ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND FIRM SURVIVAL IN RIVERS STATE'S HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: EVIDENCE FROM SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED HOTELS

Abstract Small and medium-sized hotels in Rivers State, Nigeria, face persistently high attrition rates, with a significant proportion unable to sustain operations beyond their formative years. While entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has been extensively linked to firm performance in developed economies, its specific role in determining the survival of small and medium-sized hotel enterprises in Rivers State remains empirically underexplored. Anchored in Effectuation Theory (Sarasvathy, 2001), this study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm survival among owner-managers of small and medium-sized hotels in Rivers State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was employed, with data collected from 117 owner-managers drawn from a registered population of 285 small and medium-sized hotels in Rivers State as documented by the Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism (2023). Entrepreneurial orientation was operationalised through three dimensions: innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking. Firm survival was assessed through operational continuity and adaptive capacity. Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis was used to test the hypothesised relationships. Results reveal a strong positive relationship between innovativeness and firm survival (r = 0.708, p < 0.05), a moderate-to-strong positive relationship between proactiveness and firm survival (r = 0.661, p < 0.05), and a moderate positive relationship between risk-taking and firm survival (r = 0.619, p < 0.05). The findings suggest that hotel owner-managers who exhibit higher levels of entrepreneurial orientation demonstrate significantly stronger survival outcomes in the volatile, infrastructure-constrained operating environment of Rivers State. The study contributes empirical evidence to the EO–survival discourse and offers actionable insights for hoteliers, hospitality industry bodies, and state-level enterprise policy. Keywords: Effectuation theory; Hotel SMEs; Innovativeness; Proactiveness; Risk-taking.