An approach to the negative effects of the informal lodging on the large format hotels in the city of Medellín

Abstract

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the entry of tourists to Medellín, which is why large international hotel chains are making a presence in the city; and the existing ones, expand their offer with the construction of new facilities and / or the remodeling of their infrastructure. However, it is evident that hotel occupancy does not grow at the same rate as the number of tourists. The objective of this research is to explore the large format formal hospitality sector and the phenomenon of informal or parallel accommodation in the city of Medellín, considering legal and operational aspects. To do this, in addition to reviewing the literature and analyzing the reports presented by entities related to the tourism sector, interviews were conducted with employees of two hotel chains that are present in Medellín with eight establishments. As a result, it is evident that the use of platforms of the so-called collaborative economy, despite its illegality, is becoming more and more frequent both for the supply and demand of accommodation services, constituting a great damage to the city and the formal hotel sector.