ABSTRACT

The study focused on the influence of innovation on sustainability of hotel establishments in Umuahia, Abia State. The objectives of the study are; to identify the innovations used in hotel establishments in the study area, to examine the level of application of innovations in hotel establishments in the study area, to examine the influence of the identified innovations on the sustainability of hotel establishments in the study area and to identify the factors affecting innovation in hotel establishments in the study area. To achieve the objective of the study, survey research design was adopted. The researcher adopted primary data in getting the required information through the use of structured questionnaire. The population of the study is 38 registered hotels in Umuahia, Abia State with 540 staff strength. The sample size of the study is 225 after adopting Taro Yamane formula. In analysis the data, simple regression analysis was used. The findings revealed that Digital concierge service, customizable hotel bookings, Ai-integrated hotel rooms, mobile room keys, twitter-activated hotels, free wifi and chatbots are the innovations used in hotel establishments in the study area, the findings also revealed that there is high level of application of digital concierge service, customizable hotel bookings, ai-integrated hotel rooms, mobile room keys, twitter-activated hotels, free wifi and chatbots in hotel establishments in the study area. The result of the question one have a grand mean 3.50, the question two has a grand mean of 3.42, question three has grand mean of 3.39 and the fourth question has a grand mean of 3.41. The whole variables in the analysis are accepted. Based on the result, the study recommends that Hotels should engage in innovations such as customized hotel bookings, digital concierge, mobile room keys among others in order to enhance hotel sustainability. The effective management and implementation of innovation can be an excellent way for hotels to improve service standards, and to create a competitive advantage.