the risks, conduct research and recommend the best strategies for effective implementation. The objective is to retain, sustain and increase growth and revenue of the country’s tourism industry.

To be able to achieve these objectives the strengthening of the relationships with our stakeholders and with our regional and international agencies and our partners is vital.

Belize’s tourism industry has great potential for growth which is why we at the BTB understand and value your continued friendship and support.

Let us continue to build on the future of our precious industry!

We would appreciate your thoughts, new business ideas, and feedback on our current strategies. Kindly send email to Mr. Sean Tang – Business Development Officer at the Belize Tourism Board via email [email protected]  or call us at 227-2420.

Priority Areas

• Registration and Licensing of Hotel And Tourist Accommodations, Tour Operators, Tour Guides, Live Aboard Operators, and Qualified Retirees.
• Identifying priority and sustainable Business Development opportunities.
• Continuous improvement to the BTB’s business processes.
• Ensuring Industry Partners compliance.
• Safeguard and Management of all BTB revenue streams.
• Organizational Structure

• Travel, Tourism & Hospitality ›

Accommodation

Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). A paid subscription is required for full access.

Share of tourist accommodation establishments in Poland 2015-2022, by type

Share of tourist accommodation establishments in poland from 2015 to 2022, by type.

• Immediate access to 1m+ statistics
• Incl. source references
• Download as PNG, PDF, XLS, PPT

Additional Information

Show sources information Show publisher information Use Ask Statista Research Service

2015 to 2022

Other statistics on the topic

Number of hotels and similar accommodation in Norway 2019, by county

Turnover of the accommodation industry in Norway 2008-2018, by sector

Monthly hotel room prices in Norway 2019

Number of holiday houses in Norway 2010-2021

To download this statistic in XLS format you need a Statista Account

To download this statistic in PNG format you need a Statista Account

To download this statistic in PDF format you need a Statista Account

To download this statistic in PPT format you need a Statista Account

As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic.

As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic.

As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail.

… to incorporate the statistic into your presentation at any time.

You need at least a Starter Account to use this feature.

• Immediate access to statistics, forecasts & reports
• Usage and publication rights
• Download in various formats

You only have access to basic statistics. This statistic is not included in your account.

• Instant access  to 1m statistics
• Download  in XLS, PDF & PNG format
• Detailed  references

Business Solutions including all features.

Other statistics that may interest you

• Number of tourist accommodation establishments in Poland 2020-2022, by type
• Occupancy rate of bedrooms in Finland 2022-2023, by accommodation type
• Share of overnight stays in accommodation establishments in Poland 2015-2018, by type
• Accommodation bookings made online in Finland 2015-2020
• Type of accommodation chosen by visitors in South Korea 2019
• Number of employees, travel accommodation industry, Sweden 2008-2018, by sector
• Net turnover of the travel accommodation industry in Sweden 2008-2018, by sector
• Production value of the travel accommodation industry in Sweden 2008-2018, by sector
• Italy: monthly bed places occupancy rate in serviced accommodation in 2017-2018
• Number of beds in accommodation establishments in Prague 2012-2022
• RevPAR of hotels in Poland 2016-2019, by star rating
• Number of hotels in Warsaw, Poland 2016-2022, by star rating
• Number of beds in hotels in Warsaw, Poland 2021-2022, by star rating
• Number of hotel rooms in Warsaw, Poland 2021-2022, by star rating
• Number of travel accommodation establishments in Poland 2011-2021
• Number of overnight stays of international tourists in Poznań 2022, by country
• Share of tourist accommodation establishments in Warsaw, Poland 2020, by type
• Average double room price at hotels in Warsaw, Poland 2019 by type
• Hotels average daily room rate (ADR) in Poland 2016-2019 by star rating
• Number of rooms in hotels in Katowice 2015-2019
• Number of available rooms in Las Vegas 2000-2022
• Factors affecting accommodation booking worldwide as of July 2016
• Amenities affecting accommodation choice for business travelers worlwide 2015
• Hospitality and tourism: GVA of accommodation and food services in the UK 2008-2021
• Number of beds in non-hotel facilities in Italy 2019-2020, by type of facility
• Brazil: main reasons for choosing a hotel 2017
• Nights spent in accommodation in Faroe Islands 2017, type of accommodation
• Creditors' voluntary liquidations of in the accommodation& food services in the UK
• Most popular holiday accommodation in Sweden 2020
• Global hotel check-in/out tech preferences worldwide 2020
• Number of overnight stays in Belgium 2019-2022, by accommodation type
• Hotels and similar accommodation in Norwegian cities 2021
• Overnight stays of tourists from China visiting the UK 2018, by accommodation used
• Share of outbound tourist trips in Poland 2022, by accommodation
• Number of hotel rooms in Poland 2020-2022, by city
• Number of hotel rooms in Poland 2020-2022, by star rating
• Number of hotels in Poland 2000-2022
• Number of hotel bed places in Poland 2020-2022, by star rating
• Share of domestic tourism trips in Poland 2022, by accommodation type
• Restaurants and hotels: household expenditure in Poland 2010-2022
• Share of household spending on restaurants and hotels in Poland 2007-2022
• Household spending at current prices on restaurants and hotels in Poland 2007-2022
• Number of hotel rooms in Poland 2007-2019

Other statistics that may interest you Statistics on

About the industry

• Premium Statistic Number of tourist accommodation establishments in Poland 2020-2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Occupancy rate of bedrooms in Finland 2022-2023, by accommodation type
• Premium Statistic Share of overnight stays in accommodation establishments in Poland 2015-2018, by type
• Premium Statistic Accommodation bookings made online in Finland 2015-2020
• Premium Statistic Type of accommodation chosen by visitors in South Korea 2019
• Premium Statistic Number of employees, travel accommodation industry, Sweden 2008-2018, by sector
• Premium Statistic Net turnover of the travel accommodation industry in Sweden 2008-2018, by sector
• Premium Statistic Production value of the travel accommodation industry in Sweden 2008-2018, by sector
• Premium Statistic Italy: monthly bed places occupancy rate in serviced accommodation in 2017-2018
• Premium Statistic Number of beds in accommodation establishments in Prague 2012-2022

About the region

• Premium Statistic RevPAR of hotels in Poland 2016-2019, by star rating
• Premium Statistic Number of hotels in Warsaw, Poland 2016-2022, by star rating
• Premium Statistic Number of beds in hotels in Warsaw, Poland 2021-2022, by star rating
• Premium Statistic Number of hotel rooms in Warsaw, Poland 2021-2022, by star rating
• Basic Statistic Number of travel accommodation establishments in Poland 2011-2021
• Premium Statistic Number of overnight stays of international tourists in Poznań 2022, by country
• Premium Statistic Share of tourist accommodation establishments in Warsaw, Poland 2020, by type
• Premium Statistic Average double room price at hotels in Warsaw, Poland 2019 by type
• Premium Statistic Hotels average daily room rate (ADR) in Poland 2016-2019 by star rating
• Premium Statistic Number of rooms in hotels in Katowice 2015-2019

Selected statistics

• Premium Statistic Number of available rooms in Las Vegas 2000-2022
• Premium Statistic Factors affecting accommodation booking worldwide as of July 2016
• Premium Statistic Amenities affecting accommodation choice for business travelers worlwide 2015

Other regions

• Premium Statistic Hospitality and tourism: GVA of accommodation and food services in the UK 2008-2021
• Premium Statistic Number of beds in non-hotel facilities in Italy 2019-2020, by type of facility
• Premium Statistic Brazil: main reasons for choosing a hotel 2017
• Premium Statistic Nights spent in accommodation in Faroe Islands 2017, type of accommodation
• Premium Statistic Creditors' voluntary liquidations of in the accommodation& food services in the UK
• Premium Statistic Most popular holiday accommodation in Sweden 2020
• Premium Statistic Global hotel check-in/out tech preferences worldwide 2020
• Basic Statistic Number of overnight stays in Belgium 2019-2022, by accommodation type
• Premium Statistic Hotels and similar accommodation in Norwegian cities 2021
• Premium Statistic Overnight stays of tourists from China visiting the UK 2018, by accommodation used

Related statistics

• Premium Statistic Share of outbound tourist trips in Poland 2022, by accommodation
• Premium Statistic Number of hotel rooms in Poland 2020-2022, by city
• Premium Statistic Number of hotel rooms in Poland 2020-2022, by star rating
• Premium Statistic Number of hotels in Poland 2000-2022
• Premium Statistic Number of hotel bed places in Poland 2020-2022, by star rating
• Premium Statistic Share of domestic tourism trips in Poland 2022, by accommodation type
• Premium Statistic Restaurants and hotels: household expenditure in Poland 2010-2022
• Premium Statistic Share of household spending on restaurants and hotels in Poland 2007-2022
• Premium Statistic Household spending at current prices on restaurants and hotels in Poland 2007-2022
• Basic Statistic Number of hotel rooms in Poland 2007-2019

Further related statistics

• Premium Statistic Operating income of the InterContinental Hotels Group 2007-2023
• Premium Statistic Total assets of the InterContinental Hotels Group 2007-2023
• Premium Statistic Income of the InterContinental Hotels Group 2007-2023
• Basic Statistic Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in San Diego 2016-2017
• Basic Statistic Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in Brussels 2010-2017
• Basic Statistic Quarterly average daily rate in hotels in Washington D.C. 2016-2017
• Basic Statistic Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in Houston 2016-2017
• Basic Statistic Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in Indianapolis 2016-2017
• Basic Statistic Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in New York 2016-2017
• Basic Statistic Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in Philadelphia 2016-2017

Further Content: You might find this interesting as well

• Operating income of the InterContinental Hotels Group 2007-2023
• Total assets of the InterContinental Hotels Group 2007-2023
• Income of the InterContinental Hotels Group 2007-2023
• Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in San Diego 2016-2017
• Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in Brussels 2010-2017
• Quarterly average daily rate in hotels in Washington D.C. 2016-2017
• Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in Houston 2016-2017
• Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in Indianapolis 2016-2017
• Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in New York 2016-2017
• Quarterly average daily rate of hotels in Philadelphia 2016-2017