Los distritos turísticos españoles y su efecto sobre la rentabilidad de los hoteles vacacionales de sol y playa

Abstract

While the performance of the hotels can be largely explained by their own resources, the territory where they are located also can be determinant for their results. This study analyses the impact that the autonomous region in which are located the resort hotels of the Spanish Mediterranean has in their profitability, but focuses particularly on the analysis of the existing tourist districts in this coastal area of Spain and how the degree of agglomeration of business in each destination affects the hotels' results. We obtained information of 2003 hotels located in 231 municipalities on the Mediterranean coast of Spain (mainland and insular) belonging to 113 tourist districts. The results show that the hotels located in destinations with a greater degree of agglomeration are less profitable, possibly due to a larger rivalry that exists between the competitors nearby. However, in accordance with the theory of the tourist districts, it would be expected that those hotels located in destinations with a greater degree of agglomeration were more profitable due to the larger externalities generated in the district. In this way the paper adds empirical evidence to the classic dispute of the effects of crowding on firms performance.