| dc.description.abstract | Tourism and Hospitality facilities contribute immensely to a region’s social, economic and cultural development. The general purpose of this study, therefore, was to assess the contribution of tourism and hospitality investments to the economy of Nakuru County, Kenya, in relation to revenue generation and job creation. To achieve this objective, the four specific objectives were addressed, namely to establish the nature and distribution of the tourism and hospitality investments; determine the contribution of tourism and hospitality investments on the local economy in relation to income and employment; investigate the factors influencing the choice of tourism and hospitality investments and analyse the tourists’ willingness to pay for different services in tourism and hospitality investments. The community capital framework and the stakeholder theory guided the research. This study adopted the mixed methods research design accommodating both qualitative and quantitative methods. Both primary and secondary data were collected to achieve the study objectives. Secondary data were collected from peer-reviewed journals and unpublished reports from relevant state and non-state agencies. Primary data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The study utilised a sample size of 514 respondents drawn from tourists, community representatives, 59 facility managers and county representatives. Purposive sampling was used to select 59 of 151 tourism and hospitality investments and managers for the study. Simple random sampling was used to select 396 tourist respondents. Secondary data was obtained from published and unpublished tourism and hospitality reports from the Government of Kenya, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector. Quantitative data were analysed through descriptive statistics and regression analyses while content analysis was used for the qualitative data. Hence, it was established through spatial analysis that most investors had invested in Nakuru town, Naivasha and quite a few in Gilgil. Most of the investment understudy tended to be clustered in a specific area with distinct characteristics. This included a police post, town, shopping centers, weather, topography, attractions, and other similar establishments. Seven independent variables were selected: ease of doing business, resource diversification, education, conducive environment, geographical location security and access infrastructure. Out of the seven (7) variables, five (5) variables, namely conducive environment, security, access to infrastructure, resource diversification and education, were found to be significant at p≤0.50. Generally, the T&H investments contributed to the economy of the study area and the national economy. From extrapolations for the sub-counties understudy, the registered 151 T&H investments contributed Kshs. 0.730 billion of the national GDP estimated at Kshs. 12,027,662 billion. It was determined that factors that influenced tourists’ willingness to pay more for different services within the study area were levels of education, gender, income, and the tourists' origin. The findings showed that females were willing to pay more for different services offered within an investment compared to males. The results of this study will provide policymakers and the management of the Nakuru County T&H industry with knowledge and information to create a spatial plan to identify potential areas suitable for additional T&H investments continuously. Further, the information will help the County Government of Nakuru decide on the regulations and incentives to support investors in the tourism and hospitality industry. Similarly, a sensitization program for men and the older generation should be prioritized to support environmental conservation in Nakuru County. | en_US |
