Marketing Mix And Growth Of Selected Hotels In Nyeri County, Kenya

Abstract

Hotel business is one of the key investments in Nyeri County. Nyeri County is one of the tourists destination due to the various tourist attraction sites. It has seen an increase in the number of hotels being opened and managed. This has in turn led to increased competition because hotel owners want to target the increased number of local and international tourists. Competition seems to be very stiff with some old time hotels not growing as fast as the new entrants. The aim of this study is to examine the role of marketing mix on growth of selected hotels in Nyeri County, Kenya. The objectives are to assess the effect of the 4P’s namely, price, product, place as well as promotion on the growth of selected hotels in Nyeri County. The theories used in the study include Ansoff matrix, 4C’s marketing model and Unique Selling Proposition all relating product growth and market share. The study used descriptive research design and it adopted convenience sampling. The study employed questionnaire as the primary research instruments. Pilot study was conducted by selecting 5 marketing managers. The researcher used test retest method to ensure reliability of data by using Pearson’s correlation formula. The target population for this study was the 57 respondents from 17 hotels selected hotels from Nyeri County. A self-administered, questionnaire was used to collect data from the target respondents. The study achieved a response rate of 87.7%. Percentages and frequencies were generated from the data collected and presented using frequency distribution tables while multiple linear regression analysis was done to establish relationship of each parameter of the independent variables in the study. SPSS generated correlation coefficient (r), coefficient of determination (r2), F-statistic and regression coefficients whose results were interpreted. The results indicated that price, product and promotion had positive and statistically significant effect on hotel growth while place had positive but statistically insignificant effect. The study recommends that hotels should review their prices and ensure that quality is paramount in setting prices. In addition, hotels should come up with criteria that should ensure communication reach all the potential customers effectively. Future research could focus on other types of composition variables such as processes, physical facility and people to establish the their effect on growth of hotels. In addition, future researcher could find out the challenges that hotels face when they focus on four aspects of marketing mix with a view of enhancing growth.