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of their home countries, and it is likely that the
industry will consolidate further, making chain
hotels the predominant type of hotel unit worldwide.
Further reading
Slattery, P., Feehely, G. and Savage, M. �1995)
Quoted Hotel Companies:The World Markets 1995,
Kleinwort Benson Securities. �Compares the
performance of quoted hotel companies worldwide
and provides an examination of the
investment issues related to international expansion,
via low capital cost formats.)
change
ANGELA ROPER, UK
Apart from cyclical changes, such as inflation,
currency fluctuations and fashion, few institutions
can match the graph of �non) scientific discovery,
and structural or permanent changes, including
demographic and technological changes �see demography;
technology). Therefore, tourism
institutions need to reduce the discrepancy
between environmental change and institutional
response. Quantum theory of strategic change
suggests that large institutions tend to change only
marginally.
See also: change, sociocultural; lifestyle
FRANK M. GO, THE NETHERLANDS
change, sociocultural
A shift in a social group's norms and rules of
behaviour and/or cultural ideology and identities
over time constitutes sociocultural change, or
acculturation when this is due to cultural contact
between groups in either mutual �trade) or unequal
�colonisation) relationships. Tourism's impacts
range from changes in the local political economy
due to globalisation to the changing expectations
of tourists.
MARGARET B. SWAIN, USA
charter, air
Air charters usually involve tour operators in
negotiations with airlines to secure capacity on
aircraft for a finite period of time. Charter flights
are distinctive mainly as a result of a number of
charter conditions. These include flight times and
levels of service, amongst others. Charter flights
aim to maximise the utilisation of aircraft. Charters
play a pronounced role in promoting group and
mass forms of tourism.
See also: mass tourism
Chile
Chile 77
LESLEY PENDER, UK
Chile's tourism activity is facing a new set of
circumstances. For decades, the tremendous distances
which separated this destination from the
most dynamic markets, and the prevailing deficiency
in communications, meant that the country
found development difficult thanks to its geographical
location. However, Chile has been able
to take advantage of the opportunities offered by
modernisation. The concept of the world as a
`global village', shortened flight times as a result of
new routes and larger aircraft, and the tremendous
development in communications have enabled
Chile to be positioned rather differently in world
markets, thus breaking the negative effect of its
isolation.
An extremely long country ± 4,400 kilometres
from north to south, flanked by the Andes
mountain range and the Pacific Ocean ± Chile
has a wide variety of natural landscapes and
climates. From a tourism point of view, this variety
of resources means that it can offer different
products, most of which are based on particularly
natural attractions such as the Andes, the Atacama
desert and Patagonia. Ecotourism and nature
tourism, winter sports and water sports, among
others, are available.
Tourism has grown considerably in Chile, and
its relative weight and implications have made it an
increasingly important productive activity in the
national economy. Estimates regarding the place of
tourism in the Chilean economy indicate that it