Resumen

PROPIN-FREJOMIL, Enrique; LOPEZ-LOPEZ, Álvaro  y  SANCHEZ-CRISPIN, Alvaro. Territorial patterns of the largest international hotel groups in Latin America and the Caribbean at the beginning of the Twenty-first century. Invest. Geog [online]. 2004, n.53, pp.122-140. ISSN 2448-7279.

The aim of this paper is to reveal and explain the geographical distribution of the largest international hotel groups in Latin America and the Caribbean, at the beginning of the Twenty-first century. To do this, first, we present a typology of the countries in the region based on the consideration of three major variables: number of international visitors, number of hotel rooms and foreign exchange income generated by tourism. Then, after defining what a hotel chain and a hotel consortium are, the spatial distribution of the top ten international hotel groups in Latin America and the Caribbean is presented. Our research findings reveal a tendency, among these groups, to locate their hotels in Mexico, the Caribbean fringe, and in some of the largest cities, like Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Palabras llave : International hotel groups; tourism; Latin America; Caribbean.