Strategic Factors Influencing Growth of Hotels in Kenya, (A Survey of Selected Hotels in Mombasa County)

Abstract

As the world economy continues to move towards increased integration, some of the greatest opportunities for hotels will derive from their ability to participate in the global marketplace while sustainably increasing their competitiveness by growing financially and structurally to be able to achieve their objectives. There has been concerted efforts to grow local tourism in Kenya by the government, however, hotel establishments being the major component of  tourism across the country has been growing slowly and struggling to survive. The study sought to evaluate strategic factors that influence growth of hotels in Kenya so as to establish factors that contributes to slow growth experienced by hotels in the country and establish the extent to which these factors influence  growth. The study evaluated independent variable factors such as extent of product diversification within the hotels, use of cost leadership strategies, and level of technology used by hotels in their daily operations. With a study of three star hotels in Mombasa county, a systematic survey of the strategic factors was conducted using a descriptive survey design and a stratified sampling technique to achieve a representative sample. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using multiple regression model. From the research findings, the study indicated that all the independent variables studied have significant effect on hotel growth in Kenya as indicated by the strong coefficient of correlation and overall effect of the analyzed factors was very high as indicated by the coefficient of determination. This implies that the studied independent variables, namely product diversification, cost leadership and technology have significant effect on hotel growth in Kenya. The study recommended that hotel should constantly review their products in order to remain relevant and competitive in the  market, operate at low cost and should embrace technology in all operations, especially information communication technology, which widens the coverage of hotels information accessibility and  increase marketing activities, so that they can attract guests from far and wide to enhance growth.