The impact of financial, macroeconomic and non economic factors on the hospitality industry in Spain and the UK
Hospitality, as the major sector within the tourism industry, has been widely studied around the world. However, there has not been as much research done on the factors influencing on hotel stock performance in Europe. This master's thesis is investigating the relationship between financial, macroeconomic and non economic factors and the stock returns of the hospitality industry in Spain and the UK to provide a practical guideline for investors in the hospitality market. Within this study, two financial variables, four macroeconomic variables and seven non economic variables are selected as the explanatory variables whereas the two countries' hotel stock returns are chosen as the dependent variables, summarized by a hotel price index. The regression results show us that the unemployment rate is a significantly negative factor influencing the hotel stock returns while the hotel stock returns in both Spain and the UK are significantly affected by all the selected non economic factors. The results are consistent with the empirical study of Chen et al. (2005) which investigated the macroeconomic and non macroeconomic forces on the stock returns of the Taiwanese hospitality industry. In a further step, the non economic factors have stronger effects than the financial and macroeconomic factors in both countries whereas the stock performance of the hospitality industry in Spain is more sensitive than it in the UK to the financial, macroeconomic and non economic factors. The impact of financial, macroeconomic and non economic factors on the hospitality industry in Spain and the UK 3