Investigating financial statements in hospitality: a quantitative approach

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate, through fnancial-statement analyzes, the economic fnancial performance of Italian hotels, after the international economic crisis, also con sidering the possible macro-regional diferences. The study focuses the fnancial state ments of 5473 hotels from 2009 to 2018. National data are also disaggregated in the three macro-areas that characterize Italy for diferent social and economic aspects. Anova test and Tukey–Kramer test are used. Results show that the crisis afected proftability. Ital ian hotels have a low capitalization, unable to cope with the large structural investments that require signifcant debts. The proftability indicators record similar trends in the three macro-areas, while the fnancial independence index and the coverage index show signif cant diferent values in the three observed areas. Therefore, in the digital era, Italian hotel industry has all the potential to restructure itself. Here fve ratios are considered to observe medium sized hotels. Future research with other variables will be useful, even on smaller hotels, and the analysis of their trends by cohorts of companies is necessary, as well as the integration of quantitative data with qualitative evidence. This paper encourages the cul ture of temporal sector comparison, re-evaluating the potential of accounting information systems, in order to promote data-based growth and development strategies. Furthermore, it contains indications for government ofcials, as well as for countries in the process of developing the hospitality sector following the example of the Italian experience.