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240 franchising
Sheraton and Hyatt, have been confined to the
region around Paris. Only Holiday Inns has built
hotels in some of the larger provincial towns.
However, these chains have not created `resorts' by
the seaside as they have in United States and Asia.
The future of tourism development in France relies
strongly on its capacity to develop a real internationalisation
of this industry in order to
maintain its leadership position in Europe and in
the world.
Further readings
Frangialli, F. �1991) La France dans le Tourisme
Mondial, Paris: Economica.
MinisteÁre du Tourisme �1996) Statistiques du Tourisme:Partenaires
ReÂgionaux, Paris: Direction du
Tourisme.
Py, P. �1992), Le Tourisme ± un PheÂnomeÁne Economique,
Paris: La Documentation FrancËaise.
Trigano A. �1988) Pour une Industrie Touristique plus
CompeÂtitive, Paris: Conseil Economique et Social.
Vellas, F. and CaueÈt, J.M. �1997) Le Tourisme et les
Iles, Paris: L'Harmattan.
Vellas, F. and BeÂcherel, L. �1995) International
Tourism, an Economic Perspective, London: Macmillan.
World Tourism Organization �1999) Tourism Highlights
1999, Madrid: WTO.
franchising
FRANCËOISVELLAS, FRANCE
LIONEL BEÂ CHEREL, UK
In his popular book Megatrends 2000, John Naisbitt
declares that `franchising is the single most
successful marketing concept ever.' A franchise
is a contractual agreement whereby a firm allows
another business to use its name, to sell and use its
products for a fee. Franchise associations all agree
the practice has several characteristics: it is a
method of distributing products and services; it
involves two parties linked contractually �the
franchiser and the franchisee); the franchiser
provides the product concept, trademark and
patent rights, corporate identity, know-how and
training, assistance and guidance, perhaps even
providing raw materials and equipment depending
on the contract, and a marketing plan or the
benefits of group distribution; and the franchisee
pays a fee to the franchiser for use of the name for
an agreed period of time period within a specified
territory, as well as for support. Usually, there is a
continuing financial obligation either in the form of
a regular fee, a proportion of the profits, or both.
When one thinks of tourism franchises, examples
in related sectors such as car rental and
restaurant chains come to mind. However,
franchising is actually a widespread practice in
tourism. Hotel chains use franchising to penetrate
markets quickly and to expand, particularly
abroad. Their international reputation guarantees
franchisees a ready-made market. In addition,
franchisers often sell a management contract to
provide the expertise to run the hotel. For example,
the Ramada hotel chain operates the Ramada
Franchise System. Franchisees benefit from its
Property Management System, which includes the
installation of hardware and software and training
courses. Support is provided regionally with advice
from franchise service managers, face-to-face
professional assistance in marketing and training
in hotel operations. When an approved marketing
campaign is launched, Ramada shares the cost of
the effort with the franchisee. Furthermore, all
franchisee employees are entered in the Personal
Best History scheme, a quality award system
designed to encourage customer loyalty, where
innovative customer service and initiatives are
recognised.
As another example, Uniglobe Travel has
developed a worldwide travel agency franchise
system with over 1,150 franchises in sixteen
countries. Uniglobe provides tools, systems, and
support such as professional training, a business
consultation service from eighteen regional offices,
software programmes, automation agreements
with computer reservation system providers
and a Preferred Supplier Programme in which a package
of incentives and commissions is negotiated with
principals. A Franchise Owner Association allows
Uniglobe franchisees to meet and exchange ideas.
As these examples suggest, franchising reduces risks
for new business start-ups. According to the US
Commerce Department, 95 per cent of franchises