Domestic Events Managing Strategies in Stimulating Sustainable Tourism as an Agenda towards Development of the Hospitality Industry in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya (GOK) has earmarked events as a prospective segment that can develop and surge the country's revenue as there is a low volume of domestic business / conference travelers in Kenya. This is attributed to the low levels of promotion to the domestic tourists by the facilities, few complementing facilities in the events, highly priced services, and lack of sustainable practices. This study aimed at investigating domestic events managing strategies that stimulate sustainable tourism as an agenda towards development of the hospitality industry in Kenya. The study was carried out in 5 and 3-star hotels' conference facilities. The objectives of the study were:to examine the effects of green standards applied in conference facilities in stimulating sustainable tourism and to determine the frequency of domestic events in stimulating sustainable tourism in Nairobi County. The study used quantitative and qualitative research design. Bivariate and Multiple regression analysis were used to determine the relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable. Further relationship among variables was established through T-tests. Regression method through least square method confirms that there exists a very strong link between the increase in frequency of domestic events and the average expenditure per domestic delegate in the conference. It also confirmed that there exists a strong link between the application of the green practices and price reduction in green managed conferences.  The Fisher test showed that there is strong correlation in management strategies for promoting sustainable tourism development and the increase in domestic events for the hotels' facilities. The management of conference product lacks in the areas of greening, and affordable conference packages. Researcher recommends that investment in greening aspects to lower the cost of generating conference packages.