Edinburgh Napier University

  Many international organisations assert that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play an important role as a facilitator and as one of the critical determinants for economic growth and poverty reductions in the developing countries. For ICT to be effective for development and poverty reduction, first it needs to be diffused in the developing countries. The data from International Telecommunication Union (ITU) indicate that there is very low diffusion in Ethiopia. This research attempts to find the socio economic factors that affect the adoption of ICT in the hotel and associated businesses in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In this research, mixed method research methodology used to collect qualitative and quantitative data in two phases. In the first phase, semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from hoteliers (n=17). In the second phase structured questionnaires were used to collect data from hoteliers (n=128) and tour operators (n=58). This paper seeks to explore the facilitator and resistance factors that determine the adoption of ICT in the hotels and tour operator businesses. The study investigated the factors that influence both the adopters and nonadopters of ICT. It uses Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory to formulate a new theoretical framework to guide the study. Furthermore, the study results indicate that the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, and Legal factors play a critical role in the adoption of ICT in the sector. It goes on to present the proposed theoretical framework, based on Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory, which may be used in a similar context in the developing countries. The theoretical framework provides insight into the factors of the adoption/rejection of ICTs for various sectors of the economy in the developing countries.