Influence of cultural distance on the internationalisation of Spanish hotel companies

This paper analyses a study of the influence of “cultural distance” on the internationalisation of Spanish hotel companies. To define “cultural distance” we rely on Gesteland’s model which allows measurement of this for each destination. Interpretation of the behaviour of people in a given country involves certain especially relevant variables. We refer to the variables deal-focus or relationship-focus cultures, formal or informal cultures, rigid-time or fluid-time cultures and expressive or reserved cultures. As a goal, we propose to discover if these have a measurable influence, how “cultural distance” affects choice of a destination at which to internationalise a chain, and if countries chosen by Spanish hoteliers are more culturally compatible with Spain. The results of this study support the conclusion that cultural distance should be taken into account in studies of internationalisation of hotels.