Small Bussnes Ganha

touristry fitting billet owners indicated factors much(prenominal)(prenominal) as maintaining lifestyle, macrocosm their own bosses, capitalizing on a business opportunity, multiplication of retirement income form the decision to own/operate a weensy touristry allowance businesses. These variables cornerst unity be categorized as non- scotch and economical factors. It was found that though the owners were motivated by commercial enterprise goals, these argon subordinated to the pursuit of socially driven lifestyle motivation factors. bantam touristry allowance business owners in gold coast perceive the non- availability of skilled cordial reception personnel and trammel access to structured capitalist training programmed as the greatest argufy facing their industry. Key Words gold coast, Small touristry trying on businesses, motivations, contests mental home Ghana has designated its touristry industry as sensation of the new produce sphere of influences for economic learning, employment generation and p everyplacety less(prenominal)ening in its development theoretical account document (growth and p overty reduction system (GAPS II, 2005).This development framework recognizes the touristry industry in Ghana as a growing, vivacious and dynamic one with a great voltage for job creation. Ghana, desire many sub-Sahara countries, has primarily an agrarian economy and produces a few(prenominal) exportable services. Tourism has been identified as one ara that can bring improvements in the services field of the economy. In recent years there has been an elaboration of investments in the tourism industry, especially the subaltern tourism registration businesses heavens.The bring result of registered tourism registration businesses in Ghana as at 201 2 was 1,838. Comp ard to 420 and 1992. Of the 1838 hotel stock as at 2012, 69% can be sort as minor tourism modification enterprises based on guestroom capacity of 15. Curre ntly tourism is the fourth-largest foreign-exchange earner in Ghana later on old and cocoa and foreign remittances. International tourist arrivals rose from 698,069 in 2008 to I in 201 1 with corresponding revenue from LOS$ 1. 4 million to CSS$ 2. Billion respectively, while direct and indirect jobs created by the vault of heaven increase from 234, 679 to 330, 514 during the period (GTAG, 2012). The government of Ghana acknowledges that accommodation businesses sector is an consequential start Of the Ghana tourism industry (NNTP, 1995) and has identified tourism accommodation businesses as catalysts for tourism development and by extension for the economic growth of the boorish as he industry is a major(ip) source of income and employment. The accommodation business sector in Ghana is 1 00 percent personal sector owned and it characterized by many commutative businesses.According to a recent survey, 69% of all tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana dumbfound less than 1 5 guestrooms and 88% of all tourism 2223-XX Copyright 0 2014 AUGHT Open Access- Online http// accommodation businesses down less than 25 guestrooms and alto hold outher 3 percent of these tourism accommodation businesses cod more than 50 rooms (Mechanics, 2011 GET, 2012). The tourism accommodation businesses landscape fleets a large number of lower rated businesses, especially those in the budget category, 68%, which are typically depleted family owned and operated establishments.The rapid growth in the number of lesser tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana and the usance they play in the promotion of tourism makes it imperative for a discover arrest of the drivers in the sector. Interestingly, worldwide the tourism and hospitality industries are characterized by many beautiful firms and for the most part, look in the tourism accommodation business sector has focussed mostly on large tourism accommodation business chains. Invariably, not some(prenominal) research attention has been granted to petty breakaway especially those in develop countries such as Ghana.Although there is a growing body of high quality minor(ip) business lit, much of it is general and few studies have foc utilise on teeny-weeny businesses (Thomas, 1998). majority of research on thin firms has focused on the personal attributes, motivations and practices of entrepreneurs and early(a) economic and socio-demographic factors that affect abject firms in general. It is largely hold that sector differences play an fundamental part in explaining the trading operations of weensy legitimacy (Thomas, 1998) and the tourism accommodation business sector ordain benefit from such recognition with a sector focused research.Whiles many tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana can generally be classified as small firms, they have peculiar characteristics that essential to be given an satisfactory amount of attention if we are to get a better understanding of how they operate. This paper examines the motivations and challenges of small tourism accommodation business owners in Ghana to get a better understanding of these factors. The government issue of the research will offer policy makers insights can influence their support aerogramme for an expeditious development of the tourism industry.LITERATURE REVIEW Defining Small Tourism accommodation businesses Morrison (1996) argues that traditionally the tourism industry has been dominated by small businesses and this mute remains true. Globally, a common feature of businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry is that greater percentages, (95 percent), are small firms (See, Curran 1 996 Ashley and Rawson, 2006). This assertion holds in Ghana where 97 percent of all tourism firms are classified as small (NNTP, 2012).Small tourism accommodation businesses are a cistron of small tourism and capitalist firms, which can be classified as small businesses. However, what constitutes a small busines s is a major challenge in the SEEM (small and medium enterprises) literature (Curran & Storey, 1993). This is acknowledged by Morrison, (1996) who states that the confines small businessmen is a difficult one to define. To date, there is no agreement in the literature about how small firms should be defined.The heterogeneousness of small firms, their characteristics and global variety has led to it existence defined in several ways. Storey (1994) concluded that there is no single, uniformly unobjectionable definition of a small firm. Several researchers have made momentous efforts at specify small firms (See for example, Marked 1983 gangling 1 985 Curran and Blackburn 1 991 GOES 1991 storey 1 994 Thomas 1 AAA, intercommunicate 1 999 Decker, Schaefer and Blander, 2006) but there is no consensus on these definitions. Existence of the many definitions of small firms has been attributed to the affliction of most research to adequately identify the reputation Of small firms steer to 2 respective(a) definitions being used in different research contexts. Storey (1994) is of the view that these sundry(a) grounded define actions have been used harmonize to he particular sector, geographic or new(prenominal)wise contexts in which the small firm is being examined. Curran et al. 19863) refer to the great deal of agonizing over the issue of definition by small businesses by researchers such as Bolton (1971 Banks and Cone (1983) and Curran and Stonewort (1 984), from which no satisfactory solutions have emerged. One reason for such diverse definitions relates to size and sector differences of small firms. Definitions at sector train which relate quantitative measures Of size, such as number of employees, sales turnover, favorableness and net worth, may mean that in some sectors all firms may be regarded as small, while in other sectors there are possibly no firms which are small.Burns (2001, p 8) argues, being a small firm is not just about size defined in simple statistical bournes and that small firms also have other burning(prenominal) defining characteristics. These need to be considered to have a all-encompassing-of-the-moon appreciation of a small firm. Existing literature on tourism and hospitality are not clear on definitions of small tourism and hospitality firm leading to various definitions being considered by various researches.Curran & Storey (1993) in making a case for defining small ours and hospitality firms differently, stated that though studies of small firms in the tourism and hospitality industry reflect a liberal usage of the term small firma to that found in the general small business literature it is important to highlight the principal features of these definitions as they affect tourism and hospitality firms. thither is the opinion that service firms are better understood if their peculiarity from manufacturing firms is recognized (Voss et al. 1988). The definition of small tourism and hospitality fi rms therefore must be informed by a consideration of what makes small tourism ND hospitality firms different from other small enterprises. The above notwithstanding, in exploitation a definition for small tourism and hospitality firms, which includes small (STABs), it is important that the definition be both comparable to other industries, while at the same time reflecting the unique characteristics of the tourism and hospitality industry (Morrison and Conway 2007).Beaver (2002) is of confusable view and states that small firm definitions may need to incorporate the peculiar(prenominal) nature and context of respective industrial sectors if they are to be purposeful. Although defining small tourism and capitalist firms along tangible measures such as number of rooms and employees are essential, the intangible and qualitative features inherent in small firm ownership and management in general and at sector directs also needs some consideration if a substantive definition is to be derived (Burns, 2001).Small Bussnes GanhaTourism accommodation business owners indicated factors such as maintaining lifestyle, being their own bosses, capitalizing on a business opportunity, generation of retirement income influence the decision to own/operate a small tourism accommodation businesses. These variables can be categorized as non-economic and economic factors. It was found that though the owners were motivated by commercial enterprise goals, these are subordinated to the pursuit of socially driven lifestyle motivation factors.Small tourism accommodation business owners in Ghana perceive the non- availability of skilled hospitality personnel and limited access to structured capitalist training programmed as the greatest challenge facing their industry. Key Words Ghana, Small Tourism accommodation businesses, motivations, challenges INTRODUCTION Ghana has designated its tourism industry as one of the new growth sectors for economic development, employment generation and poverty reduction in its development framework document (growth and poverty reduction strategy (GAPS II, 2005).This development framework recognizes the tourism industry in Ghana as a growing, vibrant and dynamic one with a great potential for job creation. Ghana, like many sub-Sahara countries, has primarily an agrarian economy and produces few exportable services. Tourism has been identified as one area that can bring improvements in the services sector of the economy. In recent years there has been an expansion of investments in the tourism industry, especially the small tourism accommodation businesses sector.The total number of registered tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana as at 201 2 was 1,838. Compared to 420 and 1992. Of the 1838 hotel stock as at 2012, 69% can be classified as small tourism accommodation enterprises based on guestroom capacity of 15. Currently tourism is the fourth-largest foreign-exchange earner in Ghana after old and cocoa and foreign remittanc es. International tourist arrivals rose from 698,069 in 2008 to 1 in 201 1 with corresponding receipts from ISIS 1. 4 Billion to CSS$ 2. Billion respectively, while direct and indirect jobs created by the sector increased from 234, 679 to 330, 514 during the period (GTAG, 2012). The government of Ghana acknowledges that accommodation businesses sector is an important part Of the Ghana tourism industry (NNTP, 1995) and has identified tourism accommodation businesses as catalysts for tourism development and by extension for the economic growth of the country as he industry is a major source of income and employment. The accommodation business sector in Ghana is 1 00 percent private sector owned and it characterized by many independent businesses.According to a recent survey, 69% of all tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana have less than 15 guestrooms and 88% of all tourism 2223-XX Copyright 0 2014 AUGHT Open Access- Online http// accommodation businesses have less than 25 guest rooms and only 3 percent of these tourism accommodation businesses have more than 50 rooms (Mechanics, 2011 GET, 2012). The tourism accommodation businesses landscape fleets a large number of lower rated businesses, especially those in the budget category, 68%, which are typically small family owned and operated establishments.The rapid growth in the number of small tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana and the role they play in the promotion of tourism makes it imperative for a better understanding of the drivers in the sector. Interestingly, worldwide the tourism and hospitality industries are characterized by many small firms but generally, research in the tourism accommodation business sector has focused mostly on large tourism accommodation business chains. Invariably, not much research attention has been given to small independent especially those in developing countries such as Ghana.Although there is a growing body of high quality small business literature, much of it is general and few studies have focused on small businesses (Thomas, 1998). Majority of research on small firms has focused on the personal attributes, motivations and practices of entrepreneurs and other economic and socio-demographic factors that affect small firms in general. It IS generally acknowledged that sector differences play an important part in explaining the operations of small genuineness (Thomas, 1 998) and the tourism accommodation business sector will benefit from such recognition with a sector focused research.Whiles many tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana can generally be classified as small firms, they have peculiar characteristics that need to be given an adequate amount of attention if we are to get a better understanding of how they operate. This paper examines the motivations and challenges of small tourism accommodation business owners in Ghana to get better understanding of these factors. The outcome of the research will offer policy makers insights ca n influence heir support programmed for an efficient development of the tourism industry.LITERATURE REVIEW Defining Small Tourism accommodation businesses Morrison (1996) argues that traditionally the tourism industry has been dominated by small businesses and this still remains true. Globally, a common feature of businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry is that greater percentages, (95 percent), are small firms (See, Curran 1 996 Lassies and Rawson, 2006). This assertion holds in Ghana where 97 percent of all tourism firms are classified as small (NNTP, 2012).Small tourism accommodation businesses re a component of small tourism and hospitality firms, which can be classified as small businesses. However, what constitutes a small business is a major challenge in the SEEM (small and medium enterprises) literature (Curran & Storey, 1993). This is acknowledged by Morrison, (1996) who states that the term small business is a difficult one to define. To date, there is no agreem ent in the literature about how small firms should be defined.The heterogeneity of small firms, their characteristics and global variety has led to it being defined in several ways. Storey (1994) concluded that there is no ingle, uniformly acceptable definition of a small firm. Several researchers have made significant efforts at defining small firms (See for example, Marked 1983 Gangly 1 985 Curran and Blackburn 1 991 GOES 1991 storey 1 994 Thomas 1 AAA, Addressed 1 999 Decker, Schaefer and Blander, 2006) but there is no consensus on these definitions. Existence of the numerous definitions of small firms has been attributed to the failure of most research to adequately identify the nature Of small firms leading to 2 various definitions being used in different research contexts. Storey (1994) is of the IEEE that these various grounded define actions have been used according to the particular sector, geographic or other contexts in which the small firm is being examined. Curran et a l. 19863) refer to the great deal of agonizing over the issue of definition by small businesses by researchers such as Bolton (1971 Banks and Cone (1983) and Curran and Stonewort (1 984), from which no satisfactory solutions have emerged. One reason for such diverse definitions relates to size and sector differences of small firms. Definitions at sector level which relate quantitative measures Of size, such as number of employees, sales remover, advantageousness and net worth, may mean that in some sectors all firms may be regarded as small, while in other sectors there are possibly no firms which are small.Burns (2001, p 8) argues, being a small firm is not just about size defined in simple statistical terms and that small firms also have other important defining characteristics. These need to be considered to have a full appreciation of a small firm. Existing literature on tourism and hospitality are not clear on definitions of small tourism and hospitality firm leading to variou s definitions being considered by various researches.Curran & Storey (1993) in making a case for defining small tourism and hospitality firms differently, stated that though studies of small firms in the tourism and hospitality industry reflect a liberal usage of the term small firma to that found in the general small business literature it is important to highlight the principal features of these definitions as they affect tourism and hospitality firms. There is the opinion that service firms are better understood if their distinctiveness from manufacturing firms is recognized (Voss et al. 1988). The definition of small tourism and hospitality firms Hereford must be informed by a consideration of what makes small tourism and hospitality firms different from other small enterprises. The above notwithstanding, in developing a definition for small tourism and hospitality firms, which includes small (STABs), it is important that the definition be both comparable to other industries, wh ile at the same time reflecting the unique characteristics of the tourism and hospitality industry (Morrison and Conway 2007).Beaver (2002) is of uniform view and states that small firm definitions may need to incorporate the special nature and context of respective industrial sectors if they are to be pregnant. Although defining small tourism and hospitality firms along tangible measures such as number of rooms and employees are essential, the intangible and qualitative features inherent in small firm ownership and management in general and at sector levels also needs some consideration if a meaningful definition is to be derived (Burns, 2001).Such intangible and qualitative features include lifestyle business motivations that have been identified in relation to micro and small-scale tourism firms (Locker and Morrison, 1999 Buick et al. , 2000 Get and Carlson, 2000 Kampala, 2004). From this perspective, qualitative social rewards may be priorities over those of a quantitatively defined economic nature (Appleton et al. , 2004). Thus, Morrison and Conway (2007) argue that any meaningful definition of small tourism and hospitality firms need the recognition, justification and cabal of the associated quantifiable and qualified features.