Assessment on the Contributions and Challenges of an In-Flight Catering Service for Tourism Development: The Case of Ethiopian Airlines
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Date
2020-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The main objective of this study is to provide a deeper view of the contribution and challenges of
Ethiopian airline in-flight catering service for the development of tourism industry. This study
attempted to answer three basic questions: what is the current status of Ethiopian Airlines inflight
catering services? What are the challenges facing Ethiopian Airlines inflight catering services?
What is the contribution of Ethiopian airline in-flight catering industry for the development of
tourism industry? This study was used Qualitative research method and data were primarily
gathered from the researcher selected 9 corporate informants including, 1.the operation manager
of Ethiopian airline in-flight catering unit, three human resource officers and marketing
departments 2.Ministry of Culture and Tourism inspection director and the minister advisor,
3.with two local suppliers via expert interview and review of secondary document analysis.
Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data gathered via the aforementioned data
collection instruments. The results of the study reveal that as a national flag carrier, Ethiopian
Airlines in-flight catering unit as a single section from the seven SBUs (Sub Business Units) is
contributing a lot for the development of tourism industry through generating the much needed
hard currency, promoting Ethiopian culture, customs, cultural foods, dressing and in general
building the image of the country. However, the airline’s inflight catering sector is challenged by
different technological factors including manual outgoing items handover process with cabin crew
(pre-flight), the absence of location indicator like barcode scanner for crews to find loaded
products easily (during flight), manual incoming items handover process with catering agent(post
flight) and as an environmental factors Some products are not happened to be eco-friendly and
passengers special meal order has missed (during the flight).Based on the findings, the researcher
concluded that Ethiopian airlines in-flight catering service unit has a significance contribution for
tourism development and needs to improve its challenges have faced on environmental
technological and passenger satisfaction. The study as would be useful both for students and
researchers in the field of tourism, hospitality/catering, destination management, and for
practitioners and tourism management representatives who may find interesting insights and ideas
for improvement.
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Keywords
Aviation industry, in-flight catering, Ethiopian Airlines, challenges and contribution