Int. J. Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 3, No. 4, 2013 303 Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. How do hotels state their missions? Evidence from an emerging country Erdal Akdeve School of Management, Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara, Turkey Email: erdalakdeve@gmail.com Mehmet Ali Koseoglu* College of Business, Minot State University, Minot, ND 58707 and School of Management, Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara, Turkey Email: mehmet.koseoglu@minotstateu.edu *Corresponding author Abstract: This study, by defining the elements in the mission statements that hotels use, examines whether these statements are related to their star ratings, operation times and the quality certificate they possess, their year of establishment and their premises. The sample consists of 3-, 4- and 5-Star hotels licensed by the Ministry of Tourism in Turkey. The mission statements of these hotels have been collected from their web pages and a content analysis has been conducted. It was determined that generally the hotels used at most 3, 4 or 5 elements simultaneously. However, it was observed that they gave little consideration to the information related to the elements of public image, employees, survival, technology and markets. It was noted that the elements which were used or not used were similar depending on their characteristics. Finally, the findings resulting from the study were evaluated and future options discussed. Keywords: mission statements; hotel; Turkey. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Akdeve, E. and Koseoglu, M.A. (2013) ‘How do hotels state their missions? Evidence from an emerging country’, Int. J. Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp.303–327. Biographical notes: Erdal Akdeve is an Assistant Professor in Management at the Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara, Turkey. He earned his PhD in Business Administration at Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey. His current research focuses on innovation and strategic management and related topics. Mehmet Ali Koseoglu is an Associate Professor in Management at the Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara, Turkey, and an instructor in Management at the Minot State University, Minot, ND. He is the author of over 50 basic and applied research articles and published presentations in strategic management