Selecting good sites is crucial to a hotel chain's success. Of the four major marketing considerations (price, product, promotion, and location), location and product have been shown to be most important for multisite firms. As a result, hotel chain owners who can pick good sites quickly have a distinct com- petitive advantage. Exhibit TN11.6 shows the initial list of variables included in a study to help La Quinta Motor Inns screen potential locations for its new hotels. Data were collected on 57 existing La Quinta Inns. Analysis of the data identified the variables that correlated with operating profit in 1983 and 1986. (See Exhibit TN11.7.)