Location and regionalization patterns of hotel chains: evidence from China

Abstract

Hotel chains shape the industry’s development and competition by locating multiple business units in multiple regions. However, how chain hotels are located and regionalized is severely under-researched. A better understanding of hotel chains’ location and regionalization patterns is key to the studies of the hotel industry, which has been increasingly dominated by chains. Six chains from the emerging economy hotel segment in China were selected, and their location patterns from 2004–2019 were explored through the hotspot detection method. Subsequently, a heuristic method for geographic regionalization based on machine learning was applied to explore the spatial-temporal heterogeneity in the six chains’ dominant markets. The results showed that (1) hotel chains tended to form different spatial distribution patterns, although they adopted the same location strategy; (2) each chain, regardless of size, had one or more dominant market(s); and (3) most chains’ location patterns remained relatively stable during the study period. Our exploratory study contributes to the literature by illustrating hotel chains’ location patterns and their evolution, alongside the development and evolution of their dominant-market regions. It also offers practical contributions by recommending that chain operators develop their location patterns based on their resources and capabilities and try to foster dominant market(s) in which they are absolute leaders.

中文摘要

连锁酒店通过在多区域布局多个业务单位主导着饭店业的发展, 然而有关连锁酒店布局和市场分区的研究非常不足。在酒店业发展越来越多地由连锁品牌主导的背景下, 更好地了解连锁酒店的布局和分区模式是研究酒店业的关键。本文选取了中国新兴经济型酒店领域的 6 个品牌连锁酒店为研究案例, 首先通过热点探测方法探索了它们在 2004–2019 年的空间分布与演化模式, 然后通过基于机器学习的地理分区算法分析了6个品牌主导市场的时空异质性。研究结果表明, （1）采用相同布局战略的连锁酒店品牌往往形成不同的空间分布格局； (2) 每个连锁酒店品牌, 无论规模大小, 都有一个或多个主导市场；(3) 在研究期间, 大部分连锁酒店品牌的空间布局模式保持相对稳定。本研究的理论贡献在于探索了同一细分市场中不同连锁酒店品牌的空间布局模式及其主导市场区域的发展和演变；实践方面, 本研究提出了根据资源和能力确定布局模式, 努力培育绝对主导市场等建议。

Keywords:

• Hotel chains
• location pattern
• geographical regionalization
• hotspot detection method
• spatial distribution
• China

关键词:

• 连锁酒店
• 分布模式
• 地理分区
• 热点探测
• 空间分布
• 中国

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Alan Lew and three reviewers for their helpful comments.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41801168), Beijing Social Science Fund (No. 20ZDA06) and National Social Science Fund of China (No. 20ZDA067).

Notes

1 Ge Chen and Bangqin Sun, “7 Days Inn to Accelerate Expansion and have 300 locations,” The Nanfang Daily (南方日报) (November 15, 2006).

2 Maolin Zou, “From IT Elite to Economy Hotel Boss, 7 Days Inn CEO Recalled the Start-up Process,” The Changjiang Times (长江商报) (July 6, 2009).

3 Jianyue Zhang, “The Funder of Home Inn Established Hanting Inn,” The Beijing Times (京华时报) (March, 5, 2007).

4 Shanfeng Zhang, “Founder of Hanting Inn: the Passion for Entrepreneurship,” Southern People Weekly (南方人物周刊) (November 4, 2011), pp. 62–63.

5 Si, “Green Tree Inn Entered Beijing Market: An Interview with its Chairmen and President, Mr. Xu Shuguang,” China Business Update (中国经贸杂志) (September 15, 2007), pp. 30–32.

6 Caixia Wang, “Xu Shuguang: I Enjoy to Be an Entrepreneur,” China Chain Store (中国连锁) (November 1, 2011), pp. 59–63.

7 “City Home Inn’s Expansion Approach,” Anhui Business Daily (安徽商报) (December 12, 2013).

8 Caixia Wang, “Ekea 365 Inn: Dancing in the Market,” China Chain Store (中国连锁) (September 1, 2012), pp. 42–44.

9 “City Comfort Inn: In a Fast Development Track,” Renshi Tiandi (人事天地) (May 15, 2009), p. 11.

10 Caizhou Yue, “City Comfort Inn, the Pioneer in Quality Sleep,” China Chain Store (中国连锁) (September 1, 2012), pp. 52–54.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jing Qin

Jing Qin is an Associate Professor of Tourism Management at School of Tourism Sciences in Beijing International Studies University. She graduated from Wuhan University (China) in 2008. From 2008 to 2014, she got master degree of Cartography and Geography Information System and Ph.D. in the field of Human Geography from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her current research interests focus on spatio-temporal data mining algorithm and its application in tourism and hospitality research.

Yu Qin

Yu Qin is Professor of Management at School of Tourism Sciences in Beijing International Studies University and the Editor of Tourism and Hospitality Prospects. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from the School of Graduate at China Academy of Social Science in 2005. His current research focuses on the evolution of Chinese tourism and hospitality industry.

Chengwei Liu

Chengwei Liu is a Master Degree Candidate of Hotel Management at Beijing International Studies University. He graduated from Guilin University of Technology in 2014. His current research interests focus on spatial analysis, GIS, and hospitality organizational change.