2. International hotel chains
There are well over 200 hotel groups that operate throughout the world. At the start of
2007 the top 200 were contributing 43,000 hotels and 5.5 million rooms to the worldwide
hospitality industry, with over 74 per cent of the hotels and 71 per cent of the rooms
belonging to the top 10 hotel chains. North America dominates the international hotel
chain industry, with nearly 6 in every 10 rooms (56.9 per cent) in the world being located
there, i.e. nearly 3.2 million rooms. In fact, 70 per cent of all hotel rooms in the United
States belong to a large chain. Contrast this with Europe and Asia where respectively
below 25 per cent and under 15 per cent of rooms are provided by the global chains. 15