The extent to which classified hotels in Mombasa have adopted electronic marketing

Abstract

Hotel industry is an important part of the tourism sector which makes a significant contribution to the country's economic development in terms of foreign exchange earnings, government revenues and generation of employment and business opportunities. This industry .experiences challenges in terms of high .competition and fluctuating demand. To counter these challenges, the hotels have adopted different strategies, one of them being the use of internet as a marketing tool. This study was aimed at establishing the extent to which classified hotels in Mombasa have adopted electronic marketing. The sampling frame was drawn from classified hotels as listed in the Kenya Gazette Notice of July 2004. The objectives of the study were to determine the extent to which classified hotels in Mombasa have adopted E-marketing, to establish the benefits these classified hotels derive as a result of adopting E-marketing and finally, to establish the challenges these hotels experience in the adoption of E-marketing. The study was carried out using a descriptive study. The population of interest in the study consisted of all the 16 classified hotels in Mombasa. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were dropped and picked later. The respondents were Marketing Managers or their equivalent. The response rate was 100%. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. Frequency distribution tables, mean score, percentages and standard deviation were used to achieve the objectives of the study. The study found that most of the hotels are using"tinternet in marketing activities such as marketing information system, target marketing and marketing mix. The hotels use internet as a marketing information system to a large extent; as target marketing to a moderate extent and in marketing mix activities to' a large extent. The study also established that these hotels have benefited from the use of internet in terms of cost savings, interactivity, connectivity and accessibility. Apart from the benefits, internet poses some challenges to the users. These challenges can be termed as technology related, organizational, moral and governmental factors. It was recommended that the hotels should improve their service delivery, facilities and amenities so that they can be upgraded to Star Five. Second, hotels which have not embraced technology should do so. Third, the hotels which do not have marketing department should create one and finally, the hotels which are wholly locally owned should partner with foreign investors so as to realize growth and efficiency. Only 16 classified hotels in Mombasa were studied. This may not representative of the 123 classified hotels in Kenya. It is also acknowledged that this approach does not fully account for the perspectives of other major players in service encounter, for instance, customers. A similar study, therefore, should be conducted on all the 123 classified hotels in Kenya. There is also a need to conduct a study to establish whether there is any correlation between the extent of internet adoption and different hotel . classification.