http://ir.mu.ac.ke:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/32 2026-06-28T06:02:58Z http://ir.mu.ac.ke:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/10240 Success factors and barriers to local community engagement in tourism entrepreneurship in the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem, Tanzania Kisasembe, Richard Aloyce Tourism entrepreneurship plays a critical role in global economic growth and job creation. Recognizing this, the Government of Tanzania has actively promoted tourism entrepreneurship to empower local communities to engage. Despite these efforts, engagement in tourism entrepreneurship within the Tarangire–Manyara ecosystem remains limited. This is particularly concerning given that poverty levels among local communities remain high despite the region’s abundant natural and cultural resources. This study therefore aimed to explore how local communities engage in tourism entrepreneurship. More specifically, it identified and described ways in which local community engage in tourism entrepreneurship, examined success factors influencing their engagement, examine the barriers they face, and evaluated the entrepreneurial propensity of indigenous and non-indigenous residents in utilizing tourism opportunities. Guided by the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Theory and Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition and Development, a qualitative exploratory case study was conducted using an interpretivist philosophical stance. The sample population was drawn across four administrative wards such as Mto wa mbu, Esilalei, Nkaiti and Mwada, selected through purposive and snowball sampling. A total of 89 participants formed the final sample size. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with business owners, tourism officers, and trade officers; focus group discussions with village leaders; and document reviews of government reports and policies. All data were analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed that the Tarangire–Manyara Ecosystem offers a wide range of entrepreneurial opportunities, with local community members participating in cultural tourism, accommodation, food and beverage services, tour guiding and transportation. It also found multiple success factors influencing local community engagement such as access to financial capital, strong social networks, supportive regulations, entrepreneurial traits, prior experience, marketing skills, education, and market demand which interact within a broader network of stakeholders. It further found a series of interconnected barriers that limit local community engagement. These include limited capital, weak networks, restrictive policies and high fees, market competition, poor marketing skills and language barriers. These constraints reinforce one another across the same stakeholder system, creating a challenging environment for starting and sustaining tourism enterprises. The study further found that non- indigenous residents capitalize tourism entrepreneurial opportunities than indigenous residents, largely due to better access to capital, tourism education and experience, fewer restrictive socio-cultural norms, and stronger entrepreneurial traits. The study concludes that while tourism opportunities are diverse, their successful capitalization depends on both individual effort and external ecosystem factors. It recommends forming entrepreneurial groups, providing targeted training and mentorship, and creating supportive business environments. Overall, the study validates the applicability of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem framework and Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition and Development in rural tourism contexts, emphasizing that the effective capitalization of tourism opportunities among local communities depends not only on the availability of resources but also on the interaction between individual entrepreneurial efforts and the surrounding ecosystem. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.mu.ac.ke:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/10119 Entrepreneurial capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation and competitive advantage of event management ventures in selected counties in Kenya Cheruon, Rebecca Chelagat The events sector is one of the fastest-growing areas of the tourism industry. Despite its great potential and the positive impacts events have on a countries economy, it is faced with challenges like all other industries. With rising competition within the events management industry, competitive strategies help focus on assessing organizations' strengths, growth opportunities, and competitive threats. Traditional competitive advantage models may not completely be applicable for smaller firms because they assume the existence of economies of scale and yet small firms cannot compete with larger organizations in economies of scale. The study therefore sought to establish the influence of entrepreneurial capabilities on the competitive advantage of Event Management Ventures in selected counties in Kenya. The specific objectives were to determine the influence of networking, managerial and dynamic capabilities on the competitive advantage of EMVs. The study also tested the moderating effect of entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between entrepreneurial capabilities and the competitive advantage of Event Management Ventures. The study was anchored on the Resource-based view, Dynamic capability, and Network theories. Descriptive and sequential explanatory research designs were adapted. The target population comprised 310 managers and 20 entrepreneurs of Event Management Ventures from four purposively selected counties. The sample size comprised 230 managers selected through stratified and simple random sampling techniques respectively and, 15 entrepreneurs selected using purposive sampling. Nominal and ordinal scales were used to measure the variables. Data was collected using questionnaires for managers and interview schedules for entrepreneurs. Process macro was used to test the moderating effect of the intervening variable. Multiple regression analysis established that entrepreneurial capabilities explained 64.6% (R2=0.646) of the variance in the competitive advantage of Event Management Ventures. The regression analysis revealed that networking capabilities (β=0.197, p=0.001), managerial capabilities (β=0.334, p=0.000), and dynamic capabilities (β= 0.295, p=0.000) significantly influenced the competitive advantage of Event Management Ventures. However entrepreneurial orientation does not moderate the relationship between networking capabilities (β= -0.987, p=.1976), managerial capabilities (β= 1.1821, p=.0862), dynamic capabilities (β= -1.286, p=.1481), and competitive advantage of Event Management Ventures. Based on these results, the study concluded that entrepreneurial capabilities influence the competitive advantage of Event Management Ventures. The study recommends that managers network strategically with various stakeholders in Event Management Ventures; hospitality ventures continue investing in managerial knowledge and skills acquisition in order to attain superior managerial capabilities, and constantly respond to the changing environment to achieve competitive advantage. The new knowledge is that the calculated use of resources, capabilities, and networks enhances competitive advantage while controlling risk-taking, pro-activeness, and innovation. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.mu.ac.ke:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/10036 Tourism and cultural heritage resilience at the historic coastal towns of Lamu and Mombasa, Kenya Mbuthia, Susan Among the problems confronting the preservation of the cultural heritage especially in developing countries stems from socio- economic and environmental pressures. Owing to its cultural and economic importance, the cultural heritage system needs particular management approaches. However, most research and management efforts in Kenya continue to enforce conservation or preservation management methods at heritage places which compete with massive industrial development happening at various places in Kenya with minimal results. This research sought to assess the contribution of tourism on cultural heritage resilience in the historic coastal towns of Lamu and Mombasa. The study achieved this through four objectives namely: to investigate the current manifestations of cultural heritage in the historic coastal towns Lamu and Mombasa; to explore the changes (shocks) that the cultural heritage products have experienced in the historic coastal towns Lamu and Mombasa; to assess the contribution of tourism to tangible cultural heritage resilience in the historic coastal towns Lamu and Mombasa; to assess the contribution of tourism to intangible heritage resilience in the historic coastal towns of Lamu and Mombasa, Kenya. The study was anchored on ecological resilience theory and adapted exploratory and descriptive research approaches in order to ascertain insights and describe relationship between tourism, culture and heritage resilience. The target population of 470 comprised of elders, house hold leaders and heritage leaders was achieved based on shared characteristics and demographics e.g. elders in the two old towns. A sample size of 110 participants from both towns was selected through multistage cluster sampling, out of which 15 heritage managers, 40 community household leaders and 55 community elders were selected using purposive and snowball techniques. Interviews with the aid of interview guide was conducted on site managers and household leaders while observation schedule and photography were used to check presence of cultural heritage manifestation. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze data derived from observation and photographic materials, while content analysis-specifically attribution and designation analysis were used to analyze data. The study established that cultural heritage is manifested through traditions, expressions, and social practices. Social ceremonies such as weddings held a higher manifestation frequency of 39%, that it is manifested as a sense of identity and continuity. The study noted, Cultural heritage experience biophysical, socio-economic, or environmental shocks. Intangible heritage seemed to experience most shocks at a frequency of 89.9%, against built heritage at 10.1%. The research established, a majority 38.9% of respondents disagreed on whether tourism played a major role in resilience of CH, therefore negating the idea that locals preserve cultural heritage primarily for tourism purposes. It was noted, the greatest contributor of heritage resilience in the old towns was their inclination to Islamic religion. The study concluded that while resilience of tangible cultural heritage systems as a result of tourism is evident, cultural experts must first recognize the role of local values such as religion on heritage resilience. The study also recommends identification of negative change in heritage which is critical to resilience in open environments experiencing immense socio- economic and environmental pressures such as the old towns 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://ir.mu.ac.ke:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/9997 Affective learning levels and perceived soft skills Acquisition in Tourism and hospitality training In Nairobi county, Kenya Marete, Nelly While the tourism and hospitality industry requires a highly skilled and adaptable workforce, many graduates lack the necessary soft skills for workplace success. Existing research has primarily focused on technical competencies, leaving a gap in understanding how affective learning encompassing emotions, attitudes, and values contributes to soft skills acquisition. Additionally, limited studies have explored this relationship within the context of selected tourism and hospitality training institutions in Nairobi County, Kenya. This study assessed the levels of affective learning and acquisition of soft skills in tourism and hospitality training of diploma programs offered in institutions in Nairobi County. Specifically, the study assessed receiving, responding, valuing, organizing and characterizing levels of affective domain of the Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, and their effect on perceived acquisition of soft skills. The study, anchored on the humanistic theory of learning and the social constructivism learning theory, adopted an exploratory sequential mixed method design and pragmatism philosophy. The study targeted 822 male and female diploma trainees in their 2 nd and 3 rd years of study, and 41 trainers all drawn from 5 institutions in Nairobi County. Purposive sampling was used to select 12 trainers for the qualitative phase and a combination of stratified and simple random sampling technique was used to identify 262 trainees for the quantitative phase. Qualitative data were collected using an interview guide while quantitative data used a questionnaire. Qualitative data were analyzed using Taguette, a user-friendly tool for qualitative data analysis, while quantitative data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The qualitative results from trainers revealed that receiving, responding, valuing, organizing and characterizing levels, each amplifying several elements are emphasized in the tourism and hospitality diploma programs. The PLS-SEM results revealed that responding level (β=0.819, p<0.001), receiving level (β=0.224, p<0.001) and valuing level (β=0.106, p<0.001) were positive and significant predictors of trainees’ perceived acquisition of soft skills. The characterizing level (β=-0.105, p<0.001) had a negative though significant effect, while the organizing level (β=0.002, p>0.05) had a positive but non-significant effect on perceived acquisition of soft skills. The contribution of affective learning was 99.2% for receiving, 98.6% responding and 50.1% valuing, while organizing and characterizing contributed 46.7% and 54.3% respectively. The study concludes that receiving, responding, and valuing significantly contribute to soft skills acquisition, characterizing had a negative effect while organizing had no significant impact. This study therefore, provides empirical evidence on the significance of effective learning levels in developing soft skills within tourism and hospitality education. These insights contribute to the enhancement of training methodologies and the shaping of policies that promote more affective learning strategies, ultimately improving graduate preparedness for the demands of the tourism and hospitality industry. Policy makers, educational stakeholders, and hospitality stakeholders should take cognizance of attributes inherent in these levels, including openness to experience, active participation, accepting the worth of, value integration and value prioritization among others, to develop enabling policy guidelines for affective learning in tourism and hospitality training. The study further recommends that industry practitioners need to collaborate with training institutions to offer opportunities for trainees to get exposure to industry work environment through work- based learning activities. These real-life experiences foster an engaging learning environment that reinforce application of organizing and characterizing, which are higher order levels of affective learning thus significantly contributing to the development of soft skills. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z