Key Success Factors and Competitive Strategies by Four and Five Star Rated Hotels in Nairobi

Abstract

The objective of this study was to establish the key success factors and competitive strategy used by the five and four star hotels in Nairobi enabling the hotels to stay afloat in light of competition experienced in the market. The study targeted 22 five and four star rated hotels which have been registered and licensed to operate in Nairobi. The study used a census because of the relatively low population size of the five and four star rated hotels. Out of the 22 respondents, 15respondents completed and returned the questionnaires, translating to 68.18% response rate. A semistructured questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, means, percentages and standard deviations were used to analyse the data. The analysed data was then presented in form of frequency tables. The study found that use of modern technology; uncompromised service quality, astute marketing strategies, carefully selected and trained human resource and relative use of strategic alliances were the key success factor in the five and four star rated hotels. The findings also showed that the competitive strategies have been related to the key success factors on a large extent, that the marketing techniques is the major factor enhancing the competitive strategies fostered by technology, service quality, human resource and finally strategic alliance respectively. The study further found out that through the key success factor the hotels have been able to attain sustainability in the competitive industry and increase in customer satisfaction levels. The study recommends that the five and four star rated hotels should regularly evaluate their performance in order to determine the impacts of the key success factors in the competitive industry. It was finally recommended that another study to be done on the related study should incorporate other variables and separate the large organization from the small organization in order to determine how these firms respond separately on the environmental factors.