Factors influencing tour guides job performance in selected tourist circuits in kenya

Abstract

The performance of tour guides is crucial in shaping the image, competitiveness and the tourist’s memory of the areas visited. Guides stay the longest with the visitors in comparison with other service providers and influence the level of visitor satisfaction. Scanty literature is available on guiding careers despite the important roles they undertake. Comprehending their organization and performance would therefore be very important to all stakeholders with the aim of influencing policies that govern the career. Likewise, inadequate studies have been conducted to investigate factors that influence the tour guide's performance in Kenya. The general objective of this research was to investigate the factors that influence the tour guide's job performance. The specific objectives were; to examine the influence of tour guides' training, job satisfaction, and membership to existing tour guides associations has on their performance. The study used both descriptive and exploratory designs and was grounded on Human Capital Theory which highlights the importance of training, and employee job satisfaction as factors that influence organizational performance. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. The target population was tour guides who were divided into three categories that were purposefully selected. These were; guides within Masai Mara game reserve guiding in savannah habitats (245), guides in Kakamega forest reserve (30), and guides in Nairobi city (30). The sample size of 305 respondents was derived using Yamane's (1967) formulae from a sample frame of 1300 guides who had been registered by the Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA) in 2016. The geographical cluster sampling method was used to get the three categories that were conveniently selected. Information from TRA indicated that the number of guides in forest reserves and cities was less than 10% of the total registered guides. Quantitative data was collected using a questionnaire while qualitative data was collected through Focus Group Discussions and interviews. A Chi- square cross-tabulation test was used to analyze quantitative data while the thematic method was used to analyze qualitative data. The result showed that tour guide’s job performance was dependent on their terms of employment (χ 2 =22.013, df=3, p<0.001) their work experience (χ 2 =11.436, df=3, p=0.010) and salary and benefits given to them while on duty (χ 2 = 20.805, df=3, P<0.001). Those on permanent employment performed better than those on contract and freelance who constituted up to 57% of the respondents. This is a big percentage that cannot be ignored as it forms the majority. Likewise, the tour guide’s performance was also dependent on whether one was a member of a professional association or not (χ 2 = 25.332, df=10, P<0.001), and those who were members performed better than a non-member. However, the guide’s performance was independent of their level of education ( χ 2 =1.07, df=2, P=0.583 ) and their professional qualification (χ 2 =5.143, df=2, P=0.076). The study concludes that tour job satisfaction and membership in a professional association influence their performance. The study recommends the improvement of tour guide's terms of employment and membership to a professional association to enjoy membership benefits and a shared code of ethics. It also recommends further studies to investigate other factors that influence their performance.