African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure (Nov 2018)
The profitability of Italian hotels during and after the 2008 Economic Crisis.
Abstract
Italy is an exclusive country in the world, comprised of a rich mix of history, art, culture and natural attractions that attract a high flow of tourists from all over the world. In Italy, in 2017, about 33,000 hotels operated,which characterize an evolving offer that tends to favour hotels with better services than in the past, also in response to the growing competition from less expensive non-hotel businesses. This paper is dedicated to the study of income dynamics of larger Italian hotels with a turnover of over € 800,000, analyzing the ten year trend of five balance sheet indices of a significant sample of companies. The results show that the international economic crisis has reduced profitability immensely, especially in 2009, but also that the reaction of companies has allowed restructuring that facilitated a significant recovery in the following years. In particular, the analysis showed a greater profit on sales and a lower incidence of extra-management costs, presumably resulting from lower passive interests.
