Exploring competitive strategy areas used by 5 star hotels in Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

This study explored Competitive Strategy Areas used by 5 star hotels in Nairobi, Kenya. In Kenya there were 9 classified 5 star hotels categorized as Town 5 star hotels and Vacational 5 star hotels. All Town 5 star hotels were located in Nairobi. These were 7 hotels in total. Further Nairobi was experiencing entry of new 5 star hotels which was putting pressure on existing hotels wishing to remain competitive. The study interviewed managers of existing and new 5 star hotels in Nairobi. It adopted an exploratory research design. Primary data was collected using questionnaire which also guided one on one interviews. The study established that 5 star hotels in Nairobi used various Competitive Strategy Areas such as Service delivery improvement. However 5 star hotels in Nairobi considered some competitive strategy areas such as Information Technology as facilitator for instance Cost Competitiveness thus merging them into one. The hotels also considered other areas such as differentiating service offered across Culture as unnecessary leading them to focus on four considered key strategy areas. The study concludes by outlining strategy areas that Managers of 5 star hotels operating in Nairobi should consider should they wish to remain Competitive or gain Competitive edge. Such strategy areas were continuous Service delivery improvement, continuous Product upgrade and innovative Marketing.