Influence of the Impact of Tourism Partnerships and Associated Tourism Factors on the Performance of Tourism in Beaches of Kwale County

Abstract

Collaborative tourism governance among the stakeholders is one of the approaches used to manage tourism destinations. This approach is not devoid of bottlenecks. This study sought to determine the influence of collaborative tourism governance on tourism performance in Kwale County. The study objectives were to; review the impact of tourism partnerships on the performance of tourism in beaches of Kwale County and to examine factors associated with influencing the successful operations of tourism partnerships for better tourism performance in Kwale County. This study adopted a descriptive research design and mixed methods of collecting quantitative and qualitative primary data. The study was conducted at the beaches of Kwale County which have a wide range of tourist attractions and a variety of tourism stakeholders. The study targeted senior officers involved in tourism activities working for the National government and its affiliated tourism agencies. The study also targeted senior tourism and trade officers working for Kwale County Government. In addition, the study targeted private associations involved in tourism activities in Kwale County. Purposive sampling techniques were used to select senior officers and officials and members of stakeholder’s associations who participated in the survey. The key informant interview schedule was used to collect data from senior officers while a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data primary data from associations’ respondents. Multiple linear regression fitness model analysis was used to predict the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Based on the findings of this study it can be concluded that the impact of tourism partnership and factors associated with influencing the operations of tourism alliances play a critical role in the performance of beaches in Kwale County. The study recommends for a SWOT model be developed to ensure that all the positive and negative attributes of a beach destination concerning collaborative governance are identified. Keywords: Impact, Tourism partnerships, Performance of tourism, Beaches Influence, Successful operations and Better tourism performance.