Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 4, n. 21/22 (2014); 251-260
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Resumo: Tourism is a growing and resilient sector, despite the social, economic and political context of our society in the last decade. The hospitality supply has been following this growing trend and the largest hotel groups have been seeking for new ways to expand, creating or acquiring new hotels and developing their presence in emerging markets. There are also many small hotel units, although with larger obstacles, namely difficulties in obtaining resources to invest in internationalization strategies or in more aggressive on-line distribution strategies. In this context, independent hotel chains have emerged, operating as consortia and aiming at helping small hotel units to have promotional, marketing and commercial strategies. In another perspective, consortia aim at acquiring competitive advantage by differentiating themselves in the market. Their strategy involves an increase in dimension to gain critical mass and higher negotiation capacity. Another competitive advantage is the specialization in certain market segments, each consortium seeking to obtain their own market share. It is in this context that hotel chains are addressed, their advantages and difficulties in an increasingly complex and competitive market. This article aims at presenting a case study about a Portuguese consortium of 136 hotel units and discussing how networks can be a leverage factor in hospitality.
