| dc.description.abstract | The research was undertaken on factors influencing the success of tourism ventures, a
case study of Ol Pejeta conservancy Laikipia County, Kenya. This study was guided by
the following objectives; to establish the extent to which poaching has influenced tourism
activities in Ol Pejeta conservancy, to examine the extent to which human-wildlife
conflict has influenced tourism in Ol Pejeta conservancy and to analyze the extent to
which infrastructure affects tourism activities in Ol Pejeta conservancy and finally to
establish how marketing has affected tourism in Ol Pejeta conservancy. The study
employed descriptive survey design, the target population comprised the management
staff of Ol Pejeta conservancy in all the six tourism ventures, a total of 46 staff where 43
completed and returned the questionnaires making a response rate of 93.48%. Census was
used since all the management staff were the respondents. Purposive sampling was used
to interview game rangers and KWS official. The main instruments for data collection
were self-administered questionnaire and a structured interview schedules. There were
ethical issues related to the study and they were addressed by maintaining high level
confidentiality of the information volunteered by the respondents. Both quantitative and
qualitative data was collected. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive
statistics by employing Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) and presented
using tables. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. It was expected that
the results of the study was to be used to make recommendations on how to boost tourism
within the conservancy. The findings of the study were that poaching affects tourism in
OPC to a great extent and have a negative impact to tourism activities in the conservancy.
Regarding Human-Wildlife conflict the study revealed it has influenced tourism in the
conservancy to a great extent, it was noted that there was an increased cases of human
wildlife conflict especially during the dry seasons. Further in regards to the influence of
Infrastructure on tourism in the OPC, the study revealed that there is poor road network
within the county which has influenced tourism in the conservancy to a great extent.
Finally regarding the influence of marketing to tourism in Ol Pejeta conservancy the
study revealed that the marketing strategies employed by OPC are not sufficient to help
the conservancy achieve its target of maximum holding capacity of 95, 000. The study
recommendations were; since poaching is both a local and global problem the county
government should work closely with central government and other stakeholders like
KWS, private sector and the community to fight poaching. There is need for community
involvement in order to promote tourism in Ol Pejeta conservancy especially in regards
to human-wildlife conflict resolution which has negatively influenced tourism. The
county government in collaboration with Ol Pejeta conservancy should work hand in
hand to improve road network within the county and especially road serving the
conservancy which is in poor state. In terms of marketing the conservancy needs to
improve and intensify its marketing strategy. The channel currently in use are not
sufficient to reach majority of the target group, other channels of marketing that can be
employed are participation in tourism forums at both county and country level. | en |
