The fourth industrial Revolution: Implications for hotels in South Africa and Kenya

In this research note we seek to highlight the implications of the fourth industrial revolution for hotels in South Africa (SA) and Kenya. We have demonstrated that South Africa has excelled in mobile phone penetration as well as social media use compared to Kenya. However, Kenya is ahead of South Africa in mobile money transfer systems and has the fastest and lowest internet rates in Africa. It is evident that tourist arrivals are being consumed by uncontrolled sectors fuelled by online marketing agencies, which are gradually replacing the traditional distribution channels in the hotel industry. In addition hotels in SA and Kenya are experiencing a sharp escalation in web-based bookings. The first implication of this is that established hotel companies are facing competition from facilities that cannot be regularized particularly for the leisure travelers. Secondly, web-based booking has made it necessary for new tech savvy talent to be recruited at the expense of the erstwhile-preferred extrovert tourism executive. We have also found out that hotels use mobile social media in communication, sales promotions, relationship development and loyalty programs as well as marketing research. The spontaneous and unpredictable aspect of social media represents a real challenge for hoteliers.