FACTORS AFFECTING MEETING AND EVENTS PLANNING IN FIVE STAR

HOTELS IN NAIROBI.

KARIUKI PAUL NJOROGE

BHM/2002/17

A PROPASAL SUBMITTED INPARTIALFULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELORS DEGREE IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM
MANAGEMENTIN SCHOOL OF TOURISM MOI UNIVERSITY.

FEBRUARY, 2019
DECLARITION

Declaration by the candidate

I hereby declare that this research proposal is my original work and to the best of my knowledge
has not been submitted before to any other university or institution. All borrowed piece of work
from other authors have been recognized in the reference.

Kariuki Paul Njoroge

BHM/2002/17

Signature …………………………………. Date …………………………………………..

Declaration from the supervisor

I hereby certify that this proposal has been submitted for examination with our approval as
university supervisors.

Dr .Rose Burugu

Department of Hospitality

Moi University Nairobi.

Signature …………………………………………… Date ………………………………………

 DEDICATION

This proposal is dedicated to my wife and my daughter who have always supported me in my
education journey and encouraged throughout.
 ACKNOWELDGEMENT

I would like to thank almighty God first and foremost for giving me strength, wisdom and good
health to be able to do this proposal.

Secondly I thank my supervisor Dr.Burugu for her support, guidance and patience.

I would also like to express my appreciation to my wife Charity, my daughter Favour and my
brother Mwangi for their endless support with finances, time and encouragement throughout the
study.

Lastly I would like to thank my food and drinks HoD Madam Pooja for allowing me time to
study even when the business is demanding of my presence. Everyone who has contributed to
my study in one way or another God bless you.
 ABSTRACT

This study is to focus on what the meetings and events planning in 5 star hotels in Nairobi. Each
and every event has its own level of planning .As you may be aware birthdays are easier to plan
than weddings. Similarly, a corporate event requires different types of skills to organize. The
specific objectives of this study is to find out the factors that affect planning of meeting events in
5 star hotels, investigate if the hotel staff have the right skills of meeting and events planning and
find out what effect planning has on the hotel profit.
CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Designing and producing an event—whether it be a meeting, corporate event, fund-raising gala,

conference, convention, incentive or other special event—has been compared to directing a
movie, but is actually more like a live stage production. It is a high-wire act without a safety net.
Once your event starts there are no second chances. It’s done in one take and there are no dress
rehearsals. You can’t yell “cut” and re-shoot the scene. You are simply not able to predict—as
you can with a movie script—how your guests and suppliers will interact and react. But you can
plan, prepare and then be ready for the unexpected. Never forget Murphy’s Law: what can go
wrong, will go wrong.

Background of study

Event management is a powerful blend of creative and technical skills, essential for the creation
and delivery of any live experience be it wedding, festival, private party, conference or meeting.
(Event academy.com)

According to Wikipedia, Event management is the application of project management to the

creation and development of large – scale events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies,
weddings, formal parties, conventions or concerts. It involves studying the brand, identifying its
target audience, devising the event concepts and coordinating the technical aspects before
actually launching the event.

In his 3rd edition Events Management Glenn, Johnny and Ian note that, Today events are central
to our culture as perhaps never before. Increase in leisure time and discretionary spending have
led to a proliferation of public events, celebrations and entertainment.
According to Rogers (2007) the origins of the UK conference industry lie in the political and
religious congresses, and the trade and professional association convections in America of the
late 19th century, though recognition of the industry itself is more recent.

The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 is believed to be the largest UK festival ever and over 600,000
people are believed to have attended. This event illustrated the need for professional organization
and control as the organizers ended up making the event free when they lost control of
admissions.

Events industry just like in UK is a vital contributor of the host country’s economy. It creates
jobs and market for the local and international suppliers. For example in UK 25,000 events
business has created jobs to over 530,000 people.

In Kenya events industry has significantly grown and this has seen increase in local and
international investors venturing in to event industry. This has necessitated increase in 5 star
hotels opening in Nairobi city of Kenya. Most of these hotels are providing the venue for these
events such as seminars,conferences,trade shows, private parties, appreciation events, product
launch events ,board meeting and weddings to mention a few.

December 2015, Nairobi hosted World Tourism Organization Ministerial conference.

The 6th Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD) summit was held in
Nairobi for the very first time in Africa.

In 2017, Third meeting of the UN environment assembly was held in Nairobi.

It is with this in mind that these events need to be handled professionally so as to realize the
maximum profit and minimize the cost without compromising on standard.

This study therefore aims at establishing the factors that affect events management on the hotel
profit focusing on five star hotels in Nairobi.
Problem statement

Events and events management has greatly increase in Nairobi. Many companies located in
Nairobi city, international companies, government and private individuals have increased the
demand for events planning.

Events management in Nairobi has many a times been handled very inadequately and therefore
undesired results have been witnessed. It’s with this in mind that this research seeks to find out
what factors that affect planning of these events and meetings.

Study objective

The main reason of this research proposal is to investigate the factors that affect planning of
meeting and events in five star hotels in NairobiUpper hill.

Specific objectives of the study

i. To assess the factorsto consider when planning to host an event in a hotel.
ii. To determine the checklist of event and meeting during planning.
iii. To establish the effects ofmeeting and events planning on the profit margin to the hotel.
Benefits of the research

The study will benefit a number of people and Hotels.

Hotels will understand and consider the significance of planning as a major contributor of
successful events that result to happy customers and in return get repeat business that help the
hotel establishment to meet its monthly targets and increase the profit margin.

During recruitment the hotel will be able to look for the candidate with the right qualifications
for planning events and meeting, as well as to train the already hired employees.

The government will benefit from accrued revenue taxes collected from the meeting and events
in hotels. These funds shall therefore be used for development and improvement of the
hospitality industry by providing the necessary infrastructures. Better transport and
communication networks to facilitate the business operations ofevents tourism.

The customers will benefit from improved quality services from planning.

Limitation of the research

The limitation of the study is that this research will be undertaken in one area and fear of giving
information to the researcher will be high.

To counter this, the researcher will give the respondent an assurance of confidentiality in the
form of informed consent letter attached to all questionnaires and interview schedules.

Scope

This research will be carried out in Nairobi. It will focus in 5 star hotels in Nairobi Upper hill
district. The study seek to investigate factors to consider when planning a meeting or an event as
a determinant to customer satisfaction and profitability to the hotel.

The Nairobi has many hotels and it receives different clients from leisure tourists, business
tourist to conference and meeting tourists.

The study will be conducted in Radisson Blu Nairobi Upper hill hotel to represent the hotels in
Upper hill.
Definition of terms

Event Planning

Event planning is the process of planning a festival, ceremony, competition, party, concert, or
convention. Event planning includes budgeting, establishing dates and alternate dates, selecting
and reserving the event site, acquiring permits, and coordinating transportation and parking.

Event Planner

An event planner is therefore a person or organization that is taxed with the duties of event
planning.

Event

According to online dictionary, an event is a planned public or social occasion.

Event management

Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of
large-scale events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts,
or conventions. It involves studying the brand, identifying its target audience, devising the event
concept, and coordinating the technical aspects before actually launching the event.- Wikipedia

Project management 

According to Wikipedia, Project management is the practice of initiating, planning, executing,

controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success
criteria at the specified time. A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique
product, service or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often
constrained by funding or staffing) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to
bring about beneficial change or added value.
CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

This study is to determine the factors affecting event planning in hotels especially in Nairobi
Upper hill. This literature review discusses the topic in detail by looking at employee level of
knowledge pertaining events and meetings from booking to execution, types of events hosted in
hotels and profitability of well planned events.

The Executive’s Guide to Corporate Events and Business Entertaining: (Wiley, 2007) provides
an in-depth look at key event and outlines in detail as follows:

Examples of Different Events

 Board meetings
 Business meetings
 Client appreciation events
 Conferences
 Conventions
 Corporate shows
 Training seminars
 Employee appreciation events
 Executive retreats
 Gala fund-raising events
 Incentive travel and premium programs
 Product launches
 Special events
 Teleconferencing
 Trade shows
Conceptual framework

This is the schematic diagram showing the relationship between the dependent and independent
variables as used in this study

Independent Variables and Dependent Variable

Independent variables
Reference

Glenn A.J Bowndin, Johnny Allen,Ian McDonnell ,Event management, third Edition

http//:Wikipedia.com

http//:eventsacademy.com

Dennis Lillicrap and John Cousins, Food and Beverage Service, eight edition

Arunima ,12 Important Aspect to Consider Before Planning an Event,February 21

2018,Retrieved from URL,https://www.oyorooms.com/blog/top-12-important aspect-to-
consider-planning-event/

 *The Definitive Guide to Project Management. Nokes, Sebastian. 2nd Ed.n. London (Financial Times /
Prentice Hall): 2007. ISBN 978-0-273-71097-4