Studies on innovation have focused less on service firms such as the hospitality industry. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate how innovation types: technological (product/service & process) and non-technological (marketing & organizational) innovations, and knowledge sharing influence the performance of star-rated hotels in Ghana. A cross-sectional design with a quantitative approach was employed. Data were collected using 5-point Likert-scaled questions from purposively selected 636 star-rated hotel managers. Structural equation modelling-partial least square design (SEM-PLS) was used to measure the relationships between study constructs and to test the established hypotheses. Findings showed that both innovation types and knowledge sharing positively and significantly influenced firm performance. Innovation types exclusively had a high influence on firm performance with product innovation having a stronger tie. The findings of this study imply that managers of hotel firms should place a greater emphasis on various forms of innovations to achieve high organizational performance. Knowledge management should then be a strategic part of hotel management such that it can be shared to enhance innovation and performance.
Customers’ expectation and perception are important driving forces in the hotel industry. This study assessed the link between customers’ expectation and perception in three-star hotels in Takoradi. It was observed that most customers’ expectation outweighed their perception.