IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEMS HINDERING HOSPITALITY DEVELOPMENT
ABSTRACT
The study investigated the factors hindering the growth and development in hospitality industry using five selected hotels in Enugu state. It is an empirical study whose major source of data was based on primary source obtained in a cross-sectional survey of 80 respondents using multi-stage sampling techniques. The study aimed at investigating the major factors hindering the growth and development in hospitality industry. The study employed usage of descriptive statistics to analysed the data generated through the questionnaire administered. The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between the professionalism level and patronage level of respondents in the hospitality industry; also staff professionalism have significant effect on the growth of hotel industry. Based on the research findings it was concluded that the growth and development in hospitality industry is influenced by both internal and external factors. The internal factors identified for this study include quality of effective services to the guests/customers while the external factors identified for this study include finance, competition, infrastructure Liberalization of the economy either leads to retrenchment or closure of industries that minimizes the number of working class who constitute the major customers of the hotels. The study therefore recommends that the government should provide an enabling business environment that is supportive, facilitative and favorable for business activities to thrive. Hotel industry should maintain cleanliness, promptness in rendering services, high quality products, and freshness in order to attract and retain customers.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Roundel et la (2007) define Hospitality as friendly and generous behaviour towards visitors and guests, intended to make them feel welcome: food, drink, room and entertainment given to customers by a company or organization. Another scholar Copper et al (1996) gave the definition of hospitality by Nailon (2011) is the combination of physiological and psychological elements with security and level of service. Hospitality is concerned with the provision of physiological comfort within define levels of service. Hotels provide meals, drinks, attraction, accommodation etc. to give general public or persons in transit especially people travelling to places where they have neither their own homes nor any relation to cater for their needs. Such persons will like to know few things about the hotels in their transitory area. In other words, the room and Euit fares, and the types of food served, the necessary comfort customers are accorded with the game available and perhaps and other especial feature that make such hotels appealing to the sojournes in transit. Hospitality industry like hotelling is a competitive business and must endeavour to identify and eating customers needs to be able to stay in business.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The establishment of hotels and recreational centres in Nigeria has ultimately helped in the socio economic development of the country. For this development that has been as a result of the building and establishment of these hotels to be lasting, the challenges controlling the hospitality development in Nigeria has to be limited as negligence of these challenges may lead to the shutting down of the already existing ones thereby discouraging entrepreneurs from investing on profitable niche of business known as the hospitality sector of Nigeria.
The problem of lack of the necessary infrastructure is also seriously affecting the hotel industry. The country is besieged by poor and communication system. Unreliable power supply (etc) the consequences of this infrastructure problem in most hotels is that the telephones cannot function properly as it ought to be. In most of the big hotels, electricity supply plants were purchased and boreholes were sunk to substitute the inadequate electricity supply and irregular water supply respectively.
This unwariably increases the expenditure in these hotels, the above and many more prompted this research on ‘identification of problems hindering hospitality development in Enugu state.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this research exercise is ‘identification of problems hindering hospitality development in Enugu state. The specific objectives are:
1. To ascertain the constraints hindering hospitality development in Enugu state.
2. To determine the imperative of hospitality industry development to economic growth of Enugu state.
3. To identify factors that can enhance growth and development of hospitality industry in Enugu state.
4. To proffer solutions to the problems affecting development of hospitality industry in Enugu state.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following questions guided the research study:
1. What are the constraints hindering hospitality development in Enugu state?
2. What are the imperative of hospitality industry development to economic growth of Enugu state?
3. What are the factors that can enhance growth and development of hospitality industry in Enugu state?
4. To what can the problems affecting development of hospitality industry in Enugu state be salvaged?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The importance of this study is manifested in a number of ways. Firstly, the hotel industry, This invariably serves as a source of foreign exchange for the country. Majority of tourists are housed and fed in our hotels. The tourist can be religious tourist, business conference liesur and political tourists.
The importance of the hotel industry can also be seen from the fact that it provides employment opportunities for a wide variety of professionals like caterers, accountants e.t.c.
The significance of this research study is to enable the researcher know the constraints militating against small scale hotel in Nigeria. It will also be significance to other researcher who may be writing on similar topic and will also enlighten the researcher on the imperatives of effectiveness of small scale hotel in Nigeria economy.
1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
In a study like this type, a lot of setback are bound to come up, this work is restricted by many variables.
1. TIME: Since the research will be carried out at students level, the researcher will have to allot his/her time such that the demand for their courses will have to be met. Moreover, since the interview will be conducted during the working days of the work the researcher will have to forfeit some of her lectures in order to successful conduct the study.
2. FIANCE: insufficient fund will be another factor inhibiting this research project. The work was single – handing sponsored by the researcher. And as a student, the project was sponsored from her meager pocket money. As a result, she finds it difficult to cover some inevitable expenses like transport, stationeries, typing and binding labour and so on. This in turn is bound to affect the sample size and the geographical area of coverage of the study .
3. RESPONDENT: The inability of the officials concerned to produce adequate and relevant information required for the research project has been one of the most frequently encountered constraints by researchers. Apart from the fact that some of the staff that will be required to give data are not technically skillfull in the area of study, many of them may think that the researcher is one of the government functionaries that come to question their activities or to access them for tax payment. This may be due to the fact that the school authority has been reluctant to introduce the researcher to the establishment formally by issuing identity papers or introduction papers to the students.
4. GENERAL ECONOMIC PROBLEM: The last but not the least limiting factor in the work was the general economic problem facing the entire country as at this point in time when the research was carried out considering the above constraints, the researcher was able to come up with a good results.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
The following terms were defined as being used in this research exercise.
HOSPITALITY:
Hospitality as friendly and generous behavior towards visitors and guests, intended to make them feel welcome: food, drink, room and entertainment given to customers by a company or organization.
HOTEL;
An establishment that provides lodging and usually meals and other services for travelers and other paying guests.
DEVELOPMENT:
An event constituting a new stage in a changing situation.