Abstract
Since December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on te totel industry leading to deep losses among industry players and forcing some to shut down altogether. For those that would survive the crisis, their competitiveness could be at risk unless they demonstrate strategic readiness. The competitiveness found in modern organizations is, however, increasingly determined by the strategic readiness or capability of it assets, notably technology. However, the strategic readiness of the hotel industry needed to be established. Therefore, this paper explores the strategic teachnology readiness of the star-rated hotels in Kenya for competitiveness in the Covid 19 pandemic environment. The paper is guided by the Chamberlain's theory of strategy. A descriptive cross sectional survey design targeting 138 star-rated hotels in the country selected through systematic random sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Qualitative data was analyzed using content anaysis with the aid of Nvivo software while quantitative data was analyzed using both ddescriptive and inferential statistical analysis with the aid of SPSS version 24.0. Specifically, the study used the bivariate regression model to assess the relationship between the variables. The study found that technology readiness significantly influenced the competitiveness of star-rated hotels in the Covid 19 pandemic environment in Kenya. There is need for the hotels to adopt a more proacticve approach in setting their technological systems for any eventualities as this will be less expensive and enable their users to be more acquainted with the systems in advance. 
 
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Highlights
The competitiveness of industry and firms has been one of the most important themes of research in the fields of economics and business studies since the latter half of the 20th century
The application of both qualitative and quantitative approaches in cross-sectional study design, and the need to test hypothesis statistically regarding the strategic readiness of the star-rated hotel for competitiveness in the Covid 19 pandemic environment in Kenya, made the positivist and interpretivist aspects in the pragmatist philosophy were useful to the study
Further the respondents indicated that use of technolgy had led to improved service delivery such as booking and adherence to public health guidelines and standards and had translated to increased customer confidence exemplified by statements, such as, “Technology has enabled our guests to have faith with us in terms of their safety during this pandemic” It is evident that some of the hotels had invested in versatile technologies that enabled them to adapt to different environments and circumastances
Summary
The competitiveness of industry and firms has been one of the most important themes of research in the fields of economics and business studies since the latter half of the 20th century. The hotel industry in Kenya relies on both international travel and tourism has been among the most affected as a result of bookings cancellations, restrictions of movement and especially night travel, prohibition of leisure activities and suspension of meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) owing to the ban on public gatherings (Cytonn, 2020). This has caused huge losses in revenue, capital flight due to low investor confidence, low liquidity of the sector and job losses as well as other un-quantifiable losses. From Chamberlain’s theory, the study analyzes the strategic technological readiness of the hotel industry in Kenya in response to the new constraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic
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