Knowledge Retention in Botswana’s Tourism and Hospitality Industry: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study carried out to identify the challenges and prospects to retaining knowledge in Botswana’s tourism and hospitality industry. The study adopted a questionnaire survey approach for data collection. A total of 80 questionnaires were administered to staff members of tourism and hospitality organizations. The criteria used for selection of eligible organizations was that they had to be legally licenced to operate by the Department of Tourism and graded by the Botswana Tourism organization. Organizations were purposively sampled from three industry strati being accommodation, travel agencies and tour operators. The results show that some of the challenges faced by hospitality organizations in retaining knowledge include difficulty in the utilization of retained knowledge because of long requisition procedures, lack of trust and knowledge hoarding. These challenges result in the retention of knowledge in the industry appearing to be optional. The study further reveals, supporting strategic objectives and self-fulfilment as the leading motivators for knowledge sharing. The industry therefore must turn these motivators into opportunities to cultivate a culture of knowledge retention.

Keywords

• knowledge retention
• challenges
• prospects
• tacit knowledge
• explicit knowledge