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Item type: Item , Access status: Open Access , Disintermediate: Digital media can disintermediate relationships in tourism at heritage destinations(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022-02-04) Ndivo, Rayviscic MutindaOver the recent decades, Information Communication Technologies have transformed all spheres of the tourism industry, altering the industry structure and developing a whole range of opportunities and threats. This has seen ICTs become an indispensable source of competitiveness for both industry and destinations. One major result of this ICTs-led evolution has been the continued disintermediation of hitherto indispensable travel and tourism intermediaries. This has resulted in several benefits to the tourism supply and demand sides as power shifts away from the intermediaries thus providing tourism suppliers access to consumers and their information. Nonetheless, removing an intermediary from the distribution system often means that tourism suppliers have to reproduce the functionality of the intermediary's core competence, but more importantly, replicate the flow of information, materials, knowledge as well as the cash flows resulting from that particular node. In the case of cultural and heritage tourism enterprises (CHTEs), the fundamental question remains to what extent suppliers would take advantage of ICTs- enabled business competitiveness, and to what extent in the process, intermediaries will be eliminated from the value system. This paper models a conceptual framework for enhancing benefits resulting from ICT-mediated disintermediation to the cultural and heritage tourism enterprises.Item type: Item , Access status: Open Access , Impact of Related Diversification Strategies on Organizational Performance among Star Rated Hotels in the Kenyan Coast(Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 2023-12-20) Owenga, Jacob; Ndivo, Rayviscic Mutinda; Mapelu, IsabellaPurpose: For any organization to succeed in the present competitive and ever-changing business environment, understanding the risks, opportunities, and strength posed by the external environment is inevitable. Organizations must exploit opportunities and avoid risks by applying relevant strategies and developing various strategic approaches that will improve their competitive edge and overall performance. One of the possible ways to improve business efficiency and performance is through diversification. The purpose of thisstudy was to assess the applicability of a diversification strategy as a game plan to motivate and develop resilience against organizational and environmental forces in business operations to improve organizational performance in star rated hotels in the Coastal Kenya. The specific objectives was; todetermine the impact of related diversification strategies on organizational performance amongstar rated hotels in coastal Kenya Coastal. Materials and Methods: Notably, 36 star rated hotels were selected while 419respondents were involved which comprised; strategic managers, tactical and operational managers. This represented a response rate of 92.4% and 80.6% for the questionnaires and interviews respectively.Stratified sampling wasused to select the hotels while purposive sampling wasused to select the managers. Questionnaires and interview schedules wereused during data collection. Data analyze was bothanalyzed using both descriptive and inferential analysis. The mean for overall adoption of horizontal diversification strategies was 3.94 (std. dev=0.92) while vertical diversification strategies was 3.28 (std. dev=1.13)which was significant.The mean on overall adoption of related diversification strategies was 3.60 (std. dev=0.95), demonstrating that related diversification strategies have on overall been adopted to a large extent Findings: The model summary results indicates that R-Square=0.598; this implies that 59.8% of performance is explained by vertical and horizontal diversification strategies. This implies that, both horizontal and vertical diversification strategies were significantly adopted inthe operation and management of hotel business in the coast region of Kenya.The null hypothesis stating,“There is no significant relationship between vertical diversification strategies and performance of star rated hotels along the Kenyan Coast”was rejected. This means that horizontal and vertical diversification strategies are significant predictors of performance of star rated hotels in the Kenyan Coast.From the regression model, horizontal and vertical diversification were found to have a positive effect that was statistically significant on performance of star rated hotels in the Kenyan Coast. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy:Policy makers should initiate policies that motivate organizations such as hotels to practice diversification to minimize negative impact on both financial and non-financial performance aspects.Item type: Item , Access status: Open Access , Influence ofService Quality onEmotional Satisfaction inGame Lodges(Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 2023-06-24) Njagi, Caroline Kihara; Ndivo, Rayviscic Mutinda; Mwangi, BensonPurpose: Service quality in game lodges context elicit customers’ emotional satisfaction, which subsequently influences consumer behavior such as revisit intentions and WOM recommendations. Service quality research has paid more focus on cognitive dimensions of customer satisfaction, giving little attention on affective or customer emotional satisfaction. Hence, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of service quality on tourists’ emotional satisfaction residing in star rated game lodges at Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Methodology:The study adopted epistemological research philosophy guided by positivism paradigm with a quantitative and a cross sectional survey research design. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select the respondents and data was collected using structured questionnaires that were administered to 312 respondents drawn from visitors who resided in star rated game lodges at Masai Mara national reserve and its conservancies in Kenya. Data was analyzed using structural equation model that tested hypothesis and the relationship between service quality and emotional satisfaction. Data was presented in the form of tables and figures. Findings: The findings suggest that in the context of game lodges, service quality is important for developing customer emotional satisfaction. The study results support a positive and significant relationship between service quality and emotional satisfaction. Recommendations: The study contributes immensely to the theoretical background on service marketing by providing thorough examination of the service quality and its influence on emotional satisfaction. The influence of service quality on emotional or affective aspects of customer satisfaction in game lodges context allied to value-percept display theory is rare. Thus, this study broadens the domain of value-percept display theory that has received little attention. The managers in game lodges should identify and improve on the service quality dimensions that make the most significant contribution to emotional satisfaction. This is a significant input to the service marketing especially in the little researched area in service quality perceptions and emotional responses among the traditional, domestic and the emerging tourism markets in game lodges in Kenya.Item type: Item , Access status: Open Access , The Moderating Role of Visitors’ Nationality on the Relationship between Service Quality and Behavioural intentions in Star Rated Game Lodges(Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 2023-10-07) Njagi, Caroline Kihara; Ndivo, Rayviscic Mutinda; Mwangi, BensonPurpose:Tourists from different nationalities manifest differing cultural values that influence service quality perceptions that subsequently elicit their behavioural intentions. However, the moderating role of nationality in the relationship between service quality and behavioural intention from the game lodges’perspective has not been sufficiently examined. Hence, this study aims to examine the moderating role of nationality on the relationship between service quality and behavioural intentions. Methodology: The study adopted a cross-section survey and data was collectedusing structured questionnairesfrom 312 tourists from 29 different nationalities residing in star rated game lodges at Masai Mara national reserve and its conservancies in Kenya. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Totest whether or not the nationality of the respondents influenced the study hypothesis, structural equation modelling (SEM) and a multi-group analysis approach were conducted.Data was presented in the form of tables and figures. Findings:The study found that there was a positive and significant relationship between service quality and behavioural intentions. Similarly, the results indicated that the tourists’ nationality moderates the relation between service quality and behavioural intentions. Recommendations:The study findings contribute to the body of knowledge in service marketing and more specifically on the role of customers’ nationality on service quality perceptions and behavioural intentions. The research findings provide a strong foundation for policy support in governance to the tourism stakeholders for the growth of different tourism markets in Kenya. Further, the study findings inform the stakeholders on the nature of service qualityneeded based on tourists’ cultural differences to maximise the potential from the existing and emerging tourism market.Item type: Item , Access status: Open Access , Effects of the Covid-19 Crisis Preparedness and Recovery Strategies on Tour Operators’ Business Continuity in Nairobi County, Kenya(IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), 2023-04-15) Ongarora, Benazir K; Misiko, Juma; Ndivo, Rayviscic MutindaThe Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions in the global tourism industry, prompting countries to develop strategies to get back to operation. This study focused on the effects of Covid-19 management strategies on the business continuity of tour operators in Nairobi County. Using the Theory of Change and the Relational Model for Crisis Management, the study aimed to examine the effects of crisis preparedness and recovery strategies. The exploratory research design was used and data collected from 226 randomly selected tour operators out of a population of 518 using an online questionnaire through Google forms. The results showed that most tour operators were not prepared for a crisis as they did not anticipate the occurrence of such a global health crisis s Covid-19. However, they responded by communicating with employees and customers and putting up Disaster Recovery plans as a strategy to get back to business as soon as possible. The study recommends that the Kenyan government should develop a crisis management plan that can be used for future reference in case such a crisis occurs. The study also recommended parallel studies to be conducted to compare results with other tourism sectors.