Factors Influencing Adoption of Information Communications Technology in Management of Hotels: a Case of Selected Five Star Hotels in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

ICT has become an integral part of human daily activities that sometimes we barely notice its effect, and has had a major impact on the way we live, work and play. Information technology is everywhere currently and adding to communication technology, the possibility of how it is used is endless. ICT has evolved into becoming a multipurpose technology given the critical spillover to the other economic sectors and its role as a cross-industry enabling infrastructure. Access, adoption and usage of ICT have become a key enabler of overall technological readiness for any country. The purpose of this study was investigated factors influencing adoption of information and communications technology in management of hotels in Kenya with focus on five star hotels in Nairobi County. The study specifically aimed to investigate how staff literacy, external pressure and online marketing influencing adoption of information and communications technology in management of hotels. The research problem was studied through the use of a descriptive research design. According to the information published by the Authority of Republic of Kenya, there are currently 33 five star Hotels in Kenya. The study relied mostly on primary data sources where self-administered questionnaire was utilized as source of data. Data collected was purely quantitative. Quantitative data was coded and entered into Statistical Packages for Social Scientists (SPSS Version 17.0) and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The response rate was 71% which was sufficient. The findings were presented inform of tables with relevant supporting information and inferential statistics was employed to show the relationship between variables. Through the study the findings were that external pressure, online marketing, staff learning influenced the adoption of ICT by the Hotel managements. The researcher concluded that the adoption of ICT by the hotel management was largely influenced by external pressure, staff learning and online marketing. The researcher recommended that operational productivity and customer satisfaction both should be considered together by hotel management. The researcher suggested that further research should be done on the other successful factors influencing adoption of ICT in the organization operation and also suggested that further study be done on the impacts of ICT on the organization performance in other sectors rather than service sector