Innovation and 19th century hotel industry evolution

This article adopts a novel methodology to explore the transformation of the nineteenth century English lodging industry from an inn-keeping model in the late 1700's to a professional hotel management model in the early 1900's. The multi-level perspective methodology employed in this research is a mid-range theory, which uses elements of technological transitions and the concept of niche innovation cumulation to explain the evolution of the hospitality industry from the mid 1760's to 1914. At the beginning of the nineteenth century English inns provided a rudimentary experience. By the end of the century, the English hotel industry had adopted domestic and international innovations, to improve service quality and comfort.