Abstract:
The significance of tourism to many national economies has seen sector players
pursue strategies that favourably influence destination choices by tourists. In Kenya,
the National Tourism Blue Print 2030 proposes knowledge management as a
transformative strategy for the sector that has to cope with unrelenting competitive
pressure from emerging markets. Cognisant of the benefits of knowledge management
(KM) other economic sectors unlike tourism have been quick to embrace KM as a
tool for competitiveness. In addition, existing empirical studies investigating the
effect of knowledge management practices on competitiveness within the tourism
sector in Kenya remain few. Thus, this study used primary tourism stakeholders in
Baringo County to establish the effect of knowledge management practices on a
destination’s competitiveness. Specifically, the study established the effect of
knowledge creation, sharing and application by primary tourism stakeholders on a
destination’s competitiveness. The study was informed by the Knowledge-Based
View theory of the firm, the Integrated Knowledge Management Model and the
Generic Model of Competitive Strategy and used a mixture of descriptive and
explanatory correlation research designs. A stratified simple random sampling
technique was used to select a sample size of 259, comprising of the top, middle and
first-level managers from a target population of 732. Primary data was collected using
questionnaires. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test hypotheses and
estimate the measurement model for each of the four latent constructs (knowledge
creation, sharing, application, and destination competitiveness) and the overall
hypothesised model. SEM assumptions of normality, linearity, homoscedasticity and
multicollinearity were tested and met. The study hypotheses derived from the specific
objectives were tested by assigning regression weights to each respective path in the
modified model. The results revealed a significant effect of knowledge sharing on
destination competitiveness (β= 0.325; t=3.419; p<0.05) and knowledge application
on destination competitiveness (β= 0.282; t=2.753; p<0.05). However, there was no
significant effect of knowledge creation on destination competitiveness (β= 0.153;
t=1.438; p>0.05). Further, the findings revealed a significant covariance between;
knowledge creation and sharing (β = 0.361; t=5.24; p<0.05); knowledge creation and
knowledge application (β= 0.383; t=5.22; p<0.05) and knowledge sharing and
knowledge application (β= 0.182; t=2.43; p<0.05). The study, therefore, concluded
that sharing and applying knowledge in product and service delivery was critical for
destination competitiveness. Consequently, the study recommends that for enhanced
competitiveness, stakeholders in a destination should embrace knowledge sharing and
knowledge application. A knowledge management model for tourism Destination
Competitiveness was developed, which can be verified and tested in future studies.
