Abstract
D.Phil.
Tourism is currently the world’s fastest growing economic activity. It has also been
registered as a great agent for general economic change, creating significant impact in the
other sectors of economic growth. Developing countries such as Kenya and other African
countries now consider tourism as a passport for development as it does not need
expensive investment to initiate and operate as a national business. As a result of all these
factors much attention has turned to systematic marketing of tourism with countries
competing with one another in pursuit for the world’s tourists.
This study was motivated by the need to create parameters that can elavate the
competitiveness of a tourist destination. The general purpose of this study was to
establish how hotel quality exert influence that may positively or negatively impact on
destination marketing and how this can be appropriated to bolster destination popularity.
The purpose was to initiate the formulation of a structured, integrated conceptual
framework for hotel product/service, quality based on the normative quality expectation
of the tourists and hotel operators’ strategic quality designs.
A descriptive quantitative research design was used to establish the secondary objectives
and to assess the five propositions that were developed for the study. Tourists and hotel
operators in two major tourist provinces of Kenya were used to obtain information
regarding normative and perceptive hotel product/service quality. Destination Marketing
Managers employed by the only destination marketing organisation, Kenya Tourist Board
(KTB) were also surveyed to provide insight on Kenya’s destination marketing strategies.
They gave a position outline on the level of strategy integration as exhibited by both hotel
operators and other destination management organisations in marketing Kenya’s tourism.
The study established that the major attraction for tourists coming to Kenya is the unique
wildlife safari, beach tourism and the natural scenery. However, it was further established
that the hospitality of the Kenyan people contributed greatly in making tourists choose
Kenya, and that hotel product/service quality would play a significant role in a tourist’s
choice of destinations to visit as well as in repeat visits. The study also found that hotel
operators and other destination management organisations neither share nor operate on a
common vision as they endeavour to build destination competitiveness for Kenya. The
study therefore proposed an integrated framework that may be utilised to build
destination competitiveness so that the economic potential of tourism is maximised in
Kenya.