HOTEL GUESTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS TOURISM TRAINING IN MIDDLE LEVEL COLLEGES IN KENYA

Abstract

The aim of this study was to highlight tourism sector’s human resource training and development which depends on middle level colleges (MLCs) in Kenya’s tourism sector. With the growing tourism industry in Kenya, however, there has been no study to assess the demonstration of MLC trainees in tourism hotels under the universal changing tourism environment in Kenya. Hence, the study, specifically, attempted to determine the relationship between variables accessible in the hotel (amenities, customer care, cognition; and, effectiveness and efficiency) and satisfaction levels of services offered to hotel guests by tourism trainees in the hotel industry. The study adopted description research designs primarily targeting hotel guests in hotels. A total of 116 questionnaires were administered randomly to hotel guests from 21 randomly selected hotels in Nairobi for the study. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including; means, percentages, frequencies, ANOVA and chi-square tests. Findings revealed that most hotel guests were satisfied by ‘front office staff services’, since it was the only ‘service’ related to each of the four accessible variables in hotels and which implied that hotel guests were influenced with the employees’ warm welcome, friendly nature and better knowledge in solving some of their personal problems. Further, the information center in the ‘front office’ gave hotel guests full information about the hotels like the availability of brochures. The study recommends that the government coordinates all MLCs tourism training programmes to ensure quality graduates for tourism promotion and development. Finally, further study is to be undertaken to determine security on female hotel guests (amenities) in hotels relating to individual differences among hotel guests.