International Journal of Heritage, Tourism, and Hospitality 

About: International Journal of Heritage, Tourism, and Hospitality is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Tourism & Hospitality industry. Over the lifetime, 319 publications have been published receiving 708 citations.

Sharia-Compliant Hotels in Egypt: Concept and Challenges

Abstract: This study was undertaken to provide greater clearness for the meaning of the Sharia-Compliant Hotels (SCH) and identify the challenges facing the development of these hotels in Egypt. To fulfill these objectives, Delphi technique, as a method of refining group opinions, was used. The study used a series of two e-mailed questionnaires. Findings indicated that the most important defining features of SCH were; no alcohol or pork allowed, gender segregation was oblivious and halal food products are significant. Other important defining features included; Quran and prayer mats in each room, no nightclubs, disco or bars and signs indicating the direction of Mecca in every room. The main SCH challenges cited by the respondents were; deprivation of the insertion in the international or local hotel classifications, competition with other non- Islamic hotels, need for specific criteria appropriated to the international hotel classifications

Determinants of Electronic word of mouth (EWOM) influence on hotel customers' purchasing decision

Abstract: Research has widely demonstrated that personal sources of information like EWOM are more influential than traditional advertising. The potential impact of others' opinions has dramatically increased with the development of the internet. Since the hospitality and tourism products and services contain more interpersonal interaction that needs to be experienced by consumers, the influence of EWOM in hospitality industry is more significant than in other industries. However, very little is known about what makes certain opinions more influential than other. The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of electronic word of mouth influence on hotel customer purchasing decision. To achieve this goal, the study used a questionnaire to collect data from 500 hotel customers in Sharm-elshikh as one of the touristic destinations in Egypt. It has employed linear regression to measure the influence of EWOM determinants on hotel customer purchasing decision. The study results show that the influence of EWOM depends on source credibility, valence, and volume of information obtained from EWOM. Also we find that there is a relationship between receiver characteristics like receiver expertise and EWOM influence. The results further indicate that the type of website and type of the product which EWOM are about has a significant impact on EWOM influence. The findings of the paper provide information to managers and marketers from hotels as to why there is a necessity to pay close attention to what being said about them via EWOM and also how to effectively manage their online presence.

Impact of Effective Training on Employee Performance in Hotel Establishments

Abstract: The new developments in our Contemporary world bring out new terms of management science in all aspects. This is as a result of the complexity of work and the connection between its aspects, training is one of these terms that has a very important role in organizations development, especially service organization, hotels are the most important of service organizations.Employees are a crucial, but expensive resource, in order to sustain economic growth and effective performance, it is important to optimize the contribution of employees to the aims and goals of the organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the criteria of effective training in five-star hotels and identify the significant impact of effective training on skills of the hotel staff, performance of the hotel staff, productivity of the hotel staff and cost reduction. The results show that there is a significant impact of effective training on skills of the hotel staff, staff performance, employee productivity and cost reduction. The findings of the paper provide information to hotel management and human resource management to accentuate the importance of training programs by highlight its merits to the hotel’s success. For instance, training has shown to have positive results on employee morale, productivity, satisfaction and retention, as well as on service consistency and guest satisfaction.

Representation of Female Lute Players in the 18th Dynasty tombs and other Related-Objects

Abstract: Music was played an important role in ancient Egyptian society, and the lute was among the stringed instrument known in ancient Egypt like a harp and a lyre. Lute was introduced to Egypt during the new Kingdom, due to the Egyptian contacts with Asia and, played by men and women alike. Female lutenist was part of ancient Egyptian musician ensemble playing usually in banquets. This paper focuses on female lutenists as professional musicians especially in the tomb scenes during the 18th dynasty and other related objects. Moreover, the paper deals also with the scenes of female lutenists shown on banquets and represented in the marshes and drawing on ostraca. These lutenists were professional young girls, playing music and dance at the same time. They commonly appear in scenes as nude or nearly nude. This representation is an artistic motif preferred by the artist to portray female lutenists, and it had also its religious connotation that benefited the deceased by regenerating and rebirth him after death. The main objective of the paper is to highlight the female lute player as a professional musician and dancer in the tomb’s scenes, fragmented stone blocks, ostraca, a votive bed, and carved unguent spoons. Besides, it is an attempt to explain their nudity comparing with other musicians in ancient Egypt with their artistic and religious connotations.

Towards Smart Tourism Destination: An Empirical Study on Sharm El Sheikh City, Egypt

Abstract: The quick advancement of modern technology imposes computerization and digitizing to allsocieties. The smart tourism destinations concept comes from the advances in smart cities.Recently, destinations began to reshape their duties and their entrepreneurial logics, involvingtourists as active providers and initiators of their own experiences and considering newtechnologies as the essential instruments for deciding tourism outcomes. It means the advent of anovel pattern of destinations, the smart tourism destinations, in which new technologies are socomprehensively utilized to have a crucial impact on tourism experiences, improves destinations’abilities to compete and favor tourism development projects, starting from these issues.The aim of the research is to investigate the development of Sharm El-Sheikh as a smart tourismdestination and add to the ongoing debate on innovation in tourism, by presenting an interpretativeframework indicating the way in which technological instruments in a smart tourism destination mayenhance the co-creation of tourism experiences. This research used the descriptive analyticalapproach, where a questionnaire was prepared and distributed to a random sample of seventy five(75) experts in information and communication technologies and academic experts in the tourismsector. 60 (80%) of sample was retrieved.The research reached several results, the highest mean values for barriers to become smart tourismdestinations emerged for the item “deficiency of staff” (mean = 4.60, standard deviation =0.848).Thehighest mean value for opportunities to become a smart tourism destination is the item “Possibility ofa network of municipalities as a platform for collaboration” (mean=4.60, standard deviation = 0.588).The research recommended that smart tourism destinations should be use of networks andtechnologies more effectively and efficiently. Training programs should also be considered to betterutilize tools and techniques needed, to establish such kind of destinations.