HOSPITALITY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study aimed at determining the influence of hospitality environmental management strategies on socio-economic development in Cross River State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to examine the influence of staff training/development strategy and health and safety management strategy on employment in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey design. The population of 1,455 participants comprised 348 management staff of registered hotels, 746 management staff of registered restaurants and 361 tourism workers in Cross River State. The sample size of 314 respondents representing 21.6 % of the population was used for the study. Data for the study was collected using a researcher structured questionnaires titled: ‘Hospitality Environmental Management Strategies on Socio-economic Development Questionnaire (HEMSSDQ). The instrument was submitted to three experts from the Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Science, University of Uyo for face validation. Descriptive statistics count, frequency, percent and bar chart were used to present the result of the findings. Findings of the study showed that staff training/development strategy and health and safety management strategy positively influences social economic development in Cross River State, Nigeria. Improvement in the quality of services, profit maximization and socio-economic development of the host community among others by hospitality industry is attainable through the utilization of strategic environmental management approaches such as staff training and health and safety management strategy. Based on the findings of this study it was recommended among others that State government should through relevant agencies enforce strict health and safety regulations in hospitality establishments to protect both guests and employees.