Abstract

The tourism sector in Jordan is the second largest private sector employer and the second highest producer of
foreign exchange. This sector, however, has been affected by many external factors in the Middle East, such as
wars, turmoil and, most recently, the Arab Spring. Given the changing environment in which these hotels are
doing business, they require a high ability for adaptation in order to grow and compete. Despite this, little
research has been undertaken in this area. This research, therefore, aims to identify and examine the
characteristics of strategic planning systems in Jordanian hotels and their relationship with organizational
effectiveness.
In order to achieve this aim, a questionnaire is developed after reviewing the literature related to strategic
planning and its effectiveness in both developed and emerging markets. The empirical research is undertaken via
a survey of all four- and five-star hotels operating around Jordan’s most popular tourist attractions: Amman, the
Dead Sea, Petra and Aqaba. A total of 138 questionnaires were handed to the entire target population of 46
hotels. This questionnaire yielded an 80.4% per cent response rate.
The main findings of this research are: the mean time horizon for strategic planning is 5.4 years; top
management and boards of directors have less participation in strategic planning processes than outside
consultants; internal scanning is used less frequently than external scanning; some important strategy analysis
tools are used less frequently than traditional ones; and the areas of research and development and technology
are rarely covered. However, strategic planning is found to be positively and significantly related to
organisational effectiveness.

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