UTILIZATION OF HOTELS IN THE CENTRAL REGION: A CASE STUDY OF HOTELS IN THE CAPE COAST AND ELMINA MUNICIPALITIES

ABSTRACT The importance of hotels as central in the development of tourism cannot be underestimated - because they serve as the home base of the tourist (Fridgen, 1991) and also contribute to about 30 percent of the tourist's budget (Lundgren, 1973). This study investigates the causes of low patronage of hotels in the region. The survey covered a sample of 135 guests in 18 hotels and 18 hoteliers or their representatives. Descriptive as well as inferential statistics including the muIticriteria test were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that: I. Hotels in the study area do not generally meet the needs of guests; whereas higher categories are more preferred, those In the study area are predominantly ofthe lower grade. ii. Socio-economic characteristics of guests such as income, age, academic background had influence on choice of hotels. iii. International tourists use the hotels far more than their domestic counter-parts thus giving rise to the seasonality situation which is regarded as a bane in development of the industry; in addition, the international tourists prefer the use of higher categories of hotels and therefore tend to give more revenue to the industry. IV. Three main problems militating against development of the hotels and therefore serve as setbacks to patronage are: difficult accessibility, inadequate or poor facilities, and poor service delivery. Based on the findings, it is recommended that more higher-graded hotels should be provided to entice more guests. Promotion of domestic tourism should also be rigorously pursued to entice more domestic guests to use hotel facilities, to help minimize seasonality. To address the three main problems of most hotels in the region, it is suggested that hotels maintain clean environments in and around their premises. Hotels should also be located in easily accessible places. They (hotels) are also expected to provide all facilities, maintain or upgrade these facilities as well. Finally, the hotels also need to work with more qualified staff motivated enough to help deliver better services in order to help ensure increased patronage