Unchained Ideology "Why Hoteliers in Sweden choose to remain Independent"

Abstract: 6 Abstract he increasing dominance of hotel chains worldwide has been acknowledged since the 1970s. However, nowadays there are still many independent hoteliers present in the industry, especially in Europe and the Nordic countries. Moreover, hospitality professionals have expressed the increasing call for hotel independence. The position of the independent hotelier has been explored to a limited extent in existing literature. This research made an effort towards creating an understanding of why these independent hoteliers choose to remain independent, despite that they can be expected to embrace affiliation in accordance with existing literature principles. In-depth interviews were held in order to create this understanding, whereby the hoteliers were selected based upon location, hotel size and governance form. Current literature has often discussed hotel independence versus affiliation as a result of a functionalistic perspective. It is though not clear what independence entails in this perspective. This research therefore suggests a more subjective approach. Although hoteliers perceive themselves to select hotel independence based upon functionalistic motives, it is actually ideology that plays an important role in the desire to remain independent. This ideology may have negative consequences for hotel businesses, as argued by means of the Icaros paradox.