The
Hotel
Industry
Chain
brands
were
a major
factor
in
the
global
hotel
market
of
13.6
million
rooms.
2
The
chains
supplied
reservation
services,
field
sales
operations,
loyalty
program
adminis-
tration,
and
the
management
of
hotel
properties
under
well-recognized
names
such
as
Hilton
and
Marriott.
(See
Exhibit
1 for
details
of
the
seven
largest
U.s.
hotel
chains
com-
peting
in
the
busin
ess-
clas
s hote
l seg
m
e.
nt.)
While
th
brand
s
stood
for
quality,
the.r
was
less
standardization
of
operations
in
hot
1 chains
Ulan
in
many
othet
"
se.r
ices.
The
reason
was
that
behind
a
consumer's
experience
of
a hotel
brand
might
lie
any
of
many
methods
of
control.
brand
d
hotel
might
be
owned
and
managed
by
the
chain,
but
it
might
be
owned
by
a third
party
and
managed
by
the
chain,
or
owned
by
the
chain
and
managed.
by
a Franchi
e,