Effect of business proximity to infrastructure on the relationship between informal hospitality services and socioeconomic well-being of women entrepreneurs in selected counties in Kenya

Abstract

Despite hospitality services being considered an income diversification, the extent to which it improves women’s socioeconomic well-being is not explicit. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the effect of hospitality services on the socioeconomic well-being of women entrepreneurs in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to describe the types of hospitality services offered by women entrepreneurs in selected Counties in Kenya; to determine the effect of the provision of outside catering, events management and housekeeping services on the socioeconomic well-being of women entrepreneurs in selected Counties in Kenya and to establish the moderating effects of proximity to infrastructure on the relationship between provision of outside catering, events management and housekeeping services and socioeconomic well-being of women entrepreneurs. The study was pinned on the following theories; The Opportunity Based Entrepreneurship Theory, Feminist Theory and Integrated Development Framework. The study adopted a mixed methods approach and sequential exploratory research design. The study population was 829 women entrepreneurs from four selected Counties namely Muranga, Kisumu, Kakamega and Nakuru. Purposive sampling was used to select 8 discussants for interviews and 8 FGD participants in the qualitative phase. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 265 randomly selected participants in the quantitative phase. Qualitative data was analyzed using framework analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using the regression analysis technique. The study established that women entrepreneurs offered outside catering and event management services to improve their socioeconomic well-being. Regarding socioeconomic well-being, the qualitative study revealed that women attained increased income, improved health and access to education. This was confirmed by quantitative results where there was a significant relationship between outside catering and the socioeconomic well-being of women entrepreneurs (t = 2.731, p =.001). Similarly, events management services significantly influenced the socioeconomic well-being among the women entrepreneurs (t =4.708, p < .001). Proximity to infrastructure had a moderating effect on the relationship between outside catering, events management and housekeeping service and the socioeconomic well-being of the women entrepreneurs in the selected counties in Kenya (With changes in R2 of 0.081, 0.111 and 0.129 respectively). This will inform Tourism Regulatory Authority policy changes to address womenled hospitality services in Kenya in terms of strategies, and infrastructure development to make the sector more vibrant for the improvement of women's socioeconomic well-being.