Internationalization patterns of multinational lodging firms in Brazil

The service sector is emerging in importance in terms of economic development. Although the amount of research on the internationalization process of service industries is growing, investigations on the international lodging industry still lack sufficient research, particularly in relation to emerging economies. This paper aims to fill this gap by conducting an investigation into multinational lodging firms that have started operations in Brazil. It intends to determine whether multinational lodging firms follow any temporal, geographical, or entry mode patterns when investing in an emerging market. The findings show that lodging firms in Brazil have followed differing time patterns, but have followed a similar geographical scope. Non-equity involvement was the most favored form of involvement. Although similarities in the geographical and entry mode patterns were observed, the individual lodging firms followed different internationalization and expansion strategies in their entry into Brazil.