A CRITICAL RESEARCH ON THE MAJOR CHALLENGES OF THE

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN ADDIS ABABA

BY: Alelign Aschale

Addis Ababa University
PhD Candidate in Applied Linguistics
worldclassfreedom@gmail.com

June 2013
Addis Ababa

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Abstract
The fundamental objective of this critical research was to deeply look into the major
intricacies of the hospitality industry in Addis Ababa city. To meet this vital objective, field
study with observation and informal talks and semi-structured interview have been the
fundamental tools to gather data from six sample sub-cities: Gulele, Arada, Yeka, Bole, Kirkos
and Lideta sub-cities which the researcher has been taken sample research participants and
from their respective. The study has purposefully included a range of Five-Star hotel
operations through neighboring “Chips” (French fries), local “Areki”/ Katikala, Tella and
Tej(local beers) sellers for bottom-up and top-down look. Data were analyzed using narrative
description followed by inference and Critical Discourse Analysis. From the endeavor, the
finding clearly shows that the booming industry has been crippled by wrong, corrupted and
forged licensing, low quality regulation, inspection and actions, poor and traditional
marketing strategies, industry duplication, poor management and unskilled human resource
operation, employment based on kinship and ethnicity, high staff turn-over, low customer
satisfaction, poor sanitation, fear and retreat from up-to-date technology, counterfeit
construction/ installation to energy and environment were the hostile problems identified in the
hospitality industry. For such and so exiting but intimidating situations, implications to policy
makers, hoteliers and hospitality operators and the concerned stakeholders are made.

Key Works: hospitality, human resource management, marketing strategies, environment

friendly, sanitation, licensing, corruption, customer satisfaction, healthy

1. Introduction
1.1. Statement of the Study
It is obvious that Ethiopia is the oldest uncolonized--independent country in history and the
primary Christian nation in the world. Ethiopia is also the place for the first Hijra (615 AD) in
Islamic history where the Christian King of Ethiopia accepted Muslim refugees from Mecca
sent by the prophet Mohamed who thought the Muslim brothers and sisters not to wage and
threat against her. Many scholars: geologists, theologians, linguistics and philologists agreed
that Ethiopia has ever used the Amharic language thousands of years before the birth of Jesus
Christ, and Sabian, Geez, Tigrigna, Affan Oromo and many other languages.
Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multicultural and developmental democratic country
which is value laden and moralistic that teaches the world about tolerance and oneness in
diversity. It has very beautiful traditional, semi-traditional and modern socio-cultural, religious
and political celebrations, practices and holidays throughout the year. Gradually, these has
attracted the international and national community to enjoy staying, dining, drinking and
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appreciating the bits and bigs of the hospitality industry; consequently, people who have
understood the demand and have started investing at different levels and capabilities.
Very recently, the international community has started to understand Ethiopia as booming in
the overall development and in the tourism and hospitality sector side-bys. New international,
franchised, and local hotels, restaurants and bars have been inaugurated and functional.
What is more and natural, we, Ethiopians love communality and shared way of life; we have
been accepting guests of a different kind- as a tradition and a religious taught. We had movable
and expanding Kings, Mesfins, and Emperors who ruled Ethiopia for eras and centuries. And
the first hotel to be built in Ethiopian history is the Taytu Hotel.
What is more as a current propagation, the accelerated demand for investors in hospitality
started to eye on the central parts of Addis Ababa from Churchill road through Kazanchis to
Bole with vertical and horizontal site of the Entoto and Shola mountains and the skyscraper
buildings in opposites. New hotels, pensions, restaurants, bars and night clubs, cafes and
groceries, juice and coffee shops are being opened day-in and day-out across these areas. These
new constructions and inaugurations are mostly locally funded with little international brand
mix. Currently, it is customary to see guests of all stripes and African diplomats involved
sitting by or linger around the coffee shops, restaurants, cafeterias, bars and groceries, lounges,
night clubs and hotels of the multi-leveled hospitality spots.
Hence, the promising growth in the hospitality industry is normally the result of increased
demand and a new change in the lifestyle of the people; it is also the result of the SMART
(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reliable and Time bounded) objectives of the five years
Ethiopian Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). The construction and inauguration of hotels
and other related hospitality services in Addis Ababa City has made to double, triple and
quadruple in the recent bygone years as indicators.
The stiff positive competition in this beneficiary business is attracting a number of local and
foreign investors in the area in the coming few years. International brands and franchises from
America, Europe and China, and locally standardized hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and other
accommodation centers are believed to boost this industry and business.
What is more, hotel groups are expanding in this capital because the amount of diplomats and
corporate clients are growing and the local dining style is changing. The tourism reports in
different years has shown a leap increase in Ethiopia; this alarms what the Ministry of Culture

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and Tourism and the concerned stakeholders has to do a lot of home works and assignments, as
aspired by the ministry to make Ethiopia one of the top tourist destinations in Africa by 2020.
Taking the opportunity of this rapid growth phase, quality service-oriented business will win
out at the end of the day; otherwise, customers will walk out and the hospitality destinations
shut. Besides, the Ethiopian Airlines has expanded its routes via the globe to meet the
geographically diversifying consumers of the Ethiopia; a logical expectation is on the
hospitality industry to go alongside and guarantee this and similar business operations.
Nevertheless, the hospitality industry has passed through hostile straggles and turf wars,
failures and raisings with regard to expansions and standardizations, quantity and quality. The
advantages granted from the Ethiopian accelerated development, renaissance and growth and
transformation plans has given people the “opportunity” to manipulate the industry based on
their need and selfish business interests-a poor merchants’ harvest. Many people and
institutions have ultimately ended up into huge land grabbers, rent-seekers, high-class corrupts,
change and technology resistant’s’ and human right violators. Some were carless of the actions
to environmental degradation, poor sanitation, energy consumption and the market imbalances.
Owing to the aforementioned challenges, the researcher was triggered to critically look into the
fundamental challenges that have hampered the hospitality industry in Addis Ababa City,
Ethiopia.

1.2. Objectives of the Study

The general objective of the study has been to investigate and critically analyze the major
challenges that have been threatening the hospitality industry in Addis Ababa City
Administration. Specifically, the study’s focal points were to:
 investigate the licensing, inspections and actions taken regarding the hospitality
industry.
 scrutinize the (human) resource management and administration for efficiency and
effectiveness.
 investigate the health status of the hospitality market and marketing strategies.
 evaluate the sanitation, safety and hygiene of the hospitality industry.
 analyze the hospitality plants and the friendliness to technology, energy and
environment.

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1.3. Research Questions
In the endeavors to conduct the study, the researcher wanted to know the threats that stagger
the boom and bloom of the hospitality industry in Addis Ababa City Administration.
Particularly, the research has tried to answer the following questions:
 What are the major problems related to licensing, regulating and evaluations in the
hospitality industry?
 How has been (human) resource employed, administered and managed in the
hospitality industry?
 How is the health of the market and the marketing strategies and operations in the
hospitality sector?
 What have been the sanitation, safety and hygiene practices of the hospitality industry?
 What have been the hospitality plant condition and its friendliness to technology,
energy and the environment?

1.4. Significance of the Study

The study has pinpointed the fundamental hurtings of the hospitality industry in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia. Hence, it would serve various stakeholders of the hospitality industry as a spring
board and immediate referential document to revise their policies, to design feasible projects
and take remedial actions. It will serves as a major regulatory and emancipatory documents for
all stakeholders of the hospitality industry. It will also assist other researchers in the area to
conduct very detailed and problem solving studies.

1.5. Delimitations (Scope) of the Study

The study is delimited to critically investigate the hospitality licensing and inspection,
marketing practices, (human) resource management and administration, sanitation and hygiene,
the hospitality plant installation and construction, technology use and customer satisfaction in
six sample sub-cities: Gulele, Arada, Yeka, Bole, Kirkos and Lideta, of Addis Ababa City
Administration. The hospitality genres range from neighboring Areki houses to five star hotels
which operate at different function levels. The researcher believes that lack of personal
transport, scarcity of money and the wide coverage of the area under study hamper the
completeness and strengths of the study. Cetris Paribus, the study would have been very
detailed and comprehensive.
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2. Methodology of the Study

2.1. The Research Design

Basically, this research is conducted using the qualitative process paradigm, and the data for
analysis has been generated using the tools developed based on the options available per see.
The researcher wanted to unveil the major challenges of the hospitality industry amidst its
boom and bloom, and employing qualitative data was believed to be very rational to answer
why? when? which? how?. Hence, the major data has been believed to be collected in the
qualitative tools which are in essence believed to generate the in-depth knowledge with
reasoning.

2.2. The Research Area and the Participants

This research is conducted at Addis Ababa City in six sub-cities -which were taken by lottery
method. They were Bole, Gulele, Yeka, Arada, Lideta and Kirkos sub-cities. From these sub-
cities, 25 stared hotels, 37 restaurants, 29 bars/night clubs and 213 other small scale hospitality
operations: coffee shops, fast-food areas, cafeterias, alcohol houses, juice spots, etc with a total
of 304 were considered for the study. Besides, concerned stakeholders (17 officials),
hospitality business operators (7), employees (23), guests/customers (8) and social critics (4)
have been contacted for semi-structured interview, total 59.

2.3. Instrumentation of the Study

2.3.1. Field Study (Trip) with Observation and Informal Talk

Field study with observation and informal talks are believed very crucial as they can generate
the real data intact from the research sites to the hospitality industry. The field trip was
conducted in slow and thoughtful walks, undisturbed observations and informal talks in more
than 85 instances at different hotels, restaurants, bars/nightclubs, alcohol houses (groceries),
coffee shops, juice shops and road-side mini-hospitality operations. The researcher and other
peer observers have been used for reliability check and validity comparison. Observe, talk, take
a note and compile were the best strategies used. During the field study, an attempt was made
to inspect licenses and related documents, operations, sanitations, environment friendliness,

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human resource management, marketing strategies, customer handling, satisfactions and
complaints, advertisements and other signs of mal-operations.

2.3.2. Semi-Structured Interview

A semi-structured interview was conducted to five professional and three normal guests, seven
hospitality business operators at different levels, eight officials in the six sub-cities who are
working as license core processers and regulatory and inspection officials, total 23. The semi-
structured interview was meant to produce information that could supplement and strengthen
the data collected through field work and observation.

2.4. Techniques Data Analysis

Data collected qualitatively was analyzed using the narrative description followed by inference
and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). These collected data were, first processed in
OpenCode 3.6-qualitative data analysis software. Then, thick narrative descriptions and the
critical discourse analysis of field notes, interviews, informal guest talks, complaints,
suggestions, advertisements and other semiotics pertaining to the hospitality industry in focus
was made to genuinely reveal the actual challenges of the hospitality business operation under
investigation.

3. Data Analysis and the Findings

3.1. Arguments about the Licensing Animosity, Regulation and Inspection Actions
The meticulous discovery has truly identified that Addis Ababa City Governance is trying its
best to regulate and inspect the healthy hospitality industry operation. Nevertheless, it is
identified from the study that there are countless wrongly licensed hotels, pensions, lounges,
restaurants, bars, cafeterias, juice shops, coffee shops, fast-food spots, and other forms of
hospitality operations. Some have masked licenses; some others are licensed with wrong names
and permissions for the required operation; many others are still operating with bought license
sold to the unfit people to operate. Besides, forgery is a current license challenge which its
illegible copy is posted in hidden places. What is more, the star-rating, medium and low quality
hotel permissions and other hotel operations are very hurtful to Addis Ababa City and its

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advantages for transformation and development. It has also been identified that street fast-food
and hot drink operations are not licensed and the “container” restaurants are illegal.
The discourse of the business and licensing is rivalry in corruption between the government
and the business operators; a “hide and seek” game where the government is losing huge
amount of revenue at the expense of the poor service for money grabbing from the innocent
customers. The power struggle to maintain traditional operation and a resistance to renewal and
modernity exist.
Similarly, there has been observed a role counterfeit, poor teamwork and poor planning among
the business license office, the culture and tourism office, the environment protection office,
the health and sanitation office and the construction and development office. In some sub-cities,
the physical layout of office has created these problems.
In conclusion, there are numerous forms of serious threats, corruption and mischief with
regards to the trade and industry and the regulatory and inspection offices visa-vise the
hospitality business operators in which a collateral damage is to the government and the
country’s growth and transformation.

3.2. Describing the General Sanitation, Environment Friendliness and Beauty

The research data has shown that poor sewerage system of the city and business operation
areas, the wrong placing or non-placing of trash cans and garbage containers seriously threaten
the healthy operation of the hospitality industry. The road side tubes and pipelines are leaking
grisly waste to the wrong direction. Many back areas and road sides of a hospitality business
are pungently sniffy and they agitate vomiting and internal disturbance. People let and throw
dry and liquid waste, dirt and other harmful chemicals at arbitrary.
The toilets are a serious disgust to go into and take rest; hence, the customers have to clasp
queerly for long time till their home. Likewise, the bathrooms and hand-wash-basins are
narrow, high-up, differently stained, rusted and dirty, and they smell horrible. The walls, floors,
ceilings, and roofs are badly scratched, wickedly ditched and unpleasantly colored due to water
or rain-leak and non-professional painting. It is also very common to look at old-roof and fence
neighbors nearby a five or four starred hotel; let alone the medium and small scale hotel
operations.

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What is more, small scale hospitality operations are creating good job opportunities to the
different levels of entrepreneurs. However, they are becoming the current serious sanitation
and environment threats to Addis Ababa city elsewhere; especially, the coffee and tea wastes,
vegetable and food leftovers and remains and other harmful wastes are put and thrown
arbitrary, which are affecting the physiological and health of the people: employees, neighbors,
customers and by-passers.
As a quench of knowledge, none employee medical check-up, dirty uniform, proper food
handling and unethical cleaning of hospitality business are still very challenging.
In a nutshell, the poor sanitation, the chemically degraded environment and the ugly beauty of
the hospitality industry is very hostile to human health, to the aesthetic value and to the nature
being of the environment. They are violating the human rights-the right to live in a safe and
secured environment.

3.3. Describing the Hospitality Plants

It has been identified that many hospitality operating plants are dysfunctional. These is because,
many of the such evolved from kebele or private houses to hotels, restaurants, bars/night clubs,
pensions, cafeterias, groceries, coffee shops, and so forth; some others are changed from
offices and other business centers to hospitality service spots, too. The painting and
maintenance is done carelessly and hurriedly; the sewerage system and waste avoidance is
done with irresponsibility; hotels, and pensions have narrow stairs and corridors and a
dysfunctional lift, or none at all; they are also neighboring borings which doesn’t attract to look
through the windows and enjoy nature; their construction and installation of services don’t
consider the disabilities consumer; the building architecture is not local to a countries identity;
they don’t have adequate offices and operational areas. Genuinely speaking, these operational
pants are unfit for hospitality operations; many are operating the most sensitive business inside
a narrow building in the widest country.
Generally, the discourse of the Ethiopian hotels and other similar operational areas is wrongly
copying from foreign countries in the names of traditional and cultural services; it is also
becoming the cause of non-identity, or is in an identity conflict with mere interests of profit
grabbing. Besides, the power relationship of the government, the business owner and the
contractors is counterfeiting and non-proportional. The business owner and the contractor

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believe in money as power; while, the government believes in laws, rules, regulations and
quality constructions. Hence, it resulted in poor plant installation and unsatisfactory operation
of the hospitality industry to the customers/guests demand. In the following section, a detailed
scrutiny of hospitality destinations report is presented in a very condensed manner.
3.4. The “Functional” Restaurants and Meat Shops
To begin with, an appealing restaurant is believed to spark latent appetite and grant adequate
satisfaction. In Addis Ababa; however, good restaurants are hard to find; they are located at
hidden spots, upstairs, in “the rich areas” or in luxurious hotels. Some are located in very old
areas; whereas, some are in very new areas. The restaurant verities (kind) are also very rare.
New restaurants are new and well furnished for some months and years; nearly later, they
turned into very old and “traditional” spots. Their general sanitations gradually become very
scary with skinky and stainy tables and chairs, spotful and worn out table clothes, naprons and
napkins; badly scratched, half broken and rusty cutlery, crockery and glassware. It begins to
harbor flies, cockroaches and other insects. Your table may be “cleaned” with dirty piece of
clothe that has very stinky smell; most restaurants are very messed up in layout.
Likewise, the variety of the menu, the menu reliability and validity, the writing of menu in at
least two languages, the mal-designed menu, the frequent changing and wrongly covering of
the price and the separate price charging of foreign guests are some of the restaurant operation
and enactment challenges.
Meat is displayed, stored and sold arbitrarily to the consumers. Most meat shops do not fulfill
the required quality standards and business competence complacence to sell meat.

3.5.The “Operational” Bars, Night Clubs and Alcoholic Drink Spots

Most bars and night clubs are very clumsy, narrow spaced, pungently smelling, and
inappropriately dim or very bright. Destructively blinking and excessively red lights are
harassing the guests. The chairs and balcony are imbalanced, and the grace from color and
aesthetics is not professional and upon the standard. They are filled with cigarette smoke
and/or traditional and inconsiderate “tiss” due to the poor/no window. Besides, sound is
excessively let to the surrounding which disturbs and pollutes the guests, the passer-bys and the
neighbors. Likewise, the location of bars and other entertainment accommodations are ill-
architected; no sound proof, no speaker positioning, poor layout, etc.

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Further, small scale alcoholic spots such as neighboring draft and beer houses, “Tej”, “Tella”,
and “Areki” houses are very scary to many guests/customers. In these spots, even women have
started to drink independently, in pairs or in small/large groups, but with little comfort.
Sanitation, beauty, environmental issues and quality of service greatly hampers these small
scale market operations, the health of the people and the environment.

3.6. The “Process-Produce” Kitchens

An excellent kitchen should basically be clean, wide, well ventilated and easily accessible to
the food service area. Though there are good quality kitchens observed, most of the kitchens in
Addis Ababa are horrific. They have poor physical layout; some are very narrow, hot and
suffocated; others are dirty and full of litters; some are very near to a liquid or dry waste; food
and dirt contamination is not a big issue to the cooks; a person who has cleaned a toilet can
enter and work in the kitchens; smoke and stem sucker is ill-fitted; there is no kitchen store or
refrigerator; the cooks’ processing area is frequently dirty, rusty and spotty, and food is
handled carelessly. Besides, most kitchens don’t have kitchen cabinets, drawers, hang-ups, etc;
as well, others have the ill-fitted; most kitchens don’t have the necessary machines for food
processing. Generally, the kitchen is the dirtiest, very tiresome and extremely hurtful area is the
hospitality industry.

3.7. The Guest “Rest” Rooms

The house keeping department and room services are the other areas of challenge that the
hospitality industry is facing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Most rooms are either very wide or
very narrow. These indicate that they are installed for wrong purposes or architected by
bachelors. In stared rooms you can find serious sanitation and waste disposal problems. You
can also find scratched walls, dropping ceilings, dirty, stainy and ill-fitted toilets and
bathrooms, ill-fitted and hanged plug-ins, dysfunctional electric wires, cables and bulbs;
squeaking and screechy beds, old mattresses and pillows; dirty and torn blankets, bed shits and
bed covers. Many bed rooms are not sound and water proof. You can find a severe problem in
non-starred, medium and small “hotels” or “buna bets”. In addition, they are poor in
cleanliness for details, and pungent smell is a common refresher when one gets in. The
Televisions are not working properly and the room service is dysfunctional. Hotel rules:

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emergency and wake-up calling, knocking, DND, room service, etc are not kept, too, at rooms.
The emergency exit is not visible and life saving. Besides, the room amnesties and aesthetic
values at most hotels and buna bets are at scarcity and vanity.
3.8.The Employ “Rest” Rooms
Hotel and other food and beverage operational areas are very tiresome naturally, and they
require the employees to get rest in the available time. However, the “poor” merchants have
never considered these are as a requirement, and it is becoming the major source of ailments to
many poor hotel employees who sleep there, especially at night. No one would like to consider
it, and no one’s life is insured.

3.9.Technology Allergens
To date, technology is becoming a basic need. This is very necessary for the government and
the guests, especially at starred hotels, standard pensions, bars and restaurants. Besides, it
would benefit the hotel as well as the government in different aspects. The WiFi and cable
internet connection has made many guests angry and aggressive. The hospitality operation
system is not installed to the required standard of internet and other communication and
business execution technologies. The Cash register, the Peachtree, the CNET or other forms of
technology that are believed to facilitate multilateral growth are let at the tortoises’ track.
What is more, the sound system of conference halls in many hotels is very commonly
disappointing to a costly program. It is all related to payments, poor service charges, delayed
fixings and full of rough excuses.
In a discourse analysis, technology and the new market system are incongruent in Ethiopia,
Addis Ababa. Most hospitality business owners and managers are allergic to technology, and
they have developed a huge technophobia. Power securing using technology is not to the
conscience of the whole hospitality staff, but to simple routine business operations.

3.10. Safety and Security Issues

The safety and security of guests in a hospitality industry has to be given inevitable priority as
a fundamental task of the stakeholders in a given operational chain and specific area. When we
see these issues in detail, first, the roads to and fro a hospitality destination are note safe,
secure and comfortable to many foreign guests. The pavement and cobblestone roads are not

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comfortable and safe. The roadside lights are not adequately bright; they are serving as a hide
shade for thieves, pick-pockets and robbers. Guest properties have been stolen, nearby nose
from road-sides are horrible and ear pounding, guest mischiefing is becoming very common.
Most hotels, pensions and beds have no safety boxes and ELSAFEs; they have very traditional
keys and/or the electronic keys are not effectively operational. Besides, there are no immediate
highly professional medical and security contacts; they are not-up-to-date for technology, too.

3.11. Narrating and Exposing the Business and Marketing Process

The intellectual use of a business mind and calculated risk taking are very essential in
marketing and business processing. Likewise, the pre-operation, while operation and post-
operation research plays a great role to be beneficiaries out of the incurred costs in business
engagements.
Nevertheless, data collected for this study show that the hospitality business is being opened
not based on adequate research, but with intuitive drive in the “name of job creation”. The
hospitality industry is being operated by very traditional and “rich” people who are using poor
marketing strategies. They are not cognizant of the Macro-Micro market clash and its
consequences. They also follow stiff business competition, and are engaged in the menace of
business turf war. Food and beverage control only depends up on experience and fate. The
contemporary demand and supply relationships are not healthy.
As a result they are becoming the causes of uncontrolled inflation and unemployment, which
are becoming a serious challenge to the government. It has been found true that excessive
duplication and poor imitation of the hospitality business become trendy. In a certain block you
can find only a hospitality similarity that is believed to create unnecessary antagonism and
unhealthy competition to the market. Likewise, it is observed that the symbiotic relationship of
the big and the “small” hospitality operations does not exist; instead, the “biggest” hotels, bars,
pensions, restaurants and groceries are sacking the “smallest” ones. This is also creating an
unhealthy market situation, and it is also a threat to Ethiopia’s development agenda by
discouraging the transformation visions of small and medium scale hospitality operation
businesses to the next level.
What is more, resource allocation and utilization is at its greatest loss. The marketing strategies
in this industry are still technophobic, and the professional and service market is out of

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competition. Technological add-ons, including iPod docking stations and quality data and
voice streaming capabilities in the rooms are absent. The use of social media and internet
advertizing is dysfunctional and uncustomary.
What a surprising finding during the research is that the “X.99” robot bill machine is fooling
the international and local guests and many long-standing customers. It resulted in “Huh, I
tricked you; I got you!” as a sign of poor marketing ideology and customer handling.

3.12. Arguments on Human Resource Management and Staff Turn-Over

An excellent hospitality business/plant cannot be excellent in its operation and service without
professional employees in the field. What is observed in the hospitality industry is employing
based on kinship, ethnicity or religion; paying very low wages and salaries; imposing unpaid
extended working hours and inconsistent working-shifts; poor quality and dietless feeding;
undermining, insulting and humiliating; unexpected firing and chasing out without wages or
salaries at the eleventh hour; discrimination and stigmatization; spiting, finger scratch and
biting; sexual harassment, rape and abduction; illegal recruitments and denying rights and the
law to beginning employees; and so forth are the fundamental debilitating activities that most
hospitality owners, board members, managers, supervisors, heads, officers and guards attempt
and do. Scholars such as Pavesic & Brymer (1989) also found that hospitality graduates still in
the industry liked challenging jobs, direct involvement, working with others, a good work
environment and career advancement opportunities. What graduates still in the industry did not
like about their jobs were hours and schedules, quality of life and low pay. Frustration about
routine job activities, lack of advancement opportunities and little recognition were also
mentioned. Management politics and labour concerns were also cited as causing feelings of
being taken advantage of (Pavesic & Brymer, 1989). They added that stressed employees are
not happy employees and they will eventually leave to find less stressful work and comfortable
workplace management.

In response to these, employees made revenges and avenge; walk in and walk out in search for
a better salary and working condition; abandoning and (illegally) migrate; attempt or engage in
theft, mischief, bribery and tip collection; kill the time and the job; deliver poor quality service
and purposeful holdup; make frequent quarrels and nagging with immediate bosses or
colleagues; increase unjustifiable and frequent absenteeism; engage in cheap popularity and
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lies; become very unstable and unfocused to their jobs; increase leftovers, breakages and
wastages; and so and such.
Ross (1997) and Reichel & Pizam (1984) argued likewise; the huge cost of turnover, the loss of
company knowledge and competitive advantages, the interruption of customer service, the
turnover leads to more turnovers, the loss the industries goodwill and the serious hamper of the
industries efficiency are the debilitating effects of high staff turnovers in a hospitality industry.
What is more, the discourses of human resource management and employment in the
hospitality industry are feudalism, imperialism, unprofessionalism, traditionalism, non-
ethicality, egoism, immorality, amorality, corruption, power rivalry and kinship and ethnicity
extremism. They are all inevitable to stand dawn the blooming and booming industry of
hospitality in Addis Ababa city.

3.13. Exposing and Arguments about Quality Customer Service

Many customers agree that the quality of service in Addis Ababa hotels, restaurants, bars,
cafeterias and other forms of lodging is improving. Contrary still, data from interviews,
informal talks, field trips and observations have clearly shown that the quality of service
delivered at the hospitality operations of Addis Ababa city is generally below the standard. It is
still very traditional, unsatisfactory, unheeding and full of procrastinations, interruptions and
excuses. Sometimes, it is attached to tip collections and other forms of mischievous and
unethical engagements. These are very serious and horrible at times when the number of
international and national guests and diplomats increase.

4. Conclusions and Implications

4.2. Conclusion of the Study
In the endeavors to pinpoint the major challenges that pause the booming tempo of the
hospitality industry, it has been identified that the hospitality industry (lodging &
accommodation) is stricken down by various debilitating factors from different dimensions.
There are major problems in licensing & its operation; forgery& corruption and the poor
regulators and inspection actions. There are excessive tolerances from the government side to
take serious measure on illegal and dysfunctional hospitality operations. Besides,
administrative role counterfeiting of the different departments (offices) in the sub-cities are

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observed. They resulted in defective hospitality plant design and poor sewerage systems; poor
& traditional (human) resource management and administration; very unethical employees;
poor sanitation, environment, health and energy concerns; technophobia; very poor customer
service; etc.

4.3. Implications
4.3.1.To the Ministry of Culture & Tourism
It is observed that the hospitality industry is given little attention at the Five Years’ Growth and
Transformation Plan of Ethiopia. It is obvious, too, that the hospitality department is wrongly
stabbed with the culture and tourism department at different levels of the administrative
cascade. Hence, attention should be given to assign a separate professional and a department;
at least the name hospitality. Besides, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism should have the
name “Hospitality” as names invite and catch attentions. Progressive monitoring and
evaluation for standardization of the hospitality installation, operationalisation and service shall
be done by a taskforce formed from the construction and urban development, water, energy
and sewerage, health and sanitation, environment protection, culture and tourism, licensing and
other concerned offices: regulation and inspection, hotel owners, etc. All Ethiopian hotels,
restaurants, bars and other hospitality operation industries shall be studied by a task force of
professionals, and should be properly rated and given stars.

4.3.2.To Addis Ababa City Government

Addis Ababa City Government has a lot of jobs to do regarding the hospitality industry;
needless to say in many dimensions of growth and development. The integrative, teamwork
required among culture and tourism, health and sanitation, environment protection,
construction and development, licensing and recording and regulatory and inspection offices
are very palatable to mitigate the challenges of the hospitality industry. Clear organizational
cascade, policy, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation should be done tirelessly.
Awareness creation using public forums, the print and electronic media, motivation and
appraisals, etc. should be conducted. The city government should ratify its own contextualized
standard of labeling each hospitality operation in their categorization. The city government
should revise and update the already developed guideline/handbook of the hospitality industry.

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 4.3.3.To Hospitality Operators & Owners
As citizens of Ethiopia, each hospitality operator and owner is responsible and accountable for
the development or disappointment of the country. Each hospitality industry operator matters
and they should not be manacles of Addis Ababa’s growth and transformation. They should
fight rent-seeking and corruption, maladministration, dysfunctional operation, employee
mistreatment and environment degradation together; should cooperate, not threat. They should
understand that transparent and standard business operation will definitely bring standard
income and healthy lifestyle, and vice-versa. They should update themselves with information,
technology and the global standards of the hospitality business operation; they should be ready
to join the stiff competition of the upcoming business operation in the area. They should
understand standard and environment friendly service. They are obliged to conduct market
feasibility research before, during and after operating the hospitality business. They should also
be business innovative so as not duplicate and reload an already established business in the
nearby. They should struggle for professional ethics and humanity; not for material benefits,
kinships, religions, or ethnicity in human resource management and administration. They are
responsible to cooperate with training institutions for effective labor force production and
training. Generally, a lot is expected from the hospitality business owners/operators for change,
development, modernization, and standardization.

4.3.4.To Development & Construction Companies

Both government and private development and construction companies should work hand-in-
hand with the operational and would be operators of the hospitality industry for economical,
quality and environmental friendly installation of the plants. Ethio-telecom, water and
sewerage, road construction, building construction and other government nodes of operations
should plan ahead on the construction and installation of the inevitabilities to development.

4.3.5. To Hotel and Tourism Management Training Institutions

The training institutions of hotel and tourism management should develop standard curriculum
and syllabus design. They should train their students with practical examples and activities as
these areas are naturally demanding to be done so. They need to be very serious to students’
absenteeism, in-fulfillments, and gambling they play with teachers, administrators and hotel

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owners. An exit COC must be administered before graduation. They should make efficiency
audit every semester as it can tell them what to do next as a learning experience from the
failures.

4.3.6.To Customers (Local & International)

It is true that an assertive and constructive customer is the corner stone of a business growth
and change; especially, in the hospitality industry. Hence, the positive feedbacks given to poor
services and wrong hospitality operations would benefit the business operators, the customers
and the government. In the friction, change and transformation will come out smarter and
better. Hence, good customers are the vehicles of change and improvement for common benefit.

4.3.7.To Employees
They employees of a hospitality industry are the mirror images of the overall operation of that
business (Jin-zhao & Jing, 2009). Employees at different levels of the organization’s structure
are each responsible and accountable for the dysfunctioning of that hospitality industry in focus.
Though standard competence is required from the top managers to administer human resource
effectively and efficiently, each employee is also expected to hold the required knowledge and
skill of operating in the hospitality business. They should acquaint and develop themselves
with time management, technology, standard service, effective resource management and
utilization, health, hygiene and sanitation, safety and security, marketing abilities, professional
ethics and morale, etc. What is more important, Hospitality Employees shall form strong
associations (Hotel Managers Association, Front Officers Association, Waiters Association,
Chefs/Cooks Association, House Keepers Association, etc.) to safeguard their colleagues’
human and democratic rights.

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