Abstract

DE LA HOZ SUAREZ, Betty; FERRER, María Alejandra  and  DE LA HOZ SUAREZ, Aminta. Profitability Indicators: Tools for Financial Decision Making in Mid-Category Hotels in Maracaibo. Revista de Ciencias Sociales [online]. 2008, vol.14, n.1, pp.88-109. ISSN 1315-9518.

This study seeks to establish the importance of information for taking financial decisions within businesses; it describes a system of management control based on indicators as an important tool for information flow. The research is of a descriptive type, with a documentary, field, non-experimental design. Initially, it deals with theory documented using different authors, a study that permitted the preparation of a data-collecting questionnaire and its application to five mid-category hotels located in Maracaibo. Conclusions were that in companies it is important to have financial indicators as tools for taking business decisions. Empirical information demonstrates that the companies under study increased their profitability moderately during three economic periods (2001-2003). For example, in terms of economic profitability, most of the hotels went from a profitability that oscillated between 1% and 10% in 2001, to profitability between 11% and 20% in 2002 and 2003, a product of good decisions taken regarding the formulation and implementation of financial strategies and at the same time, thanks to management control based on indicators.

Keywords : Information; financial indicators; profitability; decision making; hotels.