FAMILY OWNERSHIP AND SPANISH HOTEL CHAINS: AN ANALYSIS OF THEIR EXPANSION THROUGH INTERNATIONALIZATION

Abstract

The relationship between family-firm status and internationalization strategy has been widely discussed in the family business literature. However, prior studies did not address this topic in the case of the Spanish hotel industry, even though this being a highly internationalized sector with a high proportion of family firms. For this reason, the aim of our study is to examine whether the family character of Spanish hotel chains has conditioned their internationalization strategies.