Effects of accommodation facilities’ attributes on room rates in a wildlife tourism destination area, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Park tourist facility managers need to understand guests' preferences for elements of the accommodation experience to provide an ideal mix of attributes. Hedonic pricing models were used earlier to estimate the implicit effect of facilities' characteristics on room rates. But these models do not account for possible spatial variations in the relationships. This study assessed the global and spatial influence of facilities' attributes on room rates in Amboseli, Tsavo East, and Tsavo West National Parks, the three contiguous most visited parks in Kenya, an important wildlife tourism destination, using data from on–line and geographical information systems. Results of the global model indicate that the availability of buffet breakfast, bathrobes, plunge pools, and ecolodge designs positively influences room rates, while the distance to aesthetic appreciation hotpots inversely correlates to rates. The spatial model uncovering non–stationarity in estimating the effects of facilities' attributes on room rates, predicts that the causal effects are better in particular places. It also revealed that particular facility attributes influenced room rates more strongly than others. The results of the global model can help park managers design destination marketing programmes while the facilities may use the spatial model to derive indices for product design and marketing decisions.

KEYWORDS:

• Hedonic pricing model
• geographically weighted regression
• national park
• cultural ecosystem services
• tourist accommodation facilities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mark Nelson Yobesia

Mark Nelson Yobesia holds a Masters Degree in Tourism and Environmental Economics (MTEE) from the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), Spain. He is a lecturer in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism at the Technical University of Mombasa, Kenya. He has 8 years university teaching experience and 11 years experience in wildlife tourism management having worked as a tourism warden. His research interests include tourism economic impact analysis and tourism environmental economics. He is currently a final year PhD candidate at the Technical University of Kenya, School of Hospitality and Tourism.

Bonface O. Kihima

Bonface O. Kihima holds a PhD and MSc in Tourism from the University of Lyon in France. His research interests include: Ecotourism, Community Based Tourism and Destination Management. He is a member of the eco-rating committee of Ecotourism Kenya as well as the Tourism Professional Association. He has 10 years of University teaching and is actively engaged in consultancy and supervision of post graduate students in the area of Tourism. Currently, he is an Associate Professor and Chair of Hospitality and Leisure Studies at the Technical University of Kenya.

Richard O. B. Makopondo

Richard O. B. Makopondo holds PhD in Leisure Behaviour from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Arts degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He has over 20 years of college and university teaching and wide experience having worked as a manager, administrator, and consultant in hospitality, recreation and tourism. His research interests include collaboration and partnerships in management of parks, public outdoor recreation and tourism attractions. He is currently the Director, School of Hospitality and Human Ecology at the Technical University of Kenya.

Josephine Opondo

Josephine A. Opondo holds Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality Management and a MSc degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management, from Kenyatta University, Kenya. She has over twenty-eight years teaching experience and is currently a lecturer in the Department of Hospitality and Leisure Studies at The Technical University of Kenya. She is a member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). Her research interests include service quality management in hospitality, tourism and hospitality services marketing and tourism green marketing.