Effect of Knowledge Creation by Tourism Stakeholders on Destination Competitiveness, Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract

The pivotal role of knowledge as a tool for competitiveness has long been recognized, however, the tourism sector has been slow in adopting knowledge management approach mainly due to poor linkages between the sector and key knowledge creators such as academic researchers and besides, the tourism sector has been posited to have a reluctant knowledge adoption environment. The study sought to establish the effect of knowledge creation by primary tourism destination stakeholders on a destination's competitiveness. The study was informed by resource-based view theory and the Knowledge spiral model. Baringo County was targeted as the study area because of its undisputable potential for tourism in the North Rift region. The study utilized the ex- post facto research design. It employed purposive, stratified and simple random sampling to select 245 respondents. A semi structured questionnaire was administered to collect data. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to reveal the effects between knowledge creation practices on destination competitiveness. The regression weight indicated that knowledge creation had significant effect on destination competitiveness (β = 0.336; t=3.7; p<0.05). A significant relationship exists between knowledge creation practices by primary tourism destination stakeholders and competitiveness.  The study recommends that Kenya Tourism Board in the tourism sector should facilitate knowledge identification and creation in order to enhance a destinations performance.The study opines that the human resource is vital to managing knowledge effectively and therefore organizations need to invest in this resource both fiscally and psychologically to keep employees vested in adapting new and ever-changing aspects of knowledge creation. The stakeholders should facilitate knowledge identification through conducting seminars and team building where the managers will be able to identify the specific skills of the staffs, coding of newly identified knowledge, embrace best practices and device formal ways of storing knowledge.