DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2015.v03i08.007

Pages: 1311-1315

Micro and small scale food and beverage outlets are a rapidly expanding and dynamic sector of regional tourism industries in North Western Part of Ethiopia in general and the historic city of Gondar in particular. However, attempts to improve sustainability of these enterprises have often proved misguided largely due to poor understanding of issues affecting owners/ managers. So, the objective of this research was to assess a range of factors that would determine sustainability of micro and small scale food and beverage outlets. To this end, an in-depth interview together with document consultation was employed to complement each other. Samples were taken from tea rooms, hotels, butcher shops, cafeterias, restaurants, traditional dish houses, juice house, and groceries. To assure the reliability of the data all interviews were recorded and registered word for word throughout the courses of interview. The interpretation of the data employed a thematic descriptive approach. The findings suggest that the sustainability of micro and small scale food and beverage outlets are challenged by the capacity of owner-managers in planning, marketing, resource management, and use of information technology; and external factors such access to working space and raw material.