Effects of ICT in Hotel Industry in South Africa

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in creating competitive advantage in selected hotels in Johannesburg. Methodology: Descriptive research design was adopted by the study while stratified random sampling was used to stratify the 104 respondents into 4 categories which included: Operations, reservations, Marketing and ICT managers. Questionnaires were used to collect primary data while descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Findings: The results showed that there was significant uptake of ICT in all categories of the hotels. Conclusion: The study concluded that organizational, environmental and technological innovation factors significantly influenced ICT uptake of Johannesburg Hotels. Recommendation: The study recommends engagement in online marketing and diversification of the types of online marketing in order to optimize on visibility, enhance marketing funnel and ultimately increase profitability.