Hospitality Management Strategies and Socio-Economic Development in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study aimed at determining the influence of hospitality management strategies on socio-economic development in Cross River State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to examine the influence of community engagement strategy and technology integration 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 Management Strategies on Socio-economic Development Questionnaire (HMSSDQ). 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 community engagement strategy and technology integration strategy positively influences social economic development in Cross River State, Nigeria. Provision of quality services, profit maximization and socio-economic development of the host community among others by hospitality industry is attainable through the utilization of strategic management approaches such as community engagement strategy and technology integration strategy. Based on the findings of this study it was recommended among others that management of hospitality enterprise should establish formal partnerships between hospitality businesses and local communities to collaborate on development initiatives by creating platforms for dialogue and feedback to address community and hospitality enterprise concerns.