Determinants of hotel room rates in Uganda : a case study of Kampala district

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the determinants of hotel room rates in Kampala Uganda. The specific objective was to explore the relationship between hotel room rates and the hotel room attributes. The study was carried out in Kampala district, in the central part of Uganda. Kampala is a host to a number of hotels in Uganda, including Star rated hotels and suburb hotels. The study adopted a quantitative cross-sectional approach of data analysis on single room bookings in Kampala collecting room prices plus hotel characteristics, room features, and the spatial attributes around the hotel. The quantitative method was used with closed-ended items from the questionnaire. This method employed measurement, which formed a platform for a search. This was all applied on a sample size of 143respondents using questionnaires and an interview guide. The study established that the predictors of hotel room rates are a distance from a major attraction center, star rating, and the number of reviews, average score, toilet paper tea coffee maker, and soundproof insulation. Out of the eight hypotheses, only four were supported: however, the following hypothesis were not supported; there is a relationship between a hotel room rate and a hotel room with an air-conditioner, there is a relationship between a hotel room rate and a hotel room with a bathtub, there is a relationship between a hotel room rate and a hotel room with a city view and there is a relationship between a hotel room rate and a hotel room with a lake view. The study findings recommend that hotel owners should furnish their hotel rooms with these particular attributes; tea coffee makers should be installed in rooms since tea is becoming a universal drink so that guests even at the wee hours of the night can make and drink tea, toilet paper for hygiene is a necessary evil where even a one-star hotel must-have in the room. This will hinder noise pollution from discomforting the guests.