ABSTRACT

The study investigated “Small and Medium Scale accommodation enterprises as drivers of inclusive growth in South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study Survey method was applied for data collection and this involved  majorly the use of questionnaires. Four (4) hypotheses were proposed for the study. Seven Hundred and Thirty Nine respondents comprising of Three hundred of forty four (344) owners of SMAEs and Three hundred and ninety five (395) employees were administered with questionnaires out of which Three hundred and forty (340) copies and Three hundred and ninety  (390) copies were returned by the owners and employees respectively. The research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while the test of hypotheses were carried out using simple Chi-sqare. All were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance and SPSS version 20 was the statistical tool used in all the analysis. The study showed that provision of infrastructure has significant effect on the ability of small and medium scale accommodation enterprises (SMAEs) to drive inclusive growth. This was confirmed by test of hypothesis 1 which has the X² calculated at 20 and X² tabulated at 15.98  and applying the decision rule (reject Ho if X² calculated is greater than X² tabulated or accept Ha and reject Ho if X² calculated is less than X² tabulated). There is significant relationship on the influence of regulatory framework in the performance of small and medium scale accommodation enterprises to drive inclusive growth in South east, Nigeria. This was confirmed by test of hypothesis 2 where the X² calculated is 83.43 and the X² tabulated is 15.98. Also the result showed that there is no significant difference on the effect of nature of employment created by SMAEs on employees quality of life. This was confirmed by test of hypothesis 3 where the X² calculated is 55.5 and the X²tabulated is 15.98. Also there is significant difference between the opinion of SMAEs owners and employees with regards quality of employment provided by SMAEs. The findings concluded that to a large extent the existence of SMAEs in south east Nigeria has potentials to drive inclusive growth in the region owning to its ability to provide gainful employment to unemployed occupants of the region. Based on these findings, the researcher recommended the harmonization of all operating licences and taxes in order to encourage the growth and sustainability of SMAEs in south East. Policy formulation and implementation by lawmakers that will encourage the growth of SMAEs. Public -private partnership in the provision and maintenance of basic infrastructures which will lead to sustainable ways of improving the quality of life of occupants of south east Nigeria.