Competitiveness of the north rift region of Kenya as a sports tourism destination

Abstract

Trends in tourism over the last decade have shown that sports tourism has emerged as a very significant segment of the global tourism market. The participation of tourists in sports related activities is eminent in the International Visitor Survey (2004). There’s a lot of potential for promoting this segment of the tourism industry. Sports tourism if properly developed and planned with the commitment of all relevant stakeholders should bring about economic, social, and community benefits (Zauhar, 2004). The priority segment for the North Rift region in Kenya is the sport- related type, and therefore, it is necessary to develop the existing athletics events in the region as well as develop others. Destinations with a wealth of resources may sometimes not be as competitive as a destination with lack of resources. The most important is the ability of the tourism sector to add value to its products. This study sought to determine the factors that influence the competitiveness of the North Rift region in Kenya as a sports tourism destination. The specific objectives were: To determine the core resources and attractions available for sports tourism; to determine the range and level of supporting factors available for sports tourism; to examine the destination management practices; and to establish the situational conditions existing in the North Rift region. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and was guided by the integrated model for destination competitiveness by Dwyer et al (2004). The target population included all the athletics camps as well as the tourism facilities in Uasin Gishu and Nandi districts. Simple random sampling was used to select 25 athletics camps from which 50 athletics officials were selected using simple random sampling techniques. Simple random sampling was also used to select one manager from each of the tourism firms selected for the study, making a total of 35 tourism firm managers. Primary data was collected by use of structured questionnaires, while secondary data was collected through critical examination of public or private recorded documents that are related to the study. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques which included frequencies, means, modes, standard deviation and percentages and multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between the independent variables used in this study and the dependent variable and also test the hypotheses. The study found out that the North Rift was endowed with a good climate, natural wonders, flora and fauna, unspoiled nature as well as some national parks and reserves. There were improvements made in terms of infrastructure and availability of other services in the region such as banking, health facilities and so on. Further, the positioning and marketing activities of the destination were found to be poor. The region is losing the potential premium for the comparative advantages. The region received a fair rating in terms of the general business environment and a good review in terms of political stability and tourists’ safety and security. It is hoped that the findings of the study will be useful to tourism policy makers and other interested stakeholders in designing strategies and policies, as well as support them to make relevant decisions regarding the North Rift region as well as sports tourism. The methods used in this research can be replicated to other destinations, or even to the North Rift region itself, when investigating other types of tourism or source markets.