Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and e-commerce

in small remote hospitality establishments in KwaZulu-Natal.

By

Tenson Nkosana

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements

For the degree of

Master of Management Science: Specialising in Tourism and Hospitality

Management

Durban University of Technology

April, 2016

Supervisor: Dr. E.M Mnguni

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 Declaration

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by
another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements) nor
material which to a substantial degree has been submitted for the award of any
other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning.

Signed………………………. Date: …………………..

Tenson Nkosana

Student Number: 21357021

Supervisor: …………………….. Date: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dr. E. M. Mnguni

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 Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to sincerely thank my academic supervisor Dr. Erasmus

Mnguni for all his encouragement, support and guidance throughout this
process. To Dr. Hloniphani Ndebele, I thank you, my dear friend for setting the
pace and for all your help, phone calls and support from afar.

I express my fond gratitude to all those who participated in any way in this
dissertation, especially to those who responded to the questionnaires and to the
interviews. I am indebted to all those whom I cannot mention by name owing to
space constraints for their contributions directly or indirectly to the success of
this project. Needless to say, I have benefited immensely from a lot of people to
whom I extend my profound gratitude.

Most importantly, I would like to thank my wife, Trinity for her everlasting
kindness, patience, love and support throughout this very long process. I love
you.

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Abstract

The advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) coupled with

sophisticated network channels and applications have unveiled new avenues
for small organizations and those in the hospitality industry must be included.
However, there is limited industry specific research activity on the impact of
adoption and utilisation of ICTs on business specifically with regard to the
hospitality industry in developing countries.

This report records the findings of an analysis into ICT and e-commerce
adoption and use in small remote hospitality establishments in the Natal
Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The research used a mixed methods
approach involving questionnaires, observations and interviews. The
participants were drawn from three case areas namely Curry’s Post,
Nottingham Road and Lions River. From each case area, two restaurants, two
wedding venues, two lodges and two curio shops participated.

The findings indicate that most establishment acknowledged the need to adopt
and utilise ICT and e-commerce. The links between ICT adoption and level of
business success were marked. The challenges to adoption and utilisation of
ICT were found to centre on cost, owners’ lack of familiarity with ICTs, and a
corresponding lack of ICT skills amongst staff. The inability of imported software
packages to suit local needs also emerged as a significant issue.
Recommendations involve targeted sponsorships of ICT courses, language
accessibility initiatives, and adaptation of software packages to local needs,
along with advantages in starting small and adopting more sophisticated ICT as
the business grows.

Key Words: Small hospitality establishments, ICT adoption challenges,

utilisation

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Table of Contents

Definition of Terms ix
1. Chapter 1-Introduction and background to the study 1
1.2 Introduction and background to the study 1
1.3 Statement of research problem 6
1.4 Purpose of the study 6
1.5 Research questions and objectives of the study 7
1.6 Significance and assumptions of the study 8-9
1.7 Delimitation of the Study 9
1.8 Limitations of the study 10
1.9 Organization of work 10
1.10 Summary 12
2. Chapter 2- Literature Review 13
2.1 Introduction and purpose of literature review 13
2.2 ICT and e-commerce defined 14
2.3 ICT uses in hotels 15
2.4 ICT functions by departments- Front office and rooms 17
2.5 ICT functions in restaurants 19
2.6 ICT in marketing department 20
2.7 E-commerce is SA- An overview 21
2.8 E-commerce challenges in SA 24
2.9 Adoption of ICTs and e-commerce by small establishments 25
2.10 Limitations to ICTs adoption 27
2.11 Summary 30
3. Chapter 3- Research Methodology 31
3.1 Introduction, research design 31
3.2 Research approach 32

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3.3 Subjects (Study population) 33
3.4 Sampling procedure 34
3.5 Research instruments 35
3.6 Reliability and validity 39
3.7 Data analysis 41
3.8 Summary 43
4. Chapter 4- Findings and discussion 44
4.1 Introduction, results presentation and discussion 44
4.2 Internet connectivity for guests 75
4.3 ICT for marketing 79
4.4 Summary 88
5. Chapter 5- Conclusion and Recommendations 89
5.1 Introduction, summary of findings 89
5.2 Conclusions 92
5.3 Recommendations 93
5.4 Direction for future research 94
5.5 References 95

List of Tables

Table 1: Background information for restaurants in CP 47

Table 1.1: Background information for restaurants in NR 48

Table 1.2: Background information for restaurants in LR 48

Table 2: Background information for wedding venues in CP 49

Table 2.1: Background information for wedding venues in NR 50

Table 2.2: Background information for wedding venues in LR 50

Table 3: Background information for lodges in CP 51

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Table 3.1: Background information for lodges in NR 52

Table 3.2: Background information for lodges in LR 52

Table 4: Background information for curio shops in CP 53

Table 4.1: Background information for curio shops in NR 54

Table 4.2: Background information for curio shops in LR 54

Table 5: ICT adopted by Wedding Venues in CP 58

Table 5.1: ICT adopted by Wedding Venues in LR 59

Table 5.2: ICT adopted by Wedding Venues in NR 60

Table 6: ICT adopted by Curio Shops in CP 62

Table 6.1: ICT adopted by Curio Shops in LR 63

Table 6.2: ICT adopted by Curio Shops in NR 64

Table 7: ICT adopted by Restaurants in CP 66

Table 7.1: ICT adopted by Restaurants in LR 67

Table 7.2: ICT adopted by Restaurants in NR 68

Table 8: ICT adopted by Lodges in CP 71

Table 8.1: ICT adopted by Lodges in LR 72

Table 8.2: ICT adopted by Lodges in NR 73

List of Figures and Charts

Figure 1: Ecommerce usage in South Africa 22
Figure 2: Location of all 3 case areas 34
Figure 3: Location of the three case areas 45
Chart 1: ICT Adoption mode 56
Figure 4: Frequency of guests asking for internet connectivity 75

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Figure 5: Availability of free internet for guest use 77
Figure 6: Internet service provider reliability 78
Figure 7: Website visitor count facility 79
Figure 8: Marketing through social networks 80
Figure 9: Effectiveness of social networks as marketing tools 81
Figure 10: Booking and marketing sites used by establishments 82
Figure 11: PMS Adoption by establishments 83
Figure 12: Challenges of adopting and using ICTs 86

List of Appendices
Appendix 1: Questionnaire 103

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DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Establishment: This term can be used interchangeably with

enterprise, business, or entity and refers to a company organised for
commercial purposes.

2. Software: Refers to computer programs used to direct the operation

of a computer as well as documentation giving instructions on how to
use them.

3. Adoption: A process of incorporating, acquisition. In this project, the

term is used to refer to the process of acquisition and making use of
ICT.

4. Developing Country (DC): Refers to a non-industrialized poor

country that is seeking to develop its resources by industrialization.
In this research it is used to refer to most countries in Southern Africa
including South Africa.

5. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME): Refers to small

businesses which employ fewer than 100 persons and which have
an annual turnover not exceeding fifty million rand.

6. Hospitality Establishment: A business in the tourism sector. In this

project it includes lodges, wedding venues, restaurants, curio shops,
small hotels and guesthouses.

7. E-commerce: Refers to business transactions conducted on the

internet. The term e-commerce is also used interchangeably with e-
business.

8. Front Office: An office that handles bookings or reservations in a

lodge, wedding venue or hotel.

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 9. Remote Areas: Refers to marginalised areas that are in the country
or rural areas. It refers to any areas that are not classified as urban
or city, town and growth points

10. Network: A system containing any combination of computers,

computer terminals, printers, audio or visual display devices, or
telephones interconnected by telecommunication equipment or
cables used to transmit or receive information

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CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Introduction

This chapter introduces the entire study. It also gives a detailed background of
ICTs and their applications with specific reference to the hospitality industry.
Furthermore, it hints at specific components of ICT currently being used in small
and large hospitality establishments throughout the world. In this chapter, it
explores briefly into the factors motivating the direction chosen for this study,
which is the significance of the study. The statement of the problem is also
outlined in this particular chapter, as is as the research questions, purpose of
the study, objectives of the study and limitations and delimitations of the study.

The research samples (Case areas) namely Nottingham Road, Curry’s Post
and Lions River are also introduced as is the Midlands region in general.

1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have fundamentally

changed the way in which global business is conducted. ICTs encompass the
utilization of computer software and hardware, and telecommunication gadgets
to manipulate, convert, store or protect, send and receive digital data (Olifer and
Olifer, 2006). Globally, the application and utilization of ICTs has gradually
evolved to include many forms of telecommunication tools (even micro-
electronic) such as computers and laptops, the Internet (via various connection
modes), mobile telephone technology, and many other modern technology
communication gadgets (Freeman and Hasnaoui, 2010). Research, according
to (Mpofu and Watkins-Mathys, 2011) indicates that developed countries are
competing effectively on the global market place due to a technological
advantage over the less developed countries. He adds that the ICTs revolution
currently unrolling across Europe, America and some Asian nations has

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changed the business and economic environment. Businesses progressing well
in these western countries have not only embraced ICTs, but mastered the
skills to adoptand utilize ICTs for the betterment of their business while they
also carve niches for themselves on the global marketplace due to improved
levels of productivity (Mpofu and Watkins-Mathys, 2011). Generally, businesses
in less developed countries continue to struggling to fully adopt ICTs, as a
result, they find it more difficult to curve a niche on the same marketplace. As
long as this north/south technological imbalance exists, global business
competition is gathering momentum, leaving businesses in less developed
countries more vulnerable economically. Although this technological imbalance
remains a topical issue on local and international platforms (Grout, Oram and
Pickling, 2006), little is known regarding its nature, scope and impact on specific
industries.

According to Moyo, (2006) the hospitality industry has always been on top of
the list among the first industries to capitalise on new ICTs. This has been
necessitated by the fact that it depends more than other industries on finding
and developing new mechanisms to distribute hospitality products and services,
marketing information to customers, and providing comfort and convenience to
travellers (Zhou, 2004: 3). The lodging industry has come to embrace the
internet, realizing that e-commerce is the future of the travel industry. Tesone
(2006), highlights that some companies in developed countries are building so-
called e-hotels, offering services, including 100- megabytes high speed internet
access, video-on-demand systems, limited video conferencing in all rooms,
wireless access throughout the building; internet kiosks in the lobby; and
customised applications that let guests tap into the back-office to order food and
services and to pay bills. (Mpofu and Watkins-Mathys, 2011) argue that the
case is however not the same for small hotels, lodges, restaurants and wedding
venues in remote areas of developing countries like South Africa.

Kalakota and Whinston, (1996) provide a brief analysis explaining the advent of
network protocols. They speculate that the use of ICTs throughout modern

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business societies started over the past few decades with the introduction of
internet. They add that the internet primarily started as a network for
researchers developed for the purpose of sharing information and ideas. The
commercialization of internet was instigated by the development of the World
Wide Web (WWW) in the early 90s by Tim Berners-Lee of European
Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996).

Nwakanma, Ubani, Asiegbu, and Nwokonkwo, (2014), highlight on the

application of networking in the hospitality industry. They elaborate that
networking usage in front office helps in sharing information within the hotels in
a group or chain. Tesone (2006) generalizes the application of networking.
Tesone maintains that the increase in the use of networked computers is a
growing and most significant trend in business computing. Although linking of
computers (networking) is not new in business organizations, Ritchie and
Brindley (2003), advise that its application in the hospitality industry is
dramatically on the increase, so much so, that it is now a major issue in ICTs.

Agboh (2015), adds that the internet facilitatesfast and efficient movement of
dataindividuals and business at a very low cost. Internet has subsequently lead
to the booming of electronic business (e-business), which has become one of
the principal means of conducting business transactions (Mpofu and Watkins-
Mathys, 2011). Tesone (2006) defines Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) as
transactions and interactions that occur through computer telecommunications
networks. It encompasses all business transactions that can be processed
through telecommunications networks in any industry. The term e-business is
used interchangeably with e-commerce (Mpofu and Watkins-Mathys, 2011).
Electronic business is a new way of doing business. E-business, just as e-
commerce involves transactions, buying, selling and marketing of goods and or
information through an electronic media, especially the internet (Tesone, 2006).

Lucchetti and Sterlacchini (2004) illustrated the role of ICTs in revolutionizing

industries. They revealed that the high growth rate experienced in the United
States economy in the 1990s, which resulted in high productivity and increased

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employment levels, was attributed to early and quick adoption of ICTs.
Galloway and Mochrie (2005) support the findings of Lucchetti and Sterlacchini
that full adoption of ICTs is an elevation for economic growth. Mutula and Van
Brakel (2006) assert that ICTS are important tools which give small businesses
a competitive advantage in the new economy. However, they lamented the
problem of access to information in developing countries like Botswana and
South Africa, attributed to lack of ICT infrastructure.

The advent of e-commerce, as stated by Basu and Muylle (2007), has

significantly changed how business processes are carried out. It has helped
enhance trade relationships between businesses and their suppliers and
customers. They add that businesses in most industries evaluated the
opportunities and threats presented by e-commerce. The Hospitality industry
which has been labeled as a new hybrid of business by Wagner and Teixeira
(2014), benefited tremendously from the support of ICT applications.

Literature argues that hospitality and tourism cannot go further without a

support of ICT application (Buhalis, 1998; Reino, Frew, and Albacete-Sáez,
2011; Nwakanma, Ubani, Asiegbu, and Nwokonkwo, 2014). Although ICT is an
important component in the competitiveness of hotels in the hospitality sector
(Wagner and Teixeira, 2014), little has been studied in developing countries
such as South Africa (Samkange, 2008). Furthermore, Buick (2003) points out
that the hospitality sector in particular, traditionally lags other industries in
adopting ICTs, but this has drastically changed over the past few years and
research into their applications has also followed suit.

This study was therefore instituted to establish the nature of ICT tools used for
marketing and management, and the challenges faced by the hospitality sector
in the utilization of ICT by small establishments in remote areas of the Midlands
of KZN. Wagner and Teixeira, (2014), emphasized that the contribution of ICT
towards the development of the hospitality industry and towards the country as
a whole is enormous and that organizations from all over the world now depend
almost solely on the use of ICT to manage and market their services.

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Samkange (2008), reveals that the hospitality industry’s contribution to the
overall growth of South Africa’s economy cannot be overemphasized.
Samkange emphasizes that for the industry to succeed, there is urgent need for
embracing efficient and modern trends of business practices that are ICT driven
as they present bigger opportunities to the industry and the country as a whole.

The extent of ICTs adoption by SMEs with specific reference to South African
was tackled by Mutula and Brakel (2006), who pointed out that about 69% of
SMEs in South Africa have at least three or more computers. The duo added
that 87% of these SMEs sadly, do not use internet to transact. Literally, this
highlights a massive growth possibility for South African enterprises to exploit
networking technologies and the internet. Mutula and Brakel (2006) counsels
enterprises to rethink their approach to adoption of ICTs. They emphasize the
need for establishments to utilize network technologies and the internet as they
are an effective way of marketing and advertising certain goods and services
directly to the potential buyers. On the contrary, Herselmen (2003) laments the
extremely high cost of connectivity coupled with serious lack of infrastructure as
the major problems facing South Africa as a whole. He further points out that
the development of South Africa has been in an uneven manner, where world
class cities like Johannesburg (Sandton City in particular) have the latest most
sophisticated technologies while remote and rural areas are lagging seriously
behind- something this research aims to clarify as the Midlands has been
classified as a remote area. Herselmen bemoans scarcity of ICTs infrastructure
such as electricity and telephones, which are basic necessities in order for
businesses in remote regions of South Africa to thrive. On the other hand,
Mutula and Brakel (2006), provided a note of optimism by announcing that the
South African government was aware of these challenges and have since
mandated the local communications giant Telkom, which is partly owned by
government of South Africa), to maneuver quickly towards achieving its target of
connecting the whole of South Africa while at the same time reducing the
associated costs of connectivity.

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Scholars (Agboh, 2015; Wagner and Teixeira, 2014; Samkange, 2008) find
skepticism about ICT and e-commerce lamentable. They argue that this has
always been a barrier to reaping the benefits inherent in their adoption
especially in the developing countries where information and communication
technology (ICT) is yet to see its best days.

This research therefore assesses the level of ICT and e-business adoption in
the hospitality industry in the remote areas of the Midlands, KZN, in order to
identify the factors impeding the adoption and the benefits that the early
adopters of this technology have gained.

1.2 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

This research seeks to analyse the use of information and communication

technology (ICT) and e-commerce for effective management, marketing and
customer service quality in small remote hospitality establishments.

The problem statement is:

What is the impact of full adoption of ICT and e-commerce to small remote
hospitality establishments’ business success?

The focus was on two restaurants, two curio shops, two wedding venues and
two lodges, a total of eight participants from each of the three case areas. All in
all, the participants numbered a combined twenty-four from all three areas in the
Natal Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This study looks at the fundamental components of ICT and e-commerce which
could be instrumental and substantive for effective management, marketing and
customer service quality in small remote hospitality establishments. It
demonstrates the significance of ICT and e-commerce applications in remote

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small hospitality establishments and the challenges of using ICT and e-
commerce in small hospitality establishments in Natal Midlands of South Africa.
The study will make recommendations to systems that would be adopted by the
hospitality operators to make improvements.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Once the problem and purpose of the study had been stated, the problem was
then divided into sub-questions as outlined below:

 Which ICT and e-commerce tools are currently being used by small
remote hospitality establishments in the Natal Midlands for marketing
and effective management?
 Why is ICT and e-commerce application useful in remote hospitality
establishments?
 What are the challenges of acquiring and using ICT and e-commerce in
remote small hospitality establishments?

1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of the study was to analyse the use of information and communication
technology (ICT) and e-commerce in small remote hospitality establishments of
the Natal Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa.

The objectives of the study are:

 To establish the fundamental components of ICT and e-commerce that

can be instrumental and substantive for effective management,
marketing and customer service quality in small remote hospitality
establishments in Natal Midlands of South Africa.
 To demonstrate the significance of ICT and e-commerce applications in
remote small hospitality establishments in Natal Midlands of South Africa

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  To investigate the challenges of using ICT and e-commerce in small
hospitality establishments in Natal Midlands of South Africa

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Businesses today are inevitably exposed to information and communication

technologies either directly or indirectly. The hospitality industry in general,
traditionally utilize manual operation systems in their front offices particularly
organizing the occupancy tables for guest rooms, generating guest bills and all
cost related aspects of the guest’s stay through to check out. In the present
times, these complex functions are performed using moderntechnologies. The
use of ITCs in front office operations and restaurants in the hospitality sector is
growing rapidly making work much easier. Computerization of these basic
functions is becoming a necessity for all departments in any establishment in
order to run the business efficiently and effectively. It is hoped that the results of
the study would:

 Help hospitality operators identify and adopt available ICT components

suitable for their establishments.

 The study will demonstrate the significance of ICT and e-commerce

applications in remote small hospitality establishments in Natal Midlands,
South Africa.

 The study will motivate operators to have a closer look at the challenges
of using ICT and e-commerce in small hospitality establishments in Natal
Midlands, South Africa and map strategies to improve on the existing
problem areas, where necessary.

The study would enable the hospitality operators to review their systems as well
as to assess the benefits of having world class ICT components.

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1.7 ASSUMPTION OF THE STUDY

An assumption is a condition, which is taken for granted and without which the
research effort would be impossible. Thus within the study we made the
following assumptions:

 ICT and e-commerce are tools for increased customer service quality;

 Effective management and marketing are ICT driven;

 Successful business operation hinges on full utilization of ICT and e-

commerce

 Investing in ICT and e-commerce will over time, yield good return.

1.8 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The Midlands is situated north of Pietermaritzburg and extends from Curry’s

Post and Rietvlei in the east, to Fort Nottingham and Dargle Valley in the west,
(The Midlands Meander, 2015). This ‘tourist hotspot’ is about 80km’s long and
brimming with stunning sights and activities. There are weavers, potters,
woodcrafters, leather workers, artists, metalworkers, box makers, herb growers,
cheese makers, beer brewers and so much more. There are a large number of
fantastic restaurants with a diversity of local cuisine from which to choose.

It is from this concentration of Hospitality establishments that I chose to

investigate the adoption and application of ICTs by small operators. Three
sections (case areas) were purposefully chosen namely Curry’s Post which is in
the eastern part of Midlands, Nottingham Road in the west andLion’s River in
the south-west. In each case area, a total of eight small establishments were
chosen. In order for the samples to be fairly representing the whole area (The
Midlands), I chose to involve four categories of operators in the hospitality
industry which are Restaurants, Lodges, Wedding Venues and Curio Shops/
Crafter’s Markets. In each case area two of each of the four categories were

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included in the study, giving me a total of eight establishments in each case
area, summing up to twenty-four all in all.

1.9 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Some logistical difficulties were experienced in conducting the study. These

were:

 Movement from one hospitality establishment to another was

difficult owing to the fact that they are scattered;

 There was the problem of returned questionnaires being

incompletely filled in, and of questions being misinterpreted.

 Few funds were allocated for the project. As a result, the

researcher struggled with the costs involved in printing and typing
of the research document.

 The researcher is employed full-time so time constraints affected

the collection of data. However, all questionnaires that were
scheduled to be collected, were indeed collected.

1.10 ORGANIZATION OF WORK

This dissertation has been presented in five well-structured chapters and

coordinated order as outlined below;

Chapter one gives brief but concise background information on the application
of Information and Communication Technology to business. It also presents
brief information about the role ICTs and e-commerce play in the hospitality
industry, and their significance towards the economic growth of the economy
and the future prospects of e-commerce in small remote hospitality
establishments. The subsections outlining the statement of the problem,

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objectives of the study, the significance of the study, the scope and limitations
of the study, as well as the organization of the research were elaborated.

Chapter two reviews literature related to ICTs and the hospitality industry both
in South Africa and elsewhere. It discusses in detail, the application of ICT and
e-commerce, and their adoption. This chapter also outlines the benefits and
challenges of incorporating ICT and e-commerce in small remote
establishments and finally it presents the general description of the hospitality
industry in South Africa.

Chapter three explores the methodology employed in the research. It details

steps taken in conducting the research. Furthermore, it explores the study area
as well as the population and the sampling techniques used in the research. It is
in this chapter again that the data collection procedures used, research
instruments used, research design and the data analysis used are unveiled.

Chapter four deals with the analysis and discussion of the results obtained
from data collected. It’s a chapter that presents findings obtained from the field.
Research findings are displayed in various forms in this chapter. These include
chart, graphs, tables and descriptions.

Chapter five elaborating from chapter four, gives a detailed summary of the
research findings. In this chapter an attempt is made to relate findings from the
literature to the actual findings obtained from the field. These discussions help
to draw conclusions for the study and recommend possible solutions to the
shortcomings unearthed by the research. Directions for future research are
also be outlined at the end of this chapter.

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1.11 SUMMARY

This is an introductory chapter which demonstrates the direction of the study.

The chapter highlighted the background to the study. The researcher scholarly
highlighted the factors that motivated him to pursue this study. Literature
examined highlighted on the adoption, application and utilization of ICTs in
other industries. Little was said about the utilization of the same ICTs in remote
hospitality establishment hence the researcher developed this study. Based on
the background information, the researcher developed a precise statement of
the problem.

Although short, the chapter displays the organization of work that is the
contents of the following chapters. Assumptions of the study are also outlined,
as isthe rationale of the study, delimitation and limitations of the study. Common
terms to be used in the entire study are also defined in the context of this study.
The researcher also highlighted on the number of cases to be used and their
compositions. Problems that were faced by the researcher are outlined as well.

In the next chapter, various scholars and relevant literature will be examined in
relation to the phenomenon under study. The researcher attempts to match
findings from similar studies with the assumptions made in chapter 1 and to
critique those findings with evidence documented in relevant studies conducted
both in South Africa and other countries. An effort is made to balance findings
from earlier researches conducted, with the current issue at hand.

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CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW

2. INTRODUCTION

The chapter focuses on the purpose of literature review, the components of

ICTs and E-commerce available on the market, a survey of existing views,
knowledge and other information relevant to the theme, objectives and the
research questions of this study. In this regard, the review focuses on the
adoption of ICT and e-commerce, benefits, and challenges.

2.1 Purpose of Literature Review

The literature review was concerned with examining materials both published
and unpublished, that seemed to have any bearing on the subject of the study.
The information that the review provided helped the researcher to satisfactorily
identify the strengths and weaknesses of study. Relevant literature pertaining to
ICTs and e-commerce application and adoption were reviewed. Research
carried out in other countries was also looked at in order to broaden the writer’s
understanding of this phenomenon from an international perspective. This was
alluded to by Leedy (1997:71) who says:

“The more one knows about the peripheral investigations relevant to one’s study the
more intelligently one can approach the problem inherent in one’s own area of
investigation”.

Bithel and Robert (1986:18) state that literature reviews help in developing and
focusing the problem into their proper educational perspective and relevance.
The literature review provided the researcher with information on the present
state of knowledge of the study. It also informed the researcher of what had
already been done in the subject, so as to avoid duplication. The need for this
was supported by Borg (1989:117) who wrote:

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 “The purpose of literature review is to help you to develop a thorough understanding
and insight into the previous work and the trends that have emerged”.

Leedy (1980:6) argues that literature review suggests,

“A method or technique of dealing with a problematic situation which may also suggest
avenues of approach to the solution of similar difficulties you will be facing”.

The above will inform the study in addressing various methods of tackling the
problem. In offering solutions to the problem under research, related literature
review will actually provide empirical solutions.

2.2 ICT and E-commerce Defined

Ritchie and Brindley (2005) define ICT as the array of primarily digital
technologies designed to collect, organize, store, process and communicate
information within and external to an organization. Lucchetti and Sterlacchini
(2004) enumerate the following technologies as examples of ICTs; simple
telephone, point-of-sale systems, stand-alone PCs, networked environments,
Internet and credit card facilities.

Tesone (2006) defines Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) as transactions and

interactions that occur through computer telecommunications networks. E-
commerce includes all business functions that may be processed over
telecommunication networks in any industry (Lucchetti and Sterlacchini, 2004).
For this reason, the term e-business is used interchangeably with e-commerce.
Zhou (2004), further elaborates that e-commerce is more than just the act of
buying and selling on line. Zhou explains that e-commerce encompasses all
activities associated with buying and selling, such as financial transactions,
business data exchange, and communicating with customers and suppliers.

ICT can fulfill a number of business needs such as strategic, operational or

marketing needs, or a combination of all of them (Ritchie and Brindley, 2005).
The different needs of the business lead to the categorization of the use of ICT.

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Lucchetti and Sterlacchini (2004) categorize them into the following groupings:
general-user, production-integration and market-oriented groups. Lucchetti and
Sterlacchini further elaborate that the general-user group is where the basic
technologies are used such as telephone, e-mail and Internet in order to carry
out administrative functions of the enterprise, while the production-integration
group is where ICT is tightly coupled with production of goods and functionality
of the business. The market-oriented group is where ICT is used to market or
communicate with the outside world.

2.3 ICT uses in Hotels

ICT changes rapidly in the hospitality industry and with globalisation becoming
commonplace, a lot of hotels especially hotel chains find it necessary to have a
proactive approach to ICT (Gabrielsson and Gabrielsson, 2003). One of the
major systems that is being adopted by most hotels is a property management
system (PMS) and this is:

“The single-site version of the central reservation system used by large hotel chains. In
a single-site hotel, it will be used to handle reservations and to monitor the status of
rooms. The PMS will often connect to other software applications such as accounting,
telephone management or restaurant management” (Caterersearch, 2005, para 72).

As time has progressed such systems have developed the ability to interact and
be integrated with other systems within the hotel and have become one system
with many different options that can be added (Dehan, 2007). Property
management systems, according to Viuker (2007), are becoming an integral
part of most hotels in the world. Viuker argues that many hotels are now using
their PMS to manage revenue and cover all aspects of their hotel including
integration with Food and Beverage, Housekeeping, Maintenance and other
areas of a hotel. Many hotels are also customising their PMS to suit their
organisations (Albright, 2008). Small hotels, mostly referred to as ‘boutique
hotels’, have employees that multi-task (Viuker, 2007). According to Khemsurov
(2005), such establishments concentrate a lot on offering sophisticated

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technologies in their rooms and do not have a PMS simply because they
believe that a simple accounting package such as Mind Your Own
Business(MYOB) is as good as these packages and can be customised to suit
the organisation’s demands. Standards in these boutique hotels differ
considerably as some can be extremely luxurious and others of budget level
(Khemsurov, 2005). These small establishments concentrate on giving the
guest a level of personal service not seen in large sophisticated hotels that
benchmark their service quality on ICTs (Van Hartesvelt, 2006).

According to Buhalis and Egger (2008), PMS play an increasingly important role
in the overall operation of a hotel unit. Buhalis and Egger elaborate on the
positives of PMS, which among others, include the ability to extract valuable
reports about business performance. Bardi (2006), substantiates on Buhalis and
Egger’s (2008) claim, he explains that the rooms division, front office and food
and beverages departments can feed data into a PMS and then reports can be
generated on room availability or status, inventory and guest information. On
the other hand, Breukel and Go (2009) argue that knowing capabilities of a
PMS should help the employee operating the systems understand the value
derived from such and the value they bring to the organisation. The duo, in their
assertion, were trying to elaborate on the importance of in-depth training of staff
in order for them to be fully aware of the applications of PMSs and their
benefits. David (2007) recognises the importance of PMSs in that they enable
operators to extract reliable and valuable information needed by strategists or
General Managers to have a clear understanding of business functions, more
informed decision making, and a better analysis of problems that may be
recurrent in the business. David adds that PMSs should be able to generate
accurate customer accounts in a timely manner. Regrettably, all the scholars
(David, 2007; Breukel and Go, 2009; Buhalis and Egger, 2008; Bardi, 2006)
failed to cover the applicability of such a well applauded software to small
hospitality establishments. Their writings only cover the applicability of PMSs to
chain hotels and large city hotels, and no mention is made of their applicability
to a small remote four bed lodge.

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The complexity of the hospitality business is explored by Tesone (2006), who
labels the industry as a ‘unique business’. Tesone bases his labelling on the
way that the staff interact with the customers, and stresses that the relationship
should be a faultless process to ensure customer satisfaction. According to
Gale (2005), to avoid the faults, PMS comes into play as it is a systematic way
of performing transactions within a unit. Gale (2005) and Perkins (2006)
maintain that PMS’s are here to stay; they are not going anywhere and will have
positive impact on all hotels in their quest to retain or become competitive. Gale
(2005) adds that integration of PMSs with accounting functions and other
departments in a hotel is increasingly becoming more common and is the future
of PMSs.

2.4 Functions by departments

ICTs and e-commerce offer many advantages to a hotel of any size. Lucey
(2005), enumerates two major advantages of ICTs, one being increased
effectiveness of a hotel as a result of cost decrease and revenue expansion.
Another advantage, he says, is that of enhanced customer relationships quality
due to speedy contact and dialogue with the customer through sound ICTs.
Perkins (2006) illustrates that through the use of ICTs guests can respond to
questions about their preferences for rooms, and whether they would require
additional services beforehand such as airport transfers and payment methods
for the duration of their stay. Use of ICTs by departments is explored in detail
below.

2.4.1 ICT Applications in Front Office and Rooms Division Department

ICTs applications in the front office are centered on reservations functions.

Tesone (2006) breaks the ICT functions within reservations to include emailing,
telephone enquiry, web-based bookings, online payments of accommodation
and confirmations through fax and emails. The greater function of ICTs in the

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front office according to Wagner and Teixeira, (2014), has been publicized by
the advent of Centralized Reservation Systems (CRS). This, according to
Tesone (2006), is used to exploit data and information resources among
participating hotels. Wagner and Teixeira, (2014), add that linking to a CRS is
one of the greatest advantages of joining any hotel franchise. In support of
Wagner and Teixeira, Lucey (2005) adds that networking the CRS lowers front
office costs, speeds up communications, and enhances exchange of
information between member hotels and efficient management of data. The
benefits of CRS are further alluded by Knowles (1998), who states that CRS in
a hotel chain or group supplies member hotels and their managers with a
formidable asset to increase occupancy levels, maximize room sales, stir yield
management, increase market share and improve guest services. Tesone
(2006) explains the relationship between hotel CRSs and airline CRSs. The
hotel CRSs, according to Tesone are linked to airline CRSs to form a Global
Reservation System (GRS), in an effort to allow travel agents to make direct
reservations for their clients. Despite the numerous positives of CRS, Knowles
(1998) laments the unprecedented operational and guest services challenges
associated with CRS such as system downtime, costs of affiliation and
requisition of inherent technologies.

Baker, Huyton and Bradley (2006), explore other ICTs applications in any hotel
set up of the 21st century. They point out that computers in hotel front offices are
used to record bookings, generate bills and invoices, check-in and check-out
guests, record guest general information and their expenditure and share
information within departments and across the chain or group. Tesone (2006)
highlights on the e-commerce function of ICTs in front offices. He appraises the
advent of credit and debit card payments in the business environment. Baker,
Huyton and Bradley (2006), explain that ITCs have become an integral part of
front office operation today as guests can make payment for their bookings
online or via speed point machines to facilitate their reservation, which saves
time, reduces the risk of being robbed of large sums of cash and reduces
queuing at front offices when going through the manual booking process.

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2.5 ICT Functions in Restaurants

David, Grabski and Kasavana, (1996) demonstrate the relevance of ICTs in

restaurant operations. They applaud the invention of an Electronic-point-of-sale-
system (EPOS), which Buergermeister, (2001) defines as a device used to take
and manage customers’ orders electronically. This widely used device
represent the core restaurant ICTs applications (David et al, 1996). An EPOS is
designed to perform such functions as stock control, sending communication
between waiters and the kitchen, generation of bills as well as the consolidation
of sales data and reports (Buergermeister, 2001). In its set up, an EPOS system
is composed of a number of terminals interfaced to a remote central processing
unit (CPU) which is also known as back office systems. Back-office systems
perform the administrative function of food cost analysis, staff scheduling and
inventory and financial controls at the restaurant level (Ansah, Blankson, and
Kontoh, 2012)

Buergermeister (2001) unpacks the applicability of EPOS in restaurant setup in

detail. He begins by outlining the basic advantages of EPOS which include
among others; the ability to reduce errors, save time hence improved customer
service quality, satisfaction and personalization. For example, interfaces with
customer databases enable staff to identify customers and call them by their
names and that makes them feel important and recognised. He adds that EPOS
improves communication among departments from order taking, production of
food, service and payment for the bill. Buergermeister (2001) sheds light on the
inventory management function if ICTs (EPOS). He asserts that inventory
control system has been made easy and less of a hustle. The system
automatically records and reports on stock levels, alerts the user to stocks that
have hit their reorder level. In addition, food costs percentages can also be
computed beforehand and this will assist in pre-costing menus for pricing before
they are introduced. The table management systems (e.g. reservation, waiting
list management, floor-plan, and table availability) show table status for

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improving timing of service and speed up turnarounds (Buergermeister, 2001).
Although different and many ICTs perform these restaurant functions (David et
al, 1996), integration among them and with other adopted departmental ICTs for
marketing, finance and security is extremely important to enable operations’
efficiency and effectiveness.

2.6 ICT in Marketing Department

Marketing by definition, involves a variety of activities aimed at attracting

potential customers through generating interest in the products and services on
offer, and to stimulate repeat purchases (Kokt and Koelane, 2013). The
digitalisation of information through the internet has, together with the increased
use of ICTs, created a new concept of e-marketing. Contextually, e-marketing
has a broader definition, as it includes many digital media components such as
e-mail, websites, wireless media, and the electronic customer relationship
management systems (E-CRM systems). It also includes the management of
digital customer data (Cleofhas and Gibson, 2009). They also encourage all
organisations to employ some form of ICT-based marketing programmes and
communication as part of their overall marketing strategy. Consumers,
according to Kokt and Koelane (2013), are becoming more technologically
inclined and the prominence of ICTs in marketing is gradually increasing,
leaving behind those who did not consider adopting the ICTs.

Ngai (2003) suggests that establishments should develop a user-friendly

website with online promotional techniques and links such as search engines,
email contact forms and banner advertising. Ngai further explains that an
interactive website is a formidable marketing tool in that potential customers do
not struggle to get information about products or services they require. Chester
and Montgomery (2008), noted that businesses of late, are rapidly investing in
three types of digital marketing, and these are online videos (for example:
YouTube), social networks (for example: Facebook, Twitter and MySpace), and

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mobile technology (for example: Blackberry and iPhones). Other widely used
channels of digital marketing as noted by Ngai (2003), include banners,
podcasting, video streaming and blogging.

2.7 E-commerce in South Africa- An overview

The importance of ecommerce in a developing country is highlighted by

Ecommerce and South Africa (2014), in their assertion that it offers buyers
maximum convenience through being able to visit websites of multiple vendors
round the clock, to compare prices and make purchases, without having to
leave the comfort of their homes or offices from around the globe. According to
the website, the advantages of e-commerce are not just for consumers, as
retailers also find out that there are advantages to selling online. Customers can
shop in their own time, and an online store doesn't require additional sales staff.
Even in South Africa, on an increasing basis, consumers turn to the internet to
purchase products ranging from travel packages to clothing (Ecommerce and
South Africa, 2014). The website adds that the launch of PayPal in South Africa
and more internet penetration into the market means that there is greater
possibility of an increase in ecommerce sites in the near future

-“Paypal is an international company offering an online payment system, it is a system

used on the Internet which allows you to buy directly from a website and transfer money
between yourself and someone else via email or between merchant, South Africa is the
190th country to get paypal accounts” (Ecommerce and South Africa, 2014).

The application of ecommerce in the greater part of South Africa especially in

the cosmopolitan societies has been fueled by recent flooding of smartphones
on the market, supplied by three largest mobile telephone companies namely
Vodacom, Cell C and MTN. Fig 1 below portrays a sketch picture of what most
consumers with smartphones in South Africa use their phones for with regards
to ecommerce applications.

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Figure 1: Ecommerce usage in South Africa

(Source: Effective Measure, December 2013, p8)

An analysis of the data displayed in fig 1 above confirms that the South African
market is gradually making use of ecommerce for online shopping, however the
data does not integrate the overall picture of ecommerce usage by the general
populace. Shoppers are using mobile banking and online banking as major
platforms to transact online. Looking at the South African e-commerce market,
Bronkhorst (2014) highlighted that the country is projected to see 29.8 million
Internet users by 2016, with a 25% increase in online spend anticipated in 2014.
He also noted that, in 2014, South Africa is expected to have 80% smartphone
penetration as mobile operators such as Vodacom and MTN are working to
bring sophisticated devices to more people at a more affordable price.
Thisrevelation projects a promising future for South Africa’s ecommerce
adoption drive.

Factors that will affect the rise of ecommerce in South Africa were outlined
(Ecommerce and South Africa, 2014), as follows:

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  The launch of PayPal in South Africa: This will enable South
African businesses to sell products and services to PayPal’s
global customer base of more than 81 million active users in about
190 markets around the world and move the proceeds to their
FNB accounts. Briefly, this development will allow South African
based online stores to trade in Rands at ease, but the service is
limited to FNB bank users.
 The increase in online retail sales: According to AfricaOnline
(2009) online retail sales surpassed the one billion rand mark for
the first time in 2008 and were predicted to grow a further 20% in
2009.
 The penetration of internet in South Africa: The usage of internet
in South Africa has by far exceeded the 5 million users’ milestone,
which is 10% penetration rate in the country
 Internet Speed: The speed of internet connectivity has a huge
impact on the adoption and usage of ecommerce. “The arrival of
Neotel’s Seacom submarine fibre-optic cable will increase South
African broadband access a staggering 40 times, making internet
access cheaper and internet shopping more comfortable”,
AfricaOnline (2009).

All of the above outlined factors will play a greater role in getting the general
populace exposed to online shopping. However there still remains one big
question unanswered which is how quickly will the general populace accept the
increase and popularity of online shopping, how soon will consumers trust
online shopping and the security and part with giving out their credit card
details? Early adopters of ecommerce in South Africa who have done things
properly have certainly made a huge success out of it (Ecommerce in South
Africa, 2014). The website comments that most of these adopters are larger
companies who were able to get through the limitations of online transacting
faced in South Africa. The playing fields have rapidly changed. Establishing an

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e-commerce enhanced website is gradually becoming easier than it was before.
They however acknowledge that this enables smaller parties such as small
lodges and restaurants to jump into the limelight and grab their percentage of
the market share.

2.8 E-commerce Challenges in South Africa

There are still a number of hindrances in South Africa, according to E-

commerce in South Africa (2014), when it comes to setting up e-commerce.
These hindrances include among others, capital or start-up costs, clear
understanding of objectives, lack of online marketing, credit card processing
limitations and maintenance. These 5 major problems, according to E-
commerce in South Africa (2014), have become less of a problem over the past
few years, but will continue to torment proprietors until the right education is
provided:

1. Capital or Start-up Costs –These include all initial costs of putting

together an e-commerce enabled website and all the necessary ICTs.
Setting up a viable site requires the assistance of a professional as it is a
technical area which can cost a lot of money (E-commerce in South
Africa, 2014).
2. Understanding Objectives –. The website highlights that in order to run a
successful ecommerce site, an organization needs to have a clear
understanding of its objectives. This is noted as a serious problem as
businesses end up with an irrelevant set up. The website however,
suggests that businesses need to define their marketing plan, and come
up with appropriate strategies that will advance their ecommerce
adoption endeavour.
3. Lack of Online Marketing –Businesses in South Africa lack online
marketing strategy. Without a strong online marketing strategy, the
business according to Ecommerce in South Africa (2014), will struggle to

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 capture a market share. Services such as Search Engine Optimization
(SEO), electronic Newsletters and Social Media are now an essential
part of the marketing plan.
4. Credit Card Processing – Fortunately, this drawback is becoming less of
a hindrance as the South African credit card providers, (Ecommerce in
South Africa, 2014) are providing solutions that are less complicated.
The website further recommends that when businesses choose a
payment processor, they should be thorough about all the options
available, specifically costs involved, banks they are aligned with and
their requirements from the enterprise to get a merchant account. Some
of the options available include PayPal, PayGate, MyGate, PayFast,
iVeri, VCS, and PayFast.
5. Maintenance – One of the biggest challenges facing businesses that
adopted E-Commerce website earlier is that of inability to maintain the
system (Ecommerce in South Africa, 2014). The website adds that
companies which purchase a theme and use an e-commerce plug-in
often have problems when new upgrades are released. They find it
regrettable that approaching a web design company for help results in
huge costs, as the company will need to do an overhaul of the whole
system.

2.9 The Adoption of ICTs and E-commerce by small establishments

Research, according to Samkange and Crouch (2008) indicates that countries

that compete effectively on the global market place generally enjoy a
technological advantage and these tend to be developed countries. The digital
revolution sweeping across Europe, America and some Asian countries has
altered the economic landscape and the business environment (Odedra,
Lawrie, Bennet and Goodman, 1996). Samkange and Crouch emphasized that
progressive business organizations in these countries have not only embraced
electronic management (e-management) of information systems and technical

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business operations but demonstrated the ability and capacity to adapt,
implement and utilize ICT systems for best business practice carving niches for
themselves on the global market place as their levels of productivity improved.
They regret that business organizations in developing countries (DCs) continue
to struggle technologically finding it increasingly difficult to make their mark on
the same market place. Odedra et al (1996), noted that most businesses in less
developed countries recognize the fierce global competition inherent with the
trends in ICTs advancement, yet they struggle to keep pace with this
development. Due to immense pressure to perform and survive in this hostile
global economic environment, these organizations find themselves importing
technologies from developed countries. There is a growing concern over the
wholesale importation of ICTs by less developed countries raising questions
about the suitability of such technologies to service the specific needs of small
organizations in the less developed countries (Samkange and Crouch, 2008).

ICTs’ adoption by small establishments can be stimulated or restrained by

government’s intervention, which apart from the suppliers, customers and
competitors, is also viewed as an external source of pressure. According to
Howell and Terziovski (2005), the Government plays a pivotal role in policy
development, which is the main driver for any national ICTs development
initiatives to promote e-business adoption by small establishments.

They add that in this role, the government works closely with other key
stakeholders to leverage resources. In light of this important role, the
government therefore comes into play as a knowledge dispersing and standard
setting body (Seyal and Rahman, 2003). Howell and Terziovski (2005), note a
very interesting point with regards to the relationship between the role played by
the policy maker and demand for intervention by small establishments. They
reveal that the demand for intervention and support for ICTs adoption by small
establishments may indicate whether policy-makers are playing a leadership
role or a facilitative role. If there is a strong demand for ICT in any given

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business environment, small establishments and the broader community are
likely to adopt ICT as initiators, centres of influence or champions of change.

Smallbone and Welter (2001) focus on the role played by government in

stimulating ICTs adoption in the private sector. They argue that the direct
support interventions are not the primary role for government in promotion of
ICTs adoption. They stress that the government should create the conditions
necessary (through policies) for the development of the private sector with the
intention to support growth and sustainability, particularly in the adoption and
development of ICTs and e-business.

Can small establishments be set up, survive and even grow without
government’s direct intervention? On addressing this issue, Smallbone, Leigh
and North (1995), note that this is made possible by the commitment and
creativity of proprietors in mobilizing resources and flexibility in adapting to
hostile external environments.

2.10 Limitations to ICT adoption

Small establishments are faced with many challenges in their quest to adopt
ICTs. Ngwenyama and Morawczynski (2007) note that most businesses
assume that ICTs will irrevocably bring about tangible benefits, turning a blind
eye on the fact that not all environments are the same. The factors affecting
successful adoption of ICTs according to MacGregor and Vrazalic (2006) are
both socio-economic and technological. They point out that these hindrances
can be stimulated by factors external and/or internal to the organization.
Herselman (2003), notes that most people in South Africa's rural areas live
below subsistence levels and remain impoverished due to lack of access to
basic infrastructure essential for economic growth and development.

Outlined below are some of the limitations noted that prevent small
establishments from adopting ICTs:

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  Martin (2005) considers the lack of knowledge about the strategic
use of ICT as the major barrier to adoption. Martin regrets the
lack of knowledge by owner managers and proprietors about the
benefits of ICTs adoption. He explains that this challenge is due to
the fact that the owner (who usually manages the business)
makes most of the executive decisions about the business and
therefore the owner or manager's limitations consequently
become limitations of the business.
 Mutula and Van Brakel (2007) note that lack of necessary IT skills-
base is another serious barrier to ICTs adoption by small
establishments. They suggest that the adoption of ICTs by the
small business largely depends on the owner or manager’s ICT
skills and attitude towards technology.
 High setup cost or capital injection according to Herselman
(2003), is another major limitation to adoption. Herselman
suggests that ICTs adoption is perceived to be very expensive by
small business so they often skip it in their budget. He identifies
types of costs associated with ICTs: tools (hardware), software,
connectivity, maintenance and other hidden costs such as license
fees for software and programs, and upgrade fees.
 MacGregor and Vrazalic (2006) explore the dynamics (ever-
changing ICTs environment) as a limitation to adoption. They
regret the ever-changing ICTs environment, which requires
adopters to constantly learn and update their technologies. They
add that technology is constantly evolving, getting smarter, faster
and more powerful. This calls for the need to monitor technologies
as they constantly evolve into the future. The owner managers
and the staff need to be motivated to accept and embrace
changes as well as kept excited enough to have an interest in the
changes as they unfold.

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  Ngwenyama and Morawczynski (2007) highlight on the issue of
geographical disparities as a limitation to adoption. They illustrate
the South African dilemma in this regard, noting that the country
faces an internal digital divide caused by underdeveloped rural
areas as compared well-developed cosmopolitan societies like
Johannesburg and Pretoria. The rural areas have an acute
shortage of resources and infrastructure, for example there are no
proper address systems and fixed telephone connectivity is still a
huge problem although cell phone usage is high.

Having noted all the positive impacts of ICTs on the hospitality industries, it is
important to allocate funds for the procurement of hardware, software and
networking devices and their installation, security concerns, staff development
and training on the use of systems, and routine maintenance (MacGregor and
Vrazalic, 2006).

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2.11 Summary

This chapter reviews related literature pertaining to the application of ITCs and
e-commerce in the hospitality industry and related studies on remote
establishments in Africa and other continents. The major drawback the
researcher faced was limited literature on adoption and utilization of ICTs by
small hospitality establishments in South Africa. Abundant literature available is
for chain hotels in developed countries and not for small establishments in
developing countries. Information obtained about other small businesses in
developing countries, excluding South Africa helped to clarify what the situation
could be with regards to adoption of ICTs by small hospitality establishments in
South Africa Various authors have contributed a lot of information, which helped
the researcher to have clearer insight in the study.

Research on the applications of ICTs in developing countries with specific

reference to the hospitality industry is still lagging behind. In this chapter,
reviewed literature also covered the projections made by scholars on the future
of ICTs adoption and utilisation in South Africa in general, with little effort to
forecast on adoption by geographical location. Most of the existing studies and
projections made, are for cosmopolitan societies, which made it very difficult for
the researcher to link available literature to the phenomenon under study.

In the next chapter, the methodology employed in this project will be detailed.
Although it is a broad chapter, effort will be made to clarify the research design
adopted, the approach employed and subjects (the population) under study
introduced. Discussion of research instruments chosen: the questionnaire,
interviews and observations, will be undertaken.

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CHAPTER 3- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

The three terms (methodology, method, and technique) are usually used
interchangeably, but various authors (Babbie, 1998; Leedy, 1997; Saunders,
Lewis and Thornhill, 2007) differentiate the two main terms (methodology and
methods). Babbie (1998) defines research methods as a set of tools or
techniques used to conduct a research and these include experimental
methods, survey methods, observation methods, documentary analysis
methods among others. Leedy (1997) argues that research methodology is the
discipline or whole strategy of the research that utilizes these methods. In
simpler terms, the methodology is the grand plan under which the methods to
be employed fall.

In the previous chapter (Chapter 2) literature and information from previous

studies were reviewed to enlighten the researcher about findings from similar
studies. This chapter will deal with the grand plan of how the actual work of
research will be carried out.

It explains how the research methodology (the grand plan) was formulated and
the subsequent methods to be used in the research. It examines the form or
design of the study, the population, sampling procedures and instruments of
data collection. The chapter also justifies the use of chosen instruments, thus
giving their advantages and disadvantages, and indicates the relevance of the
instruments selected to the study.

3.1 Research Design

This is the overall grand plan describing procedures of data collection,

interpretation and analysis. It outlines specifications for enhancing internal and
external validity of the design, further providing details about the respondent,
conditions and the actual process of conducting the study.

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The methodology chosen for this research was mixed model research.
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2007:146 – 147) state that,

“Mixed model research combines quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques
and analysis procedures as well and combining quantitative and qualitative approaches
at other phases of the research … you may take quantitative data and qualitise it …
Alternatively you may quantitise your qualitative data”

The reason for using mixed methods was to collect both qualitative and
quantitative data simultaneously, combine the data, and use the overall result to
understand the research problem (Creswell, 2008). In addition, Babbie (1998)
points out the existence of an inherent risk in qualitative research, that of
selective perception; where the researcher only takes cognisance of elements
that support the theoretical conclusions. On the other hand, Babbie (1998)
advises that this danger may be avoided to a certain degree by complementing
quantitative observations with qualitative ones. Mixing methods enhance the
credibility or accuracy of the study (Creswell, 2008).

3.2 Research approach

A multiple case study research approach will be adopted in this study. This
approach facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a
variety of sources. This therefore ensures that the issue is not explored through
one lens but through a variety of lenses which allows for multiple facets of the
phenomenon to be revealed and understood (Baxter and Jack, 2008). Three
case areas within the Natal Midlands which include the Curry’s Post,
Nottingham Road and Lions River areas will be examined in relation to the
phenomenon under study. Each of the three areas represent a case area and in
total there are three case areas combined together to come up with a bigger
case representing the whole the Midlands. These three remote case areas have
small hospitality organisations ranging from restaurants, lodges, small hotels
and wedding venues. This therefore positions them as primary data sources of
this particular study. There are a number of advantages of using qualitative

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case studies. According to Yin (1994), the examination of data in a case study
is often conducted within the context of its use. In addition, the detailed
information often produced from case studies does not only help to describe the
data in real life set up, but also helps explain the ramifications of real life
situations which might not have been captured through a survey or
experimental research (Zaidah, 2003).

3.3 Subjects (Study Population)

The population for the study was carefully chosen, defined and specifically
delimited in order to set precise parameters for ensuring discretion. Entiwhistle
and Nisbet (1970:24) define population as “any group of people or observations
or test items in which we happen to be interested”.

In this study the target population was small hospitality establishments in the
Natal Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa. A total of twenty-four
participants were drawn from all three case areas to participate, representing
the greater Midlands.

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Figure 2: Location of all 3 case areas (Curry’s Post, Nottingham Road and Lions River) in the Midlands

(Source: Adapted from [Link])

The three case areas are circled on the map displayed above on figure 2. They
are Nottingham Road on the north western section, Curry’s Post on north
eastern section while Lions River is on the southern part.

3.4 Sampling Procedures

Sampling is defined by Babbie, (1998) as a process of selecting a portion a

populationthat is considered to be normally representative of the entire
population. According to Creswell (2008), a target sample is particularly a group
of people with a common defining characteristic which a researcher can identify
and study. Within this target population, researchers will, due to various factors,
choose a sample. Specific sampling techniques, as noted by Babbie (1998),
allow the researcher to determine beforehand the likelihood of specific elements
being included or excluded in the entire study population. Sample size and its
representativeness of the entire population according to Creswell (2008), is a

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basic consideration in sampling. A sample is considered representative if the
aggregate characteristics of the sample closely approximates the same
characteristics as the population relevant to the research in question (Babbie,
1998).

The researcher used purposive sampling method to select a sample of

managers/owners in the selected areas. The major advantage of this type of
sampling according to Marshall and Rossman, (2006), is that the researcher will
purposefully target a sample of participants with expertise to answer the
research questions. The participants provided data on the adoption of ICT and
ecommerce in small hospitality establishments, applications, importance and
challenges of acquisition and use/ maintenance inter alia. Findings were valid
because the sampling targeted the core area under study. The sample was
representative, as it comprised eight establishments per case area paired as
follows; two wedding venues, two lodges, two restaurants, and two curio shops
from three areas in the Natal Midlands namely Curry’s Post, Nottingham Road
and Lions River.

With this method it was easier to collect information economically. Also, the
carefully chosen sample permitted making inferences and generalizations and
drawing conclusions about the entire population by applying the evaluation only
to the sample.

3.5 Research Instruments

Interview and questionnaires were used to collect data. The use of interviews
and questionnaires was deemed appropriate for the elimination of weaknesses
and enhanced validity and reliability. The two methods of data collection
mentioned complement each other because of the shortcomings inherent in the
questionnaire, such as it can only work with literate participants and the
percentage rate can be very low at times.

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3.5.1 The Questionnaire

The questionnaire was divided into five sections related to (Demographics, ICT
tools and ecommerce functions in use, Software connectivity and interface,
importance and challenges). Both the closed and open-ended questions were
used. This helped the participants to make contributions that they considered to
be important. This was considered to be particularly relevant as the
perceptions; attitudes, knowledge and skills of the respondents were key to the
success of this study. The combination of both closed and open-ended
questions was seen to be appropriate, as this offset the weaknesses and
strength of each method. As an instrument, questionnaires facilitated the
collection of data from samples whose geographical location was far away.
Because of the nature of questionnaire, this gave participants opportunities to
express personal views freely as well as completing the questionnaires during
their free time.

Bless and Higson-Smith (1995:120) highlight the main disadvantage of

questionnaires: “Questionnaires have the disadvantage of being difficult to
interpret subjects’ response, difficult to check that the subject understands the
question and there is a possibility of low response.”

The questionnaire had the following major factors:

• There was limited time to collect data from the respondents. The
questionnaire helped to establish a wide coverage of the
population timeously within a manageable financial cost and effort.
• The questionnaire also maintained anonymity of the respondents.
This helped the respondents to feel free to provide accurate
information without fear or favour.

Questionnaires were handed to the proprietors and managers of hospitality

establishments who participated in the completion of the questionnaire for three
weeks. The respondents were requested not to post the questionnaires, as the
researcher personally collected them at an agreed date and place. This

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ensured that most of the questionnaires to be returned for data analysis. From
the 8 targeted hospitality establishment in each case area, responses were
obtained through both questionnaires and interviews although some
questionnaires were incompletely answered. However, quantifiable information
from the questionnaires was solicited.

3.5.2 Pre-testing of the Questionnaire

Pre-testing testing enables the researcher to obtain some assessment of the

questions’ validity and the reliability of the data collected. If no pre- testing is
carried out, the chances of the questionnaire being misunderstood, having
inadequate responses, errors and containing unreliable answers will be very
high. The pre-testing of the questionnaire was conducted on two proprietors.
The two proprietors did not take part in the eventual study.

3.5.2 Interviews

The second tool applied was the face-to-face and telephone interviews.
According to Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2001), interviews are an additional
means of gathering information directly from respondents either through face to
face or over the telephone. Saunders et al, (2007) applaud interviews in that
they give the researcher an opportunity to clarify meanings, thereby developing
common understanding as well as capturing more interpretations of the matter
at hand.

Follow up interviews with key personnel (Managers and owners of lodges and
wedding venues) were done to further enrich the data collection process. These
interviews were crucial in the sense that they enabled differences in perception
that were highlighted during the questionnaire analysis. The interviews were
conducted with property managers. Each interviewee was allocated thirty
minutes, to maintain concentration of both the interviewer and interviewees, as
well as subjectivity. Robson (1993), suggests that interviews should be short.
He adds that an interview under half an hour long is likely to be valuable,

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anything going above an hour may be uncomfortable to the interviewees as
they might be having busy schedules of their own. This weakness could have
an effect of reducing the number of individuals willing to participate, which may
lead to bias in the sample.

The interviews were being conducted in order to not only allow respondents to
elaborate their views, but to also provide opportunities to probe and solicit for
other opinion. Interviews allowed for elaboration of questions by the researcher
which the respondents would not have understood. Borg (1989) asserts that
the use of an interview, as a research tool is unique and that it involves the
collection of data through direct verbal interaction between individuals. This
established a friendly, secure and trusting relationship resulting in the
respondent giving out certain confidential information that might otherwise have
not been released if asked to write. The main advantage of an interview is its
flexibility and adaptability as way of finding things out as the interviewer can
alter the interview to suit the situation. Face to face interviews offer the
possibility to modify the researcher’s line of enquiry, follow up on interesting
responses from interviewees as well as investigating the underlying motives;
something questionnaires cannot do (Borg, 1989). He suggests that by
conducting interviews, researcher is able to observe non-verbal expressions of
the respondents, which may help in understanding the verbal responses. The
interview also, allowed the researcher to follow up leads thus, obtain more in-
depth, data and greater clarity. Borg (1989) outlines the disadvantages of
interviews as follows:

• The presence of the interviewer makes interviews lack anonymity

and as a result the interviewee might tell the interviewer what they
think they want to hear.
• The interview is also costly in terms of time and money to travel;
the researcher could miss the interviewee even after making
appointments.

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 • The weakness of the interview will be minimized by clearly
explaining the purpose of the study on the selected people.

In this study the interview was chosen to understand the effect of ICT and
ecommerce on customer satisfaction with reference to the responses provided
to the questionnaire property managers. Saunders et al, (2007) identified three
types of interviews that can be used as research tools and these are,
unstructured interviews, structured interviews and semi-structured interviews.
The structured interviews are the ones that include a series of closed form of
questions similar to those used in questionnaires. In this study, structured
interviews were conducted with both managers and proprietors. The
instruments comprised of fifteen questions.

3.6 Reliability and Validity

An attempt was made to validate and determine the reliability of the research
instruments when determining instruments adoption on the problem under
investigation. With regards to the questionnaire, it is difficult to ascertain that
participants would properly understand and accurately respond to the questions
(Seliger and Shohamy, 1989). In light of this predicament, a semi-structured
questionnaire with a high degree of closed questions was crafted as these were
“deemed to be more efficient than the open ones” (Seliger and Shohamy, 1989,
p. 173). Regrettably, Marshall and Rossman, (2006) point out that closed
questions have limited ability in capturing the rich descriptive experiences of
respondents

Accordingly, this weakness was counterbalanced by incorporating some open-

ended questions in the questionnaire to afford the respondents a chance to be
in control of the situation and write freely in their own words (Saunders et al,
2007).

The actual number of the open-ended questions in the questionnaire was

limited since such questions invariably fuel a lot of repetition and supply of

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irrelevant information which takes unnecessarily long time to sift through
(Seliger and Shohamy, 1989). To prevent participants from becoming
disconcerted by shifting from one topic to the next and back in the
questionnaire, the questions were all grouped into systematic categories and
logically sequenced with section headings (Saunders et al, 2007).

De Vos, Strydom, Fouché, and Delport, (2005), warn that it is extremely

important that the researcher minimize the amount of irrelevant information in
the interviews. Seliger and Shohamy, (1998) recommend that the best possible
way to minimize gathering irrelevant information is by preparing several open-
ended questions before the interview in form of a semi-structured interview
process with specific and defined questions developed beforehand. Hence the
interviews (see Appendix B attached) focused mainly on responding to the
research questions in an effort to minimise irrelevant information gathering and
overloading of data that might have resulted in compromised data and affecting
its reliability and validity (De Vos et al, 2005).

Seliger and Shohamy, (1998) noted that the response from questionnaires
submitted may be very low, if the researcher does not make an effort to collect
them by hand. To avoid this weakness, collection days were scheduled, on
which all the completed questionnaires were hand collected on agreed dates.
The use of interviews and questionnaires simultaneously allows triangulation to
enhance reliability and validity of data (Saunders et al, 2007). Similarly, De Vos
et al, (2005) warns that interviews may have their own constraints such as
interactions between researchers and respondents can lead to biases such as;
the interviewee eager to please the researcher; and there is a tendency by the
researcher to seek answers that support pre-conceived emotions. To counter-
balance this problem, the researcher kept the interviews short and professional
as guided by suggestions from several scholars (Saunders et al, 2007; Seliger
and Shohamy, 1998; De Vos et al, 2005).

From the respondents’ point of view, De Vos et al (2005) noted that some
respondents may not understand parts of the questionnaire resulting in them

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failing to interpret it correctly and accurately. The researcher was aware of this
weakness of the questionnaire as an instrument for data collection. There is
need to back up the questionnaire to make up for the reluctance and
inadequacy in the responses from the respondents, hence the researcher
scheduled follow up interviews with the respondents.

3.7 Data Analysis

Data analysis comprised seeking patterns of responses and ascertaining causal

linkages of responses to provide a more solid descriptive narratives of
participants’ perspectives on the use of ICTs for effective marketing and
management in their establishments. The data collected for analysis in this
research project consisted of:

• The questionnaire responses

• Notes written of interviews conducted
• Observation notes on establishments visited for first-hand
information by the researcher

A mixed method approach using multi-case studies was utilized to study the
characteristics of all individual groups in a real-world. According to Creswell
(1998), mixed methods research entails the collection, the analysis, and mixing
of both qualitative and quantitative data. This approach suggests that employing
both types of data collection will result in a better understanding of the research
problem than one data collection method alone could produce.

A preliminary exploratory analysis of the data was conducted through ducking

into data in its entirety in an effort to obtain a general sense of the data, and
considering whether the researcher would need more data or not (Creswell,
1998).

Quantitative data gathered from the questionnaires were analysed using the
Excel from Microsoft Office Tools of Windows 8.1, which through formulae

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grouped the frequency distribution into tables. According to De Vos et al,
(2005), descriptive statistics describe the organizing and summarizing of
quantitative data. De Vos et al further explain that tabular presentation of data
serves to reduce data to a more interpretable form thus providing an opportunity
for less sophisticated analysis.

Statgraphics Centurion 15.1 (2010) and Microsoft Excel 2013 were used to
prepare the following graphical presentations from the tabular data prepared:

• Bar charts, being either horizontal or vertical bars and in different

forms, with various levels of complexity, (Seliger and Shohamy,
1998)
• Pie charts, these are widely used to show divisions between
groups, people or spending (Seliger and Shohamy, 1998)
• Cross-tabulations, were used to show data obtained from
observations made in the field.

According to De Vos et al, (2005) graphic presentations help researchers to

comprehend the most important features of frequency distribution as well as
helping with comparative analysis of the data. In qualitative research, Seliger
and Shohamy, (1998) maintains that the researcher seeks to narrate someone
else’s story hence the researcher has to be attentive to words and phrases said
in participant’s own vocabulary.

De Vos et al, (2005) limited the task of the “observer” to inferring what that
reality on the ground must be. Observations conducted in this study provided
first-hand chance to see ICT adopted by hospitality establishment in the three
selected case areas, giving the researcher an opportunity for further research
probing participants for their recollections, interpretations and points of view
(Seliger and Shohamy, 1998). Cresswell, (1998) defines inference as a
systematic process of arriving at a conclusion. The central question of the study
was qualitative in nature and therefore necessitated open ended questions in

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the questionnaire, interviews and observations. Inferences of meanings were
automatically drawn from the observations.

3.8 Summary

This chapter disclosed the framework of the research study, which is the
methodology that was used in the study (Mixed model research). It further
outlined and provided motivation for the research design, sampling and
research method selected as they were deemed most appropriate. The
questionnaire, face-to-face, and telephone interviews were the selected
methods. Also, there was a discussion of the pros and cons of the various
instruments used.

A cross examination of the reliability and validity of the data obtained from the
field was done. Related literature was reviewed to support academically the fact
that indeed data obtained was valid and reliable. Instruments used in this
exercise were also discussed and these included among others software and
graphical presentations

The chapter touched briefly on the population to be examined and gave a brief
explanation on sampling procedures that were followed.

The following chapter (Chapter four) deals with data presentation and analysis.
In this chapter, data obtained from the field in various forms such as graphs,
charts, descriptions and tables among others, is presented. The findings from
the research are interpreted and simplified where necessary.

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CHAPTER 4- DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

4.0 Introduction

In the previous chapter, the grand plan of the research was explored. and the
master plan of the research was detailed from the design chosen, sampling
techniques, the population composition, data collection instruments and the
verification of data reliability. All the research done in accordance with the
formula explained in chapter three is presented in detail in chapter four.

This chapter presents data that was collected from the field. The study makes
an attempt to “Analyse the use of ICT and e-commerce for effective
management, Marketing and customer service quality in small remote
hospitality establishments: A case study of the Natal Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal”.

Descriptive statistical data was used because of its suitability in providing a

clear reflection of the findings of the research. Creswell, (2003) advises that
descriptive statistics enable one to describe and summarizes the measurement
of observations and opinions of the population under study.

For statistical analysis, data was entered into the computer using Excel and
Statgraphics Centurion. Data was categorized and computed using formulas
and tables to produce graphs and pie charts to illustrate and categorize
responses. This information was used to rate responses obtained from the
fieldwork. Furthermore, qualitative details presenting insights into the answers
to the problem under the analysis were captured.

4.1 RESULTS: PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

Background information of cases and their location in the Midlands

The three case areas were located in the Midlands region, between two small
towns called Howick and Mooi River, both under Umngeni and Mooi- Mpofana
local municipalities respectively, uMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal

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Province. The specific locations of Curry’s Post, Nottingham Road and Lions
River areas are shown in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3: Location of the three case areas namely Curry’s Post, Nottingham Road and Lions River.

(Source: Adapted from [Link])

Thousands of international and local tourists traverse the Midlands Meander

each year due to its uniqueness. Information documented suggests that around
1985 artists, weavers and potters from the Midlands joined forces and created
an arts and crafts route. Later on, about six art studios opened their doors to the
public hence the inception of the Midlands Meander, which is also regarded as
the ‘arts and crafts route’. Over the years, the Midlands Meander has
progressively grown to harbour 160 plus places to shop, play, eat and drink,

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sleep, as well as a fascinatingand diversemix of arts and crafts (Midlands
meander, 2014)

The Midlands is the major tourist hotspot in KwaZulu-Natal. From a contextual

point of view, drawing cases and participants of a study from such a highly
thriving environment characterized byhuge numbers of guest arrivals; active
marketing support (The Midlands Meander Association) and the easy
availability of business information, helped the research with valuable insights
and in-depth analysis of selected small businesses on their potential to adopt
and utilize ICTs in South Africa.

Restaurants

A total of six restaurants were included in the study. Two restaurants were
drawn from each of the three case areas making them six in total. Table 4.5
below tabulates basic information about each of the six restaurants that
participated in the study. For purposes of anonymity, a unique systematic
naming method was used to identify establishments. Restaurants from Curry’s
Post were named CP R1 (meaning Curry’s Post Restaurant 1) and CP R2
(meaning Curry’s Post Restaurant 2). This system was developed to protect the
identity of participating establishments. NR R1 means Nottingham Road
Restaurant 1, NR R2 means Nottingham Road Restaurant 2. LR R1 means
Lions River Restaurant 1, while LR R2 means Lions River Restaurant 2.

Three of the six restaurants are quite small with a seating capacity averaging 31
customers at a time while the other three are bigger, with seating capacities of
50, 65 and 80 customers. Both restaurants from the Curry’s Post area are
owner managed, as well as one from Lions River and one more from
Nottingham Road. The remaining two are run by an employed manager and not
by owners. Two of the six restaurants specialize in certain foods, one
specializes on steaks hence branding themselves as a ‘Steak House’ while the
other ones do bistro and pancakes.

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Two restaurants only serve breakfast and lunch, while the other two serve all
meals, which is breakfast, lunch and dinner. The last two restaurants serve
lunch and dinner only.

Table 1: Summary of background information for Restaurants in Curry’s

Post

Name of Establishment CP R1 CP R2
Type of Establishment Restaurant Restaurant
Location Curry's Post Curry's Post
Case
Number of Employees 8 6
Background Seating Capacity 36 65
Number of Dining rooms 2 3
Information Serving Breakfast and Lunch Lunch and Dinner
Specialisation Bistro and Pancakes no
Years in Business 12 5
Identification Local 70 55
of guests (%) Foreign 30 45

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

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Table 1.1: Summary of background information for Restaurants in
Nottingham Road

Name of Establishment NR R1 NR R2
Type of Establishment Restaurant Restaurant
Location Nottingham Road Nottingham Road
Case
Number of Employees 13 12
Background Seating Capacity 80 50
Number of Dining rooms 3 1
Information Serving Lunch and Dinner All meals
Specialisation Steaks No
Years in Business 6 18
Identification Local 35 40
of guests (%) Foreign 65 60

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

Table 1.2: Summary of background information for Restaurants in Lions

River

Name of Establishment LR R1 LR R2
Type of Establishment Restaurant Restaurant
Location Lions River Lions River
Case
Number of Employees 7 9
Background Seating Capacity 25 30
Number of Dining rooms 1 2
Breakfast and
Information Serving Lunch All meals
Specialisation No
Years in Business 7 9
Identification Local 40 50
of guests
(%) Foreign 60 50

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

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The clientele base of all six restaurants is largely drawn from international
tourists flocking the midlands for its beauty and abundant activities to enjoy.
Only two of the six restaurants indicated that locals constituted a larger portion
of their customers (averaging 62.5% being locals and 37.5% being foreign
clients). The managers of these two restaurants (CP R1 and CP R2) mentioned
that most of their clients on Friday which is their busiest day are guests
attending weddings at nearby wedding venues. Data indicates that business
over the weekend for these restaurants is drawn by people coming to attend
weddings in the area.

Table 2: Summary of background information for Wedding Venues in

Curry’s Post

Name of Establishment CP WV1 CP WV2

Type of Establishment Wedding Venue Wedding Venue
Location Curry's Post Curry's Post
Case
Number of Employees 23 15
Background No. of Reception Venues 1 2
Chapel on Site Yes Yes
Information Star Grading Not graded Not Graded
Number of Beds 35 16
Years in Business 8 11
Identification Local 90 85
of guests (%) Foreign 10 15

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

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Table 2.1: Summary of background information for Wedding Venues in
Nottingham Road

Name of Establishment NR WV1 NR WV2

Type of Establishment Wedding Venue Wedding Venue
Location Nottingham Road Nottingham Road
Case
Number of Employees 28 14
Background No. of Reception Venues 3 2
Chapel on Site Yes Yes
Information Star Grading 4 4
Number of Beds 40 25
Years in Business 16 10
Identification Local 65 80
of guests (%) Foreign 35 20

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

Table 2.2: Summary of background information for Wedding Venues in

Lions River

Name of Establishment LR WV1 LRWV2

Type of Establishment Wedding Venue Wedding Venue
Location Lions River Lions River
Case
Number of Employees 26 15
Background No. of Reception Venues 3 1
Chapel on Site Yes Yes
Information Star Grading 4 4
Number of Beds 40 29
Years in Business 11 6
Identification Local 90 75
of guests (%) Foreign 10 25

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

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Six wedding venues were selected, two from each case area to participate in
the project. A similar unique naming system to the one used above on
restaurants was adopted. CP WV1 means Curry’s Post wedding venue 1, CP
WV2 is Curry’s Post wedding venue 2, NR WV1 means Nottingham Road
wedding venue 1, and LR WV1 means Lions River Wedding Venue 1. CP WV1
is a family run business, the owners who originate from the UK bought the
venue in 2007, and the daughter coordinates weddings. The business is doing
well and the setup is formal with sectional heads employed. NR WV2 is owned
by partners who employed a general manager to run it on their behalf. It’s a 4
star graded popular wedding venue. 80% of the couples booking to getting
married at this venue are locals from within South Africa while the other 20%
are foreigners from countries like the UK, Canada and Australia. Both venues
from Curry’s Post are not graded, while the other 4 venues are all 4 star graded.
All venues have a chapel on the property, have accommodation on the
premises and some have more than one reception venue on the premises.

Table 3: Summary of background information for Lodges in Curry’s Post

Name of Establishment CP L1 CP L2
Type of Establishment Self –Catering B&B Lodge
Location Curry's Post Curry's Post
Case
Number of Employees 4 7
Background Number of Rooms 8 10
No of Beds 12 10
Information Star Grading 0 3
Years in Business 5 8

Identification Local Guests 35 5

of guests (%) Foreign Guests 65 95

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

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Table 3.1: Summary of background information for Lodges in Nottingham
Road

Name of Establishment NR L1 NR L2
Type of Establishment Self-Catering Guesthouse
Nottingham
Location Road Nottingham Road
Case
Number of Employees 2 9
Background Number of Rooms 6 10
No of Beds 8 12
Information Star Grading 3 4
Years in Business 8 6

Identification Local Guests 20 10

of guests (%) Foreign Guests 80 90

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

Table 3.2: Summary of background information for Lodges in Lions River

Name of Establishment LR L1 LR L2
Type of Establishment Country Lodge Lodge
Location Lions River Lions River
Case
Number of Employees 11 6
Background Number of Rooms 12 8
No of Beds 14 12
Information Star Grading 4 0
Years in Business 4 13

Identification Local Guests 10 30

of guests (%) Foreign Guests 90 70

(Sources: Interviews, observation and document analyses)

Six lodges were selected from all the three case areas (two from each area) to
represent the accommodation sector of the broad hospitality industry. A similar

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unique identification system was used to anonymously name the
establishments. A combination of self-catering, bed and breakfast and guest
house establishments were incorporated into the study. CP L1 is a family run
and owned self-catering lodge in Curry’s post. It was formerly a pig rearing farm
that was later turned into a guest farm. It is however not star graded. 65% of
their visitors are foreigners while the other 35% is composed of locals, people
from within South Africa. NR L2 is a 4 star graded guest house in the
Nottingham Road area. It is owned and run by an Afrikaans couple who bought
the place about six years ago. LR L1 is a 4 star graded Country Lodge in Lions
River with 12 rooms all en-suite. “Most of the weekend occupancy is drawn from
people attending weddings at venues within the Midlands” (CP L1, Owner
Manager). Midweek days are however filled by locals on holiday, but overall
foreign guests constitute a larger fraction of the total arrivals. All establishments
used in the research are relatively small with an average of 9 rooms for each
lodge and an average of 11 beds per establishment.

Table 4: Summary of background information for Curio shops or Crafter's

Markets in Curry’s Post

Name of Establishment CP CS1 CP CS2

Type of Establishment Leather Co. Curio Shop
Location Curry's Post Curry's Post
Case
Background Number of Employees 6 2
Information Years in Business 18 6

Identification Local 10 5
of guests (%) Foreign 90 95

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

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Table 4.1: Summary of background information for Curio shops or
Crafter's Markets in Nottingham Road

Name of Establishment NR CS1 NR CS2

Type of Establishment Art Gallery Arts Centre
Nottingham
Location Road Nottingham Road
Case
Background Number of Employees 6 5
Information Years in Business 11 5

Identification Local 3 20
of guests (%) Foreign 97 80

(Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires)

Table 4.2: Summary of background information for Curio shops or

Crafter's Markets in Lions River

Name of Establishment LR CS1 LR CS2

Crafter's
Type of Establishment Market Curio Shop
Location Lions River Lions River
Case
Background Number of Employees 3 2
Information Years in Business 10 7

Identification Local 10 5
of guests (%) Foreign 90 95

Sources: Interviews, observation and Questionnaires

Tables 4, 4.1 and 4.2 above outline the background information of six curio
shops/ crafter’s markets that participated in this research project. Two shops or
establishments were chosen from each of the three case areas under study. A

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unique identification system was used to name the shops, CP CS1 means
Curry’s Post Curio Shop 1, NR CS1 means Nottingham Road Curio Shop 1 and
LR CS1 means Lions River Curio Shop 1. CP CS1 is a family run leather
company with a proper business structure. Most of their products are exported
abroad. It is one of the oldest pioneers of art and craft in the area. It is situated
on their farm, production happens there and there is also a shop selling all their
products and a few that they order elsewhere. The composition of their clientele
base is 90% foreign customers and 10% local customers. Operators bemoan
stiff competition from cheap imports, one operator had this to say;

“The advent of Chinese products and Malls has killed our local market to almost non-
existent” (NR CS1, Owner Manager

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ICTs adopted by participating establishments

ICT systems were generally adopted by the hospitality establishments in the

Midlands of KZN, South Africa as a tool to achievebusiness operational efficiency.
Findings were tabulated into groups of six restaurants, six lodges, six wedding
venues and six curio shops as shown in Tables below. Findings will be discussed in
their individual groupings. The questionnaires administered and interviews
conducted had a section dedicated to finding out the actual ICTs adopted by
individual establishments.

The first question across the board in this section was: “How did you establish your
current ICTs in your establishment? Tick where appropriate

Inherited Systems Introduced Systems Not sure

Chart 1 below shows the responses given across the board, from all twenty-four
establishments included in the study

Chart 1: ICT Adoption mode

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

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Results displayed on the pie chart above demonstrate how establishments
embraced ICTs. More than 50% introduced the systems because they started the
business from scratch hence everything they have is a result of their input. 33%
inherited the systems with the business from either previous owners they bought it
from while some inherited the businesses and the current systems from their parents
(the case with the LR WV1). 13 % are not sure whether the systems were introduced
by owners or were inherited. These responses were obtained from establishments
run by managers who are hired by owners to run the business on their behalf (the
case with NR WV2).

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Table 5: Actual ICT adopted by Wedding Venues in Curry’s Post

ICT Adoption by individual Wedding Examples of

Category of Venues uses
of adopted
ICT Systems LR WV1 LR WV2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology MTN, Vodacom
Vodacom
Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
laptops; iPads, PCs PCs; laptops;
Printers/ Printing,
Technology Photocopiers/scanners/printers photocopiers photocopying

Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows 8 Windows 7 Management
Bookings
Micros Opera management
Online
Networking Internet Internet bookings and
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
Technology Wi-Fi, 3G 3G Internet Emails,
ADSL line Connection Advertising
Speedpoint
Speedpoint Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard,
MasterCard, Amex,
Technologies Dinners Club
End user/
E-commerce site on customer
online payment
website, Online payment security
security (Paygate)
Alarm, rapid
Security Alarm, rapid response response
Security
Other Systems CCTV Cameras, Purposes
LED HD
Audio LED HD TV/VCD/DVD TV/VCD/DVD Entertainment
Screen
Visual projector Conferencing
Conference Entertainment

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Table 5.1: Actual ICT adopted by Wedding Venues in Lions River

ICT Adoption by individual Wedding Examples of

Category of Venues uses
of adopted
ICT Systems LR WV1 LR WV2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology MTN, Vodacom
Vodacom
Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
laptops; iPads; PCs PCs; laptops;
printers; Printing,
Technology Photocopiers/scanners/printers photocopiers photocopying

Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows 8 Windows 7 Management
Bookings
Micros Opera management
Online
Networking Internet Internet bookings and
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
Technology Wi-Fi, 3G 3G Internet Emails,
ADSL line Connection Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard,
MasterCard, Amex,
Technologies Dinners Club
End user/
E-commerce site on customer
online payment
website, Online payment security
security (Paygate)
Alarm, rapid
Security Alarm, rapid response response
Security
Other Systems CCTV Cameras, Purposes
LED HD
Audio LED HD TV/VCD/DVD TV/VCD/DVD Entertainment
Screen
Visual projector Conferencing
Conference Entertainment

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Table 5.2: Actual ICT adopted by Wedding Venues in Nottingham Road

ICT Adoption by individual Wedding Examples of

Category of Venues uses
of adopted
ICT Systems NR WV1 NR WV2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology MTN, Cell C Cell C,
Vodacom
Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
laptops; Tablet; PCs laptops; PCs
Printers/ Printing,
Technology Photocopiers/printers photocopiers photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows 7 Windows XP Management
Bookings
management
Online
Networking Internet Internet bookings and
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
Technology ADSL line Connection 3G Internet Emails,
Wireless
Wi-Fi Hotspots Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard,
MasterCard, Amex, Amex
Technologies Dinners Club
End user/
customer
online payment
security

Alarm, rapid
Security Alarm, rapid response response
CCTV Security
Other Systems Cameras, Purposes
LED HD
Audio LED HD TV/VCD/DVD TV/VCD/DVD Entertainment
Screen
Visual projector Conferencing
Conference Entertainment

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

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Table 5 above shows actual ICTs adopted by wedding venues across all three case
areas of Curry’s Post, Nottingham Road, and Lion River. The results displayed in
Table 4.1 above indicate that the thriving wedding venues CP WV1 and LR WV1
adopted full ICTs and their applications, and are utilizing them well to their benefit
than the financially struggling CP WV2 establishment. Data gathered confirms
perceived importance of ICTs amongst all wedding venues as they all have an active
website each and email addresses. All establishments have speed point machines
(credit card facilities) on site. However only three of the six establishments accept all
cards, while the other three (CP WV 1, CP WV2 and LR WV1) do not accept
American Express credit cards. According to the manager of LR WV1 interviewed,
the cost of running Amex cards far outweighs the benefits as only a few (less than
5%) of their guests have ever wanted to pay with an Amex card.

CP WV2 is owner managed, and the business is also struggling financially.

According to the owner manager interviewed,

“Focus is being directed on revamping physical structures at a slow pace and investment on
ICTs will be considered only after employment of an astute general manager whom we hope
will turn around the fortunes of our business”

They do not have a fixed Telkom landline telephone, they lamented the high monthly
fixed cost of a business line by Telkom while the lines are always down all the time
due to cable theft and weather catastrophes. CP WV1 does not subscribe to armed
security response due to high costs and unavailability of a reliable security company
in the area. On the positive, it’s only them (CP WV2), LR WV1 and LR WV2 that
have a proper booking system and Property Management Systems (PMS) of all the
six establishments. CP WV2 subscribes to NightsBridge, while LR WV1 and LR WV2
each subscribe to Micros and NightsBridge respectively. David (2007) applauds the
relevance of PMS to the hospitality sector. He further recognise their ability to
generateaccuratestock information which enablesfood and beverages managersto
effectively manage their departments through cost reduction and proper food costing
to increase profits. He adds that PMS helps compute customer bills accurately and
timeously all the time.

LR WV1 and NR WV1 have e-commerce sites on their websites as well as security
backup to secure online payments for the benefit of the end user (Customer). They
both use Paygate, a security software that backs and protects online transactions

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from malicious malware and online fraudsters. NR WV1 manager didn’t know about
the ecommerce site and online payments security.

Table 6: Actual ICT adopted by Curio Shops in Curry’s Post

Examples of
Category of ICT Adoption by individual Curio Shops uses
of adopted
ICT Systems CP CS1 CP CS2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology
Vodacom Vodacom
Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
laptops; iPads; PCs laptops; PCs
printers; Printing,
Technology Photocopiers/scanners/printers photocopiers photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Computer
Windows XP Windows Xp applications

Networking Internet Internet

3G internet email Enquiries,
Technology Connection 3G internet Emails,
Connection Advertising
Speed point Facilities
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard, Amex,
Technologies Dinners Club
Security Alarm, rapid response
Security
Other Systems Purposes

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Table 6.1: Actual ICT adopted by Curio Shops in Lions River

ICT Adoption by individual Curio Examples of

Category of Shops uses
of adopted
ICT Systems LR CS1 LR CS2 ICT
Bookings and
enquiries
Telecommunications
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology Cell C,
Vodacom Vodacom
Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
PCs; iPads; laptops PCs; laptops;
Printers/ Printing,
Technology Photocopiers/printers/scanner photocopiers photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Computer
Windows 8 Windows 7 applications

Networking Internet Internet

Website, email email Enquiries,
Technology Wi-Fi 3G internet Emails,
Connection Advertising

Ecommerce Billing Purposes

Technologies
Alarm, rapid
Security response
Security
Other Systems Purposes

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Table 6.2: Actual ICT adopted by Curio Shops in Nottingham Road

Examples of
Category of ICT Adoption by individual Curio Shops uses
of adopted
ICT Systems NR CS1 NR CS2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications land line land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology MTN,
Vodacom, MTN Vodacom
Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
Laptops; Tablet; PCs PCs; laptops;
Printers/Laminators/Scanners Printers/ Printing,
Technology photocopiers photocopiers photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Computer
Windows 7 Windows XP applications

Networking Internet Internet

Website,
email email Enquiries,
Technology ADSL line Connection Wi-Fi Emails,
Wireless
Hotspots Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard,
MasterCard, Amex, Amex
Technologies Dinners Club
Alarm, rapid
Security Alarm, rapid response response
CCTV Security
Other Systems Cameras, Purposes

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

Tables 6, 6.1 and 6.2 above display adopted ICTs by Curio Shops/ Crafter’s Markets
in all three case areas. This sector of the hospitality industry plays a support role to
the accommodation sector and is largely dependent on resorts or cluster of lodges in
one area. CP CS1 is one of the oldest crafters in the Midlands Meander. It’s a well-
run leather company, selling most of their products abroad and they have a healthy

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financial status. They have most of the ICTs necessary to run a business
successfully, including alarms and armed response mechanisms in place.

LR CS1 is a crafter’s market, office set up is located at each individual member’s

house. They do not have an office at the market but individual stalls at the “tourist
hotspot”. They all have cell phones from different mobile operators such as MTN,
Vodacom and Cell C.

“We are relatively new and haven’t yet established a proper communal office to run from as
we are still doing all admin work from home and sales are done here at the market. Our
operations are also quite small to set up a vibrant office with all necessary ICTs as the
overheads will surpass the income thereby killing the business at its inception, we will acquire
all those ICTs at the right time in future” (LR CS1, Partner)

Those were comments from an interview conducted with a co-owner of LR CS1.

Data gathered illustrates that the operators of the crafter’s market are quite keen to
embrace ICTs only at the right time and that they realise the importance of adopting
ICTs for the success of their business. NR CS1 is a formal art gallery and the
business is doing quite well. They adopted all the ICTs sought for, they have a
running website, accept all credit cards, have landline telephone and alarm and
armed response systems in place. Data gathered suggests that the establishments
doing well are bigger in size, have a healthy financial status and are owner
managed.

Data gathered suggests that three of the six establishments are operating above
board while the other three are breaking even and keeping afloat. Among the three
that are struggling, and failing to fully adopt ICTs is LR CS2, the manager had this to
say about their failure to adopt fully;

“There is currently stiff competition, lodges and wedding venues are not supporting us
anymore, they have since opened gift shops on their properties selling artwork from other
crafters and some from China if you could imagine!, we are now relying on passer-by type of
customers and not visitors to the Midlands. For one to afford world class ICTs they should be
making money to finance that, otherwise we will all flock to banks for some loans to finance
those”

The main factor hindering adoption is not ignorance but lack of funding as data
gathered suggests. Funding is limited due to slow business inflows and stiff

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competition from imported artefacts which crafters have labelled as “counterfeit” and
“cheap quality”.

Table 7: Actual ICT adopted by Restaurants in Curry’s Post

Examples of
Category of ICT Adoption by individual Restaurants uses
of adopted
ICT Systems CP R1 CP R2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology Vodacom Vodacom

Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
PC PCs; laptops;
Printing,
Technology photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows XP Windows XP Management
Bookings
RePos Micros management
Networking Internet Internet
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
Technology Wi-Fi, 3G connection 3G internet Emails,
Wireless Hotspots Connection Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard, Amex, MasterCard
Technologies Dinners Club
Point Of Sale
Point Of Sale system system Sales
Alarm, rapid
Security response
Security
Other Systems Alarm, rapid response Purposes
LED HD
Audio LED HD TV/Video/DVD TV/Video/DVD Entertainment
Visual
Equipment

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Table 7.1: Actual ICT adopted by Restaurants in Lions River

Examples of
Category of ICT Adoption by individual Restaurants uses
of adopted
ICT Systems LR R1 LR R2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology Cell C, MTN MTN

Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information andcomponents (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
PCs; laptops; iPads PCs;
Printing,
Technology photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows 8 Windows 7 Management
Bookings
Micros RePos management
Networking Internet Internet
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
3G
Technology Wi-Fi Connection Emails,
ADSL line Connection Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard,
MasterCard, Amex,
Technologies Dinners Club
Point Of Sale
Point Of Sale system system Sales
Alarm, rapid
Security Alarm, rapid response response
Security
Other Systems CCTV Cameras, Purposes
LED HD
Audio LED HD TV/VCD/DVD TV/VCD/DVD Entertainment
Visual
Equipment

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Table 7.2: Actual ICT adopted by Restaurants in Nottingham Road

ICT Adoption by individual Examples of

Category of Restaurants uses
of adopted
ICT Systems NR R1 NR R2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
MTN,
Technology Vodacom Vodacom

Computer
Computer hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
PC PCs; laptops;
Printing,
Technology photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows 7 Windows XP Management
Bookings
Micros management
Networking Internet Internet
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
Technology 3G Connection Wi-Fi Emails,
Wireless
Hotspots Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard,
MasterCard, Amex, Amex
Technologies Dinners Club
Point Of Sale
system Sales
Alarm, rapid
Security Alarm, rapid response response
CCTV Security
Other Systems Cameras, Purposes
LED HD
Audio LED HD TV/VCD/DVD TV/VCD/DVD Entertainment
Visual
Equipment

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

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Tables 7, 7.1 and 7.2 above show ICT components adopted by restaurants in all
three case areas namely Nottingham Road, Curry’s Post and Lions [Link]
evidence gathered from CP R1 manager interviewedindicates that
managementcharacteristics such as attitude, skills, experience and background
knowledge played a major role in ICTs adoption. As anillustration, internet access
(high speed) through Wi-Fi connectivity appeared very relevant and important to the
successful restaurant. Explaining this phenomenon, the ICTs genius CP R1 owner
manager had the pleasure of explaining, during the interview his views about full
adoption of ICTs;

“The idea of wireless internet connection came up following several requests from guests,
mostly those coming from overseas with laptops. Several of them have come here asking for
wireless internet connection for their laptops and we then decided to set up the wireless
hotspot internet and Wi-Fi access here, besides everything is now dependent on technology.
We manage the whole restaurant on a PMS, Point of Sale systems credit card facilities are all
important tools to have as 90% of our clients come from abroad where such systems are
basic in any business”.

Three of the six restaurants under study offer free Wi-Fi connectivity to customers
having their meals at the restaurants. This is perceived as a ‘value added’ initiative
to increase guest satisfaction and build loyalty and repeat business and patronage.
Data gathered confirms comprehensive adoption by restaurants as compared to
other operators in hospitality such as lodges, curio shops and wedding venues. All
restaurants have credit card facilities, point of sale systems and PMS except for one
restaurant NR R1 which does not have a PMS and a point of sale system (POS).

Most of the managers interviewed (5 out of 6) mentioned that the engagement of

high technology security systems such as CCTV cameras and alarms for armed
response were prompted by vulnerability of their clients late at night after a few
drinks one could be violent and disturb other patrons or they could fall prey to
criminals as they exit the restaurants hence need for cameras everywhere. All six
restaurants have high definition plasma units and audio systems for entertainment
such as live sports matches.

According to CP R1 manager, they experience high volumes on Saturdays as people

come to have drinks or dinner while watching a live rugby match with friends. This
has prompted all restaurant operators to follow suit and adopt these technologies.

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Three out of six have fixed line telephones from Telkom while three say they have
given up on fixed lines as they are always faulty due to cable theft. They rely on
mobile cell phones as they are sure not to lose business as they will be accessible
anytime for bookings. All three major mobile networks (MTN, Vodacom, and Cell C)
were found to be in use by all six restaurants.

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Table 8: Actual ICT adopted by Lodges in Curry’s Post

Actual ICT Adoption by individual Examples of

Category of Lodges uses
of adopted
ICT Systems CP L1 CP L2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology MTN, Vodacom Vodacom

Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
Laptops, PCs; iPads PCs; laptops;
Printers/ scanners/ printers; Printing,
Technology Laminators photocopiers photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows XP Windows Xp Management
Bookings
Semper Micros management
Online
Networking Internet Internet bookings and
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
Technology Wi-Fi , Satellite Internet 3G internet Emails,
Wireless Hotspots Connection Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard, Amex, MasterCard
Technologies Dinners Club
E-commerce site on
End user/
website, Online payment customer
online payment
security (Paygate) security
Alarm, rapid
Security CCTV Cameras, response
Security
Systems Alarm, rapid response Purposes
Other Guest room key cards
LED HD
Audio Overhead-Screen projector TV/VCD/DVD Conferencing
Workshops,
Visual LED HD TV/VCD/DVD seminars
Conference Equipment Entertainment

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Table 8.1: Actual ICT adopted by Lodges in Lions River

Actual ICT Adoption by individual Examples of

Category of Lodges uses
of adopted
ICT Systems LR L1 LR L2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology Vodacom Vodacom

Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
and
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
PCs; laptops; iPads PCs; laptops;
printers; scanners/ Printers/ Printing,
Technology photocopiers photocopiers photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows 8 Windows 7 Management
Bookings
Micros Opera management
Online
Networking Internet Internet bookings and
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
Technology Wi-Fi 3G Internet Emails,
ADSL line Connection Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard,
MasterCard, Amex,
Technologies Dinners Club
E-commerce site on
End user/
website, Online payment customer
online payment
security (Paygate) security
Alarm, rapid
Security Alarm, rapid response response
Security
Systems Purposes
Other
LED HD
Audio Overhead-Screen projector TV/VCD/DVD Conferencing
Workshops,
Visual LED HD TV/VCD/DVD seminars
Conference Equipment Entertainment

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Table 8.2: Actual ICT adopted by Lodges in Nottingham Road

Actual ICT Adoption by individual Examples of

Category of Lodges uses
of adopted
ICT Systems NR L1 NR L2 ICT
Bookings and
Telkom Telkom enquiries
Telecommunications Land line Land line
Cell phones Cell phones Communication
Technology MTN, Cell C, MTN
Vodacom
Computer Computer
hardware hardware Typing
And
components
Information and components (e.g. (e.g. Record keeping
PCs; laptops; Tablet, PCs; laptops;
Printers/ photocopiers/ printers; Printing,
Technology Laminators photocopiers photocopying
Computer
Computer Software Software
Property
Windows 7 Windows XP Management
Bookings
Micros management
Online
Networking Internet Internet bookings and
Website,
Website, email email Enquiries,
Wi-Fi, 3G
Technology ADSL line Connection Connection Emails,
Wireless
Hotspots Advertising
Speed point
Speed point Facilities Facilities
Cards
accepted:
Ecommerce Cards accepted: Visa; Visa; Billing Purposes
MasterCard,
MasterCard, Amex, Amex
Technologies Dinners Club
E-commerce
site on
website,
Online End user/
payment customer
security online payment
(Paygate) security
Alarm, rapid
Security Alarm, rapid response response
CCTV Security
Systems Cameras, Purposes
Other
Screen
Audio LED HD TV/Video/DVD projector Conferencing
LED HD Workshops,
Visual TV/Video/DVD seminars
Conference Equipment Entertainment
(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

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Tables 8, 8.1 and 8.2 above display actual ICTs adopted by lodges from all three
case areas under study. Data gathered suggest that ICTs adoption in this group is
still at lower levels. Of all six lodges, only one has got an active e-commerce site on
their website (NR L2), two lodges do not accept cards (CP L1 and CP L2), while only
two out of six lodges have a property management system (PMS).

An interview with the owner manager of CP L1 gave the research some clues about
the backwardness in terms of adoption in this group, the manager said;

“Our major challenge is that of huge competition as everyone in the area who has a farm has
turned into a little B&B or self-catering unit while some with greater financial muscles have
turned farms into wedding venues. Having said that, you will find out that we are all sitting
with zero occupancies midweek and get a few bookings over the weekend most of which are
overspills from wedding venues. Most of us are breaking even and not making any money out
of the business. We have very little left over after paying overheads, which we can invest in
ICTs” (CP L1, Manager)

The comment from owner manager of CP L1 was an eye opener as it highlights real
challenges faced by these micro operators in the remote areas of the Midlands. Half
of the Lodges interviewed have fixed landline phones while the other half do not
have. They now depend on mobile phones as they lament on cable theft and poor
response from Telkom to faulty lines due to whether catastrophes.

All lodges have some form of internet connectivity, however only 3 have internet
available for guest use through Wi-Fi connectivity. The manager of CP L2 opened up
during the interview, about their inability to embrace vibrant internet connectivity;

“A working system for rural internet is the acquisition of satellite internet connectivity as fixed
lines are always faulty due to cable theft and bad weather prevalent in the area. However, the
cost of installation of such is anything between R16, 000 and R22, 000 which is quite hefty
given our cash flows and revenue levels that are seriously very low. I do not cancel the idea
of investing in ICTs but the matter for us small operators requires all players including
government to intervene and resuscitate the micro business, we can’t consider loans for
setting up internet as we are servicing our bonds and vehicle finances”

Data gathered suggests that adoption of ICTs is linked to business prosperity. Early
adopters like NR L2 do not agree to that suggestion, they concluded that success
comes from full adoption. According to the manager of NR L2;

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 “Business success in this competitive environment is fuelled by full adoption of ICTs, we
sacrificed a lot to be here today, we decided to sell our top of the range cars a few years ago
and invested in ICTs and marketing and now we are enjoying the benefits. ICTs are vital for
marketing and effective management of the business”

4.2 Internet Connectivity Availability for Guests

Question; Do your guests ever ask for internet connectivity?

This question was asked to all twenty-four participating establishments and the
results were aggregated and displayed in the graph below;

Figure 4: Frequency of guests asking for internet connectivity

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

About 79% of respondents confirmed that their guests ask for internet availability,
these are wedding venues, restaurants and lodges, the remaining 21% who
responded with a ‘No’ and ‘Not Applicable’ are Curio shops. Those that said the
question was not applicable are Crafters Market. They argued that customers stop
by for a few minutes to buy, they have no seating areas for guests where they can
use internet, unlike in lodges and restaurants. Only one establishment classified

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under curio shops (Art Gallery) confirmed that their customers ask for internet
connectivity, they have a lobby and tea garden where customers get to sit down and
get a chance to use their ICT gadgets

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Question: Is free internet available for guest use?

Figure 5: Availability of free internet for guest use

(Source: Questionnaire and Interviews)

This question was asked to all participants across the board and, - responses
obtained suggest that internet availability for guests’ use was largely dependent on
success and financial prosperity of the business. Five out of six restaurants offer free
connectivity via Wi-Fi, three wedding venues also supply free internet to guests as
well as one curio shop (art gallery) and three lodges. Three lodges mentioned that it
is expensive to share internet with guests as they use 3G connectivity and that data
bundles from mobile network operators is soaring high given the fact that data
packages are capped. According to CP WV1 Owner manager,

“It is costly to set up a viable internet connectivity system for guest use, the way to go is
acquire satellite internet like we have done. It is uncapped, fast and reliable so we offer it free
of charge to all our guests via Wi-Fi. The monthly subscription is quite affordable, the benefit
of having far outweighs the cost of running it as its one of our strategies to increase guest
satisfaction”

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Five of the curio shops do not offer any internet connectivity to guests, three said it is
not applicable as guests spend an average of ten to twenty minutes buying artworks
and leave immediately.

Question: How reliable is your internet service provider?

Figure 6: Internet service provider reliability

(Source: Interviews and Questionnaires)

The above question sought to establish the reliability of internet services providers,
that is, the speed of connectivity, response to faults reported and value for money.
Eight percent reported that the service was excellent. These use Satellite internet.
They highlighted that connection is ever available and the signal and speed are very
high, data is uncapped therefore good value for money. Eight percent highlighted
that the service was poor. These use 3G connectivity for a mobile operator whom
they said signal is intermittent, data is capped and expensive hence they cannot
afford to offer it free to guests. Fifty percent said the service is good; these use both
3G and ADSL connectivity, while 33% said it is average. These use 3G connectivity,
they lament high cost of data bundles and the fact that data is capped. They

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mentioned that they do not get value for money as there are no added benefits to the
available packages.

4.3 ICT for Marketing

Question: Does your website have a visitor counter facility?

Figure 7: Website visitor count facility

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

The question above was structured to establish the amount of potential customers
visiting individual establishment. It was aimed at finding out the power of websites as
ICT components in drawing the attention of guests to products marketed through
websites. The results obtained suggest that most operators have failed to develop
active websites that can establish an amount of visits on the website on either daily,
weekly or monthly basis. 75% registered a ‘NO’, while 17% registered a ‘Yes’ and
8% (Curio Shop) said it was ‘Not Applicable’ to them. According to LR L2 Manager,

“This is an important eye opener as having a website as a marketing tool does not mean
anything if one cannot establish or know how many people are actually visiting their website
every day or week. I think we will definitely go back to the drawing board and ask our web
developer to put that feature for us”

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Most of the operators who said they didn’t have the visitor count facility were quite
fascinated to find out there was such a clever tool to establish how many people hit
on one’s website. Something they said was worth incorporating on their websites.

Question: Which social networks does your establishment market on?

Figure 8: Marketing through social networks

(Sources: Interviews and questionnaires)

All establishments across the board demonstrated a keen interest in the social
media. Lodges and wedding venues were more enlightened and adopted more than
restaurants and curio shops. Facebook was the more popular followed by Instagram,
and twitter trailed behind. An interview with NR WV1 Manager enlightened the
researcher on adoption and utilisation of these social networks as the researcher
wanted to establish why Facebook was so popular than any others?

“Facebook is the leading social network, besides its easy to use and understand than the other two
(Instagram and Twitter). Everyone is on Facebook, opening a Facebook page is like opening an instant

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 marketing platform that grows gradually and attracts relevant target groups. It also gives you a chance
to interact and respond to your followers as well as posting pictures for them to see” (NR WV1,
Manager)

Question: How effective are social networks as marketing tools?

Figure 9: Effectiveness of social networks as marketing tools

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

The above question was received with mixed feelings. It was drafted in an effort to
gather first-hand experiences on the successes and effectiveness of these Social
Medias as marketing tools. Twenty-five percent of the overall respondents affirmed
that they are very effective. These are wedding venues, with a dedicated marketing
manager, trained in modern marketing and social networks marketing channels. 42%
agreed that they were effective, while 16% say they are average and 17% say they
are poor. An interview conducted with NR WV2 Manager was an eye opener, the
manager said:

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 “Social media marketing requires putting a capable and well trained marketing personnel to
spearhead the campaign, otherwise randomly setting up a Facebook page will not draw the
required attention and at the end wrong followers are attracted, and resources such as labour
and time would have been wasted”

Question: Which booking and marketing sites does your establishment subscribe to?

Figure 10: Bookings and marketing sites used by hospitality establishments

(Source: Interviews and questionnaire)

This question found more relevance with lodges and wedding venues
(accommodation establishments). Curio shops recorded zero percent subscription to
booking sites as they lamented that their business set up does not work on a pre-
booking set system. Restaurants too, followed suit but acknowledged use of
marketing and service review sites such as Trip Advisor. SA Venues was the most
popular used booking site, followed by Safari Now. Trip Advisor was highlighted by
most as Marketing oriented as it is mainly a service review site, working well as a
marketing platform. [Link] was last on the list, the reason established being

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that they charge for listing an establishment and a commission for every booking
secured.

Question: Does your establishment have a Property Management System?

Ten out of the twenty-four establishment answered ‘Yes’ to this question, eight
answered ‘No’, while six (Curio shops) answered ‘Not Applicable’. The question was
meant to gather information on adoption of a PMS for effective management of an
establishment. Of the ten which answered ‘yes’, five were restaurants, two lodges
and three wedding venues. Figure 4.8 below aggregates the responses obtained
from all four groups.

Figure 11: PMS Adoption by establishments

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

The above graph depicts that PMS are more popular with the restaurants in the
Midlands, followed by wedding venues. Lodges are trailing behind with only two
establishments having adopted out of six which were interviewed. According to NR
R2 Manager interviewed;
“The nature of our operation requires accurate food and beverage management, through
good stock management, revenue management, and sound financial management hence one

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 requires a system that integrates all these tasks to effectively manage your restaurant, so
PMS packages are the way to go these days”

The interpretation was that properties are embracing PMS for their ability to integrate
management functions’ such as reports, financials, stock management etc.

Question: In your view, is a PMS relevant for effective management? Please

comment

Twelve respondents replied with a ‘yes’, five replied with a ‘no’ while one replied with
an ‘it depends’ answer, this response was elaborated on

“Its effectiveness will depend on relevancy and proper training for the users, the major
challenge I see besides is lack of skills in our staff. If workers are well trained and the system
is fully adopted, then PMS becomes relevant for effective management” (NR R2 Manager)

Comments from respondents who said yes the PMS was relevant were itemised
below:
 The general manager always has factual information on which to make
decisions. Important information is readily available through reports that
can be accessed anytime.
 It links our front and back office automatically, orders are passed to
kitchen and the kitchen in return send information to the front office for
billing process. At the same time the food and beverage manager gets
reports on which to effect orders when food stocks are low, its simply an
‘amazing web’.
 It saves us time in that stock takes are automatic and one doesn’t need to
run around the whole lodge to place orders and transport bills from
restaurant to front office for guests to settle when checking in. It’s a very
important development in modern management.
 It has cut our wage bill substantially.
 I am managing this establishment from one point, saving me time and
energy. But I always spend a lot of time training new staff as people are
always on the move.

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  It is relevant and a good management system but one needs to go out and
meet guests on a one on one basis to find out how they are finding our
services. It has a tendency though of keeping me locked in my office as
everything is accessible from my computer, where as one actually needs
to walk around and make sure everyone is doing their jobs.
 We are a small operation; our PMS has helped us keep our standards high
through effective financial management.

A summary of the comments above shows:

 Most operators recognise the relevance of PMS in their business
 PMS have integrated operations of individual establishments
 Managers are quite aware that they need to back up PMS with manual
systems as they cannot entirely cover everything.

Question: Does the adoption and utilisation of ICTs have an effect on customer
service quality? Comment
The question above was asked to all the twenty-four participants across the board,
all participants answered ‘yes’, which is a hundred percent acknowledgement of the
effect of ICTs on service quality. Below is a list of comments randomly picked from
all responses;
 ICTs have positive effects; they make booking for a room convenient in the
comfort of their homes via email or website enquiry
 We offer free Wi-Fi and our guests love that and always comment positively
on that extra mile we go
 Secure payments have been made possible by adopting Paygate online
security and that puts our guests at easy knowing their cards and bank
accounts are secure while transacting with us.
 Through our PMS, guests can book meals from their rooms without coming to
the restaurant and order drinks from the bar through the system and pay once
for everything on checkout, how convenient!
 Guests can compare many establishments at one go via booking portals like
Safari Now, which we subscribe to and choose the one they like and book via

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 website without wasting a lot of money driving around shopping for a room or
making endless calls.
 ICTs speed up everything, the booking process, billing process and check out
 It saves our guests a lot of money as they now find us only unlike travel to
tourist information centres.
 Credit card facilities and e-commerce availability means our guests will need
not to travel with large sums of cash which is high risky for any traveller, so
this puts them at easy knowing they are safe and their money will not be
accessed by criminals.
Summary: All participants agree that adoption of ICTs have positive effects on
customers’ service quality. They all have positive comments about the service quality
emanating from ICTs adoption.

Question: What are the challenges of adopting and utilisation of ICTs in your
establishment? Please Comment

The above question was asked to all twenty-four participants across the board. The
results were tabulated and aggregated to show the common problems observed by
operators. Figure 4.9 below shows the problems identified

Figure 12: Challenges of adopting and using ICTs

(Source: Interviews and questionnaires)

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Comments given by respondents are listed below randomly. They all cover the
above classified challenges of financing ICTs, skills shortage, relevance of ICTs and
other challenges:
 In my opinion packages like PMS are irrelevant to us small operators in that
we are quite small to want full computerised systems, besides its only us
owners and three other employees working here
 ICTs are so expensive to buy, install and maintain, we do not make that much
money to invest in sophisticated systems that won’t bring much benefit to us
 We lack skills here to use those, to start with we are not even well informed
on how those operate. None of my employees is that educated to run a PMS
 Most of my employees are Zulu literate and these packages are offered only
in English which make them not user friendly as the interface is only available
in one language which is English and not vernacular.
 We can afford to buy them but maintenance cost may soar as time goes on,
besides these modern ICTs become obsolete quickly and one has to upgrade
often which all costs money.
 Monthly internet costs are high, internet scams are on the rife, and online
transactions security is compromised.

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4.4 Summary
Chapter four dealt with the analysis of data collected from the respondents. In the
early sections of the chapter, the summarised background information of the
participating establishments was discussed. This was very important as it introduced
the actual participants, which also aided in understanding their attributes in relation
to adopted ICTs.
Further to the general background information, the actual ICTs adopted by each of
the 24 selected respondents were tabulated. This helped draw a specific picture of
the situation on the ground rather than just generalise on the adoption and utilisation,
something that would have affected the validity of the data.

Sections that followed outlined responses obtained from respondents; some were
direct quotations from interviewed persons. Various forms of data presentation were
employed depending of data to be computed. A combination of pie charts and
descriptions were used as well as graphs, tables and general descriptions to present
the findings from the field work carried out.

The following chapter, (chapter 5) which is also the last chapter of the project deals
with conclusions and recommendations following from the data obtained from the
fieldwork. It attempts to tally the findings from literature with what was obtained in the
field and to come up with conclusions. Having drawn conclusions, the researcher will
recommend possible solutions to the gaps and limitations unearthed in the research.
Lastly, areas that other researchers might want to pursue in future following from the
research findings, will be suggested.

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CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction
The previous chapter is directly linked to this current chapter. Their relationship is
symbiotic in that chapter 5 is hugely dependent on the findings tabulated in chapter
4, while chapter 4 makes more sense after reading the discussions in chapter 5. In
the previous chapter, the findings from the actual research were discussed in detail.
In this current chapter (chapter 5), the key findings from the study are summarised.
Information obtained from literature is tallied against findings from the field to
establish if there were any gaps. Conclusions are drawn from the findings and then
recommendations are made.

5.1.1 Summary of Findings

Based on data obtained and analysed, the following key findings were made:

5.1.2 Level of ICTs and E-commerce Adoption

On the adoption of ICTs and E-commerce, the study established that operators were
aware of the need to adopt systems and tools for business operations. It was also
established that ICT hardware used by these hospitality establishments were
computers, laptops, iPads, printers and audio equipment, software such as Property
Management Systems (PMS), Websites, online reservations, internet connectivity
(Satellite, ADSL, 3G, Wi-Fi hotspots), emails, fixed and mobile telephones.

The results show that hospitality establishments in the Natal Midlands of KZN use
ICTs and e-commerce to perform information gathering and management, emailing
services, marketing, online transactions, online security, property security
management, entertainment, reservations, and conferencing. Of all 24 units included
in the study, only six adopted a Property Management System (PMS). This
revelation does not only deviate from the second assumption of the study
(Successful operation hinges on full utilisation of ICT and e-commerce), but raises
concerns with regards to the failure by proprietors to adopt this useful tool. Buhalis

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and Egger (2008) applauded the positive impact of PMS in effective management of
hotels. The lack of skills and the general knowledge about these important ICTs
displayed by respondents explains a bit about this failure to adopt. Breukel and Go
(2009) emphasized on the importance of staff training and development as it is the
first step for keen entrepreneurs towards full adoption of these ICTs. It is also
necessary given the fact that Bronkhorst (2014), projected that there will be about
29.8 million internet users in South Africa by 2016, making it increasingly necessary
to fully adopt.

5.1.3 Benefits of using ICTs and E-commerce

Basu and Muylle, (2007), suggested that companies must gain two fundamental
types of benefits from e-business. These are generally described as: Value Creation
or Value Enhancement and lower cost of providing goods and services to the
market.
An example of value creation include improvement in internal and external
communications through effective e-marketing, increased business through an e-
commerce enabled website integrated with a back-office system. As a result, great
customer service quality will be achieved (Basu and Muylle, 2007).

Examples of reduced or lower cost are: reduction in communication and travel costs
by using online tools such as online reservations by guests in the comfort of their
homes. This research confirmed these positives of ICTs as suggested by reviewed
literature. The researcher found out that hospitality business operators enjoy many
benefits from ICTs and e-commerce. Availability of online payments, according to
lodge managers interviewed, enable bookings to be confirmed before clients arrive
and minimise the chance of last minute cancellation which was predominantly a
major challenge before the advent of e-commerce.

The research findings confirm that marketing costs are reduced through online
marketing and social media marketing. This is in contrast of suggestions by a variety
of scholars (Ngwenyama and Morawczynski, 2007; MacGregor and Vrazalic, 2006)
who regretted the high cost of ICT maintenance, which suggests their applications in
marketing and reservations draws out a substantial amount of money from the

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business, outweighing the benefits they bring into the business. On the contrary, the
situation on the ground is different. Operators interviewed applauded ICTs for
increasing guests’ satisfaction as booking a room has been made easier since
guests can do that in the comfort of their homes through web based bookings and e-
commerce platforms for payments to confirm bookings.

Operators asserted that ICTs have increased management efficiency through PMS
and, it has been established that accurate reports produced from such software
programmes help managers make and execute sound decisions and strategies for
business expansion. Basic benefits include good stock management, accurate
financial reporting, integration of in-house functions such as software linked
operations between the restaurant, front office, kitchen, the bar and finance office.
Time is not wasted by staff moving between work stations submitting orders or bills
as these are sent automatically from the POS system to kitchen, front office and
finance.

5.1.4 Challenges of adopting and using ICTs and E-commerce

Many writers of e-business extol the enormous potential and opportunities provided
for consumers and business globally. However, there are some drawbacks
associated with the adoption of ICTs (Bynoe, 2002).

While many commentators hold the view that e-business has many advantages for
developing counties, the African continent has a number of major challenges to
overcome before it can fully exploit the benefits of e-business. A number of
constraints, specific to doing e-business in Africa, are apparent (Akoh, 2001). These
include but not limited to the following: low level of economic development and small
per-capita incomes; limited skills base with which to build e-business services; the
number of internet users need to build a critical mass of online consumers and; lack
of familiarity with even traditional forms of electronic business such as telephone
sales and credit card use (Akoh, 2001).

This study found out that despite the benefits that accrue to business operating with
the aid of ICTs and e-commerce, it was still fraught with challenges. The major
challenges identified were the applicability of imported systems to the local remote

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establishments of the Natal Midlands, poor network infrastructure, lack of knowledge
of IT and e-commerce and the relatively high cost associated with investment in
ICTs.

The other challenges identified are the lack of applicability to other businesses
especially curio shops, lack of ICT skills and competencies among operators and
their managers, and the failure to supply software and operating systems like PMS in
vernacular as the majority of employees understand vernacular languages other than
English. These challenges were found to be the major hindrance to total business
integration.

Though all respondents had some technology that enabled them to use e-business,
these factors affected negatively the attitude of stakeholders towards using it. The
challenges militating against the adoption of ICTs are indicative of the difficulties in
the adoption of ICTs and e-commerce.

5.2 Conclusion

This study revealed that establishments in the Midlands have adopted ICTs as part
of their strategy. The purposes for adopting are to: gather and manage information,
perform e-mailing functions, develop and run websites, transact online and perform
electronic marketing functions. However, these small establishments have not been
able to adopt full ICT systems and integrate them for effective management,
marketing and customer service quality.

It can also be concluded that ICTs have been beneficial to the businesses that
adopted them. In respect of benefits accruing to the establishments, it was gathered
that adopting ICTs resulted in improved customer satisfaction through, convenient
booking systems via emails and website based bookings in the comfort of their
homes, improved stock management and increased profits due to reduced food
costs caused by pilferage, effective marketing through online channels and overall
effective property management.

It can also be concluded that ICT adoption and utilisation is still confronted with
some challenges. Notwithstanding the fact that e-business has been touted as a

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valuable concept in leveraging business opportunities, it is still fraught with a lot of
problems in South Africa. Major challenges established were lack of skills in staff,
lack of finance to purchase ICTs, lack of knowledge on which ICTs to adopt and their
advantages to the operators and the unavailability of ICT interfaces developed in
vernacular languages, have affected attitude towards the use of the ICTs.

5.3 Recommendations

Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations have been made
to improve and encourage full adoption and utilisation of ICTs and e-commerce in
the hospitality industry:

 The call for adoption to be put on national agenda through

formulation of policies that encourage small operators to adopt ICTs as the
only way to put themselves on the world map. Government through
treasury should set up funding for such, as operators are failing to raise
capital for such. This will increase business and expansion as it means
more people will be employed. In other words, government needs to look
at it as a way of helping companies create more jobs for the general
populace.
 The department of Tourism should partner with the Culture Art
Tourism Hospitality and Sports Sector Education and Training Authority
(Cathsseta), and develop training programmes and short courses to boost
IT skills of the workforce of small establishments in the hospitality industry.
 Hospitality representative boards should lobby for user friendly
applications from manufacturers, for example Property Management
Systems and any other basic software to come in vernacular languages,
such as IsiZulu, to cater for the vast majority of South Africans who
understand languages other than English.
 Small establishments should aim to start small in adoption and
adopting more sophisticated ICT as the business grows.

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5.4 Directions for Future Research

It is recommended that students and the academia conduct further studies to

enhance knowledge that will address ICT concepts in the hospitality industry in
South Africa, especially from the customers’ perspective. The following could be
possible areas of interest:

• The prospects of local languages use on ICT interfaces and

their contribution to the increase in ICT adoption.
• Factors affecting the growth of e-business in South Africa.
• What the future of ICTs and e-commerce adoption in South
Africa should be?
• Government policies and legal framework in relation to
promotion of ICTs adoption and utilization in South Africa

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Questionnaire for Hospitality and Tourism Establishments

This questionnaire has been designed with the purpose of finding relevant facts on
the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and e-commerce
for effective management, marketing and customer service quality in small
remote hospitality establishments: A case study of the Natal Midlands,
KwaZulu Natal South Africa. The results or responses will be guaranteed strict
confidentiality and will not be used for any other purposes. For the reasons of the
interviewee`s privacy, names will be withheld. Please fill in your opinions in all
applicable areas

Interviewee Personal Details

Occupation…………………………………………………………………..

Gender……………………………………………………………………….

Age……………………………………………………………………………

Background Information

1. Select the type of your establishment (Tick where appropriate)

Lodge Restau Wedding Curio

(B&B/ S/C) rant venue shop

2. How many years have your business been in operation?

.............................
3. Location of
Establishment………………………………………………………...
4. Number of Employees working at your
establishment…………………………
5. How is your clientele composed? Fill in below

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 Locals Foreigners

% %

6. How many Dining rooms does your establishment

have?............................
7. Do you specialise on any certain foods and which meals do you serve?
Tick where appropriate below
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
..................................................

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

8. Is your establishment Star graded? If yes, how many stars is your

establishment……………….
9. For Wedding venues, how many reception halls do you
have?..........................
10. How many Beds does your establishment have……………?
11. Do you have a chapel on site?.............................................

ICT and e-commerce tools

12. How did you establish your ICTs in your business? Tick where
appropriate

Inherited Introduced Not Sure

Systems Systems

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 13. Does your establishment have any of the following tools?

Tool Y N N/
es O A

Computer (desk top/ laptop)

Landline telephone

Fax (landline/ fax to email)

Speed point (card machine)

Point of sale (POS) system

Company cell phone

14. What other ICTs do you have and what do you use them? Complete the table
below

Category of ICTs ICTs Adopted Uses

Telecommunications

Software

Networking
Technology

Ecommerce

Security Systems

Audio Visual
Conference

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Software, Connectivity and interface
15. Does your establishment have any of the following software, connectivity and
interface?

Item Ye No N/
s A

ADSL internet connection

Wi-Fi

Property Management
System (PMS)

Website

E-mail account(s)

3G connectivity (Dongle)

Satellite internet

16. How reliable is your internet service provider?

Excellent Good Average Poor

17. Is your internet connectivity available for guest use?

Yes No N/A

18. If the answer to the above is no, do they ever ask for internet connectivity?

Yes No N/A

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 19. How do your guests feel when you tell them that internet is not available for
their use?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………

20. If the answer to question 18 is yes, in what form do you provide internet
connectivity to your guests?

ADSL Wi-Fi 3G dongle

21. Does your guests ever ask for internet connectivity?................................

22. Do your charge your guests to use internet at your establishment?................
23. If the answer to question 22 is yes, how much do you charge them?...............
24. Does your website have a visitor count facility? Tick where appropriate

Yes No N/A

25. Does your website have an e-commerce site? That is online booking and
payment facility?
Yes No N/A

26. If the answer to the above is yes, does your website offer any security to the
end user (guest) through software such as ‘Paygate’?
Yes No N/A

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 27. Does your business subscribe to such social networks as Facebook, twitter,
whatsapp?
Yes No N/A

28. If the answer to question 28 is yes, which ones do you use most?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

29. How do you find these social sites as an effective marketing channel? Tick
and comment
Very Effective Average Poor
effective

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………
30. Does your establishment subscribe to any booking sites, marketing sites or
associations?
Yes No N/A

31. If the answer to Question 31 is yes, which sites do you subscribe to?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

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…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………

32. Do you have a Property Management System (PMS)? Tick where appropriate
Yes No N/A

33. In your view, is a PMS relevant for effective management? Please comment
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………
Importance of ICT and e-commerce
34. In your own opinion, why is ICT and e-commerce application in remote
hospitality establishments useful?
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................
...................................................

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 35. Does the adoption and utilisation of ICTs have an effect on customer service
quality? Comment
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………….

Challenges of acquiring and using ICT and e-commerce

36. What are the challenges of acquiring and using ICT and e-commerce in
remote establishments?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………

Thank you kindly for your time and cooperation.

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