Beyond Regulatory Compliance: Restructuring Tourism Licensing for Destination Branding and Competitive Positioning in Kenya

The global tourism sector is undergoing a transition from traditional compliance-focused regulation to strategic governance systems that integrate licensing, branding, competitiveness, and market positioning. In contrast, many developing tourism destinations continue to rely on administrative and enforcement-driven licensing, with minimal alignment between regulatory compliance and destination competitiveness goals. Drawing on Responsive Regulation Theory, Collaborative Governance Theory, and Destination Competitiveness Theory, this study investigated the restructuring of tourism licensing as a strategic governance instrument for destination branding and competitive positioning in Kenya, with a particular focus on the mediating effect of public-private branding partnerships. The research targeted 19,167 regulated tourism enterprises, from which a sample of 392 respondents was selected using probability proportional to size sampling and simple random sampling. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was employed, utilizing both primary and secondary data sources. Analytical methods included descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, Spearman’s rank correlation, and mediated multiple regression analysis. Results indicated robust stakeholder support for tiered and incentive-based tourism licensing systems that are linked to enterprise recognition, branding, and competitiveness. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that public-private branding partnerships fully and significantly mediate the relationship between strategic tourism licensing and destination branding and competitive positioning (β= .673, B = .581, t = 10.632, p < .001). The findings suggest that tourism licensing can serve as a strategic governance and market-signaling tool when integrated with collaborative branding frameworks. The study recommends that Kenya’s tourism licensing framework be restructured into tiered, market-responsive, and branding-oriented governance systems aligned with destination competitiveness objectives.

Tourism licensing, destination branding, competitive positioning

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