ABSTRACT
Organisational capacity assessment (OCA) plays a valuable role in creating the foundation for institutional learning, institutional strengthening and decision-making. OCA provides a detailed picture of an organisation’s performance, enabling environment, capacity and motivation to achieve its mission. The current baseline study assessed organisational capacities of tourism associations for states within the East African Community. The states are seeking to align politically, socially and economically and market themselves synergistically as a single tourist destination. Findings show serious organisational capacity deficiencies in most tourism associations among the member states. However, there were notable achievements and strengths in areas of cross-border collaborative partnership, government support in infrastructure development and funding for research. Recommendations are made to strengthen organisational capacities of tourism associations in the region towards improved tourism competitiveness.
