Relationship between ICT Integration and Operational Performance of Hotels in Kenya

Today, business organizations face a more complex and competitive environment than ever before. Globally, as trade barriers crumble and less-developed countries enter the competitive marketplace, firms now confront a greater number of competitors that are capable of introducing new products and services faster and at cheaper costs. One area of innovation that has been the focus of significant discussion is ICT integration, which has the capacity to impact organizational structure, firm strategy, operational procedures, and buyer-supplier relationships. The study sought to establish the relationship between ICT integration and operational performance of hotels in Kenya. The study was specifically meant to establish the effect of online booking and reservation on operational performance and to determine the effect of online marketing on operational performance of hotels in Kenya. The study was anchored on three theories namely the theory of competition, the theory of innovation and resource based theory. The study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. A survey design describes people responses to questions about a phenomenon or situation with aim of understanding respondent’s perceptions from which truism is constructed. This is based on the constructivist epistemology which holds that reality is what respondents generally perceive to be. The population of the study comprised of all hotels in Kenya as at October, 2014. The hotels were grouped under the sub headings; 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star and 5-star. The higher the star rating of the Hotel indicates the higher luxury. The study used purposive sampling. This sampling technique is one where the items for the sample are selected deliberately by the researcher and the researcher’s choice concerning the items remains supreme. The exact sample size consisted of only the 5-star hotels. There are 33 five star in Kenya. This study used primary data. Primary data was collected by the use of a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered using ‘drop-and- pick later’ method. The data collected was cleaned, validated, and edited for accuracy, uniformity, consistency and completeness. Descriptive statistics was used to determine the extent to which ICT was integrated by the hotels. Regression analysis was then be used to test the relationship between ICT integration and operational performance of hotels in Kenya. The multiple correlation coefficient R was used to test the strength of the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The strength of the Model in explaining the relationship between ICT integration and operational performance of the hotels was then tested using R². From the findings the study there is a strong positive correlation between ICT integration and operational performance of hotels in Kenya. Online booking, online reservation, online marketing and online payment technologies are seen as significant in cost reduction, flexibility of operations and improvement of quality of goods and services. Form the findings, the study recommended that the current information and communications technologies should be updated, upgraded and seamless integration both internally and externally should be done to improve the tourism business operations. The integration of ICT in tourism would benefit both, service providers and customers bringing together other stakeholders as well, on a common platform. The selection of right information communications technology tool is also crucial to match the customer requirements with service dimensions.