The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of tour guides in the promotion of sustainable tourism practices when visiting protected areas in Kenya when visitors watch wildlife. Although many scholars agree that tour guides have a role in satisfying visitors and promotion of a destination, limited studies have been conducted to find out the role of guides in promotion of sustainable tourism practices. The objective of the study was to examine the influence of tour guides work experience and their level of education on the way they implemented sustainable tourism practices. It also sought to examine whether tour guides adhere to their rules and code of ethics and whether their level of education and work experience had any influence. The target population was practicing tour guides who were randomly selected. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The findings from the Chi-square test of independence indicated no significant relationship existed between the tour guides experience and their opinion on their role in protecting wildlife and the environment, and promotion of sustainable tourism practices (χ 2 =1.66, df =3, p=0.647) since the pvalue was greater than 0.05. The study also noted that there existed a significant relationship between guides work experience (χ 2 =11.71, df =6, p=0.069), guides level of education (χ 2 =0.147, df =2, p=0.092) and their knowledge on visitors impact on the environment and wildlife. The study recommends regularly training of tour guides who then can educate the visitors on the impact of their activities on wildlife, environment and the local communities as a way of mitigating negative impacts

It is important for a completive tourism destination to ensure that tourists get the company of a professional tour guide who guides and interprets attraction in the areas visited. Undefined level of education, lack of standardized training curriculum, and lack of barrier to the guiding career have affected the performance of tour guides in Kenya. Limited research in Kenya has been conducted to establish the role of guides in satisfying customer and protecting the environment. The study objective was to examine tour guides' interpretation knowledge and their opinion on areas that require more training so as to improve their performance. The study hypothesized that tour guides' opinions on their training needs are independent on the level of education, work experience and qualification. It is hypothesized that guides require additional training in flora and fauna of East Africa, cultural heritage and customer service. They require training in ICT (Information Communications Technology), eco-tourism principles, and at least one foreign language. The study hypothesizes that the higher the level of a guide's training, the more resourceful the guide will be. The study used qualitative and quantitative research approaches where questionnaires, interviews and focus groups discussion (FGDs) were used to collect the primary data. The finding shows that tour guides' opinions on areas they require further training were independent of their highest level of education, work experience and qualification. Most guides irrespective of their level of education, work experience and qualifications were of the opinion that they needed more training on mammals and plants (χ 2 = 1.07, df = 2, P = 0.583), training on birds and insects (χ 2 = 0.254, df = 2, P = 0.885) and training on culture and history of East Africa (χ 2 = 1.140, df = 2, P = 0.566). Respondents' training needs were independent on the duration of tour guiding course training had taken. Guides trained for less than six months, one year and more than two years agreed that training on foreign language (χ 2 = 4.84, df = 2, P = 0.196), ecotourism principles (χ 2 = 1.62, df = 2, P = 0.653) and tour planning and costing (χ 2 = 399, df = 3, P = 0.262) would improve their performance. The study concludes that tour guides are aware of the areas that they need to be trained and should be consulted before organizing such training. They require more training irrespective of their level of education, certification and work experience. The study recommends tour guide curriculum be standardized and all guides should sit for an exam before they are licensed to guide and only those with such license be allowed to practice guiding.

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The purpose of this paper was to examine the preferred social media application network by employees in the tourism and hospitality industry. The specific aims were to examine the preferred social media amongst Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, email and YouTube, examine the relationship between respondent's gender, a position at workplace and choice of social media and finally find out official the duties performed by the respondent's using the smartphones. The finding indicated that the most popular social media platform was WhatsApp (93%) closely followed by Email (84%) and the least being LinkedIn used by only 25% of respondents. Employees' gender (χ 2 =5.880, df =1, p<0.05) and position at the workplace (χ 2 =9.585, df =2, p<0.05) had minimal influence on the selection of social media preference. The majority (81 %) of the respondents perform up to 50% of their official duties with the help of their smartphones translating to improved and effective customer services, reduced operation cost, and healthier business performance. The study concluded that WhatsApp and Email were the most preferred social media network and were used to communicate and transact business with customers and other stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industry. Smartphones are no longer luxury tools but are part of the technology that every employee in the industry must adapt to. Contribution/Originality: This study is one of the very few studies that have investigated the preferred media network by employees in the tourism and hospitality industry in Kenya. The paper's primary contribution is the finding that WhatsApp and Email were the most preferred social media network and were used to communicate and transact business between employees and customers and stakeholders in the industry. 1. INTRODUCTION Notably, more than 90% of employees in Kenya own a smartphone and in most cases; you see people performing different services using a smartphone more than their laptops and desktop computers. This may be partly because mobile application capabilities allow users to access browsers while hybrid App-web installed in a smartphone enable users to access the internet Lama (2019) and Kvist and Mathiasson (2019). Mobile applications are used as constant reminders of business existence and engage customers' in the hospitality industry. They increase customer accessibility with reduced communication costs and increased efficiency. Most people in Kenya who have Smartphones can easily gain internet connectivity and access to social networks. In Kenya, 87% of adults own a mobile device while only 3% do not use a mobile phone.

Several studies have been conducted to examine the influence of technology on the travel and tourism industry. However, there exists limited literature on the adaptation and usage of Smartphone technology by Kenyan tour guides, a gap this study sought to address. The objective of the study was to examine the effect of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on tour guiding performance in Kenya, investigate the effect of smartphone usage on the guides’ performance and finally, explore the possibility of adoption smart guiding techniques by Kenya’s tour guides. The study used descriptive methods and target practicing tour guides as the respondents. The data collected was analyzed using the Pearson’s Chi-square test of independence. The findings indicated Smartphone technology positively influenced guides, performance (χ2=65.025;df 2; P<0.05).The study concluded that smartphone and information communication technology have significantly influenced guides performance and hence recommend to the government and other stakeholders to invest more in infrastructure that supports smart destinations, which offer interactive pre-tour services, during the tour and post-tour experiences. Innovation on applications that support real-time interaction with attractions, accommodation and financial institutions is recommended.