Assessment of marketing skill application in tourism industry: The case of Gondar town

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of marketing skill for the success of tourism sector for the case of Gondar town. The study focused on four major tourist sites in the town: Fasildes castle, Fasil swimming pool, DebreBerhanSilasie church and Kusikom Maryam Church. For the purpose of scrutinizing, 31 key respondents participated based on purposive sampling method. From the secondary and primary data, the study found that, from all tourism actors, marketing graduates are found only in three-star hotels. In addition, the result also showed that, based on personal characteristics and general manager knowledge, almost there is no difference among tourism sector actors. However, there is huge difference by general marketing skill and marketing mix strategy skills. The econometrics result also showed that, marketing skill is the major determinant variable for tourism business success. Besides marketing skills there are other determinants for the success of tourism business such as bad political situation and absence of skilled man power. Hence, the study recommended that each tourism actor institution to employ marketing expert and also to increase woman participation in the tourism sector, and a special emphasize should be made by giving training on general marketing skill and marketing mix strategies skill