The effect of hotel chain affiliation on economic performance: The moderating role of tourist districts

•Belonging to non-equity hotel chain has a positive effect on economic performance.•Belonging to an equity hotel chain does not have any effect on economic performance.•Belonging to a hotel chain and being located in a tourist district have complementary effects on economic performance. This paper offers a pioneering analysis of the impact that integration in different types of hotel chains has on firm performance, and the moderating effect of the tourist destination in this relationship. Studies in the literature examine both size and location independently, without reconciling the apparently contradictory trends of globalization and conservation of the local base. The aim of the research is to analyze the comparative effects on tourism firms’ performance of belonging to different types of hotel chains while maintaining the advantages of location in a tourist destination. Based on a study of 292 Spanish hotels, the authors test the proposed hypotheses using hierarchical regression analysis. The results show the advantages of non-equity chains over independent establishments. The study also finds a positive moderating effect of location in a district on the results yielded by belonging to a chain, whatever organizational form it takes.