Volume 8 (2017): Issue 2 (December 2017)

This study investigates the link between the different service characteristics that have an influence on customer satisfaction in university cafeteria food services. A conceptual model comprising of different variables like food and beverage quality, service quality, food choice, price and value equality, and ambience were studied for customer satisfaction to explore the relationship among them. This study examined how dining experiences influence the satisfaction and loyalty of both non-mature (students) and mature (staff) customers, in order to find their similarities and differences within the context of university cafeteria services. The study was conducted at Taylor’s University in Malaysia by using a quantitative research approach, and 231 students and 63 staff members of the university participated in the study. The findings reveal that the various quality factors considered in the study are positively correlated with customer satisfaction and have a significant impact on the satisfaction level of both students and staff who dined at the university cafeteria. It could be concluded from the results that the influence of price offered at the university cafeteria had a significant effect on respondents’ loyalty. The result of this study offers a direction towards better the services and facilities, which lead to an increase of the competitive influence of the restaurant business in the marketplace.

The aim of the paper is to identify the stance of tourism industry practitioners in the Republic of Cyprus in the case of reunification. Since 1974 and the Turkish invasion, one third of the island’s territory has remained under an illegal occupation. Discussing Cyprus’ political problem and the potential of reunification in relation to the tourism industry is a new concept in nature. The tourism industry will be the vehicle for further economic development. So, it is imperative to understand the opinions of tourism stakeholders and decision makers who will potentially be involved in the development of tourism in the reunited island. In order to identify the consequences of the status quo on the Republic, the views of 26 powerful elite people, both in the public and private sectors of the country, were collected through a qualitative data inquiry using semi-structured interviews. The results of the study suggest that the inability to come up with a viable solution has many negative consequences on the tourism industry of the island. The results of the study suggest that a possible reunification will render Cyprus as an innovative tourism destination.

This research explored the techniques employed by event managers to create event prestige value for VIPs in a corporate events context. Research on prestige has mainly focused on the attributes that deliver prestige value (the prestige values). However, by focusing on those delivering prestige (as opposed to the recipients of prestige), this research identified two deeper, less explicit mechanisms required to deliver prestigious experiences, labelled Interaction and Principles. By identifying a more comprehensive set of techniques, those designing VIP experiences will be better equipped to satisfy the prestige needs of VIPs.

The market of tourists with disabilities consists of a sizeable percentage of total tourism and is rapidly growing globally but little is known about tour guides experiences with them. These tourists with disabilities seem to have less holiday offers thereby reducing the frequency of tour guide encounters with them. While most tourism literature supports tour guides and their contribution to tourist experience, very little research is done in developing countries to show experiences of tour guides with tourists with disabilities. There is a knowledge gap of how the interactions between the guide and tourists with disabilities participating in the guided tours influence the tour guides’ experience. Using face to face interviews and focus group discussions with tour guides the study sought to establish people with disabilities types of holidays, concerns they raise during tours and challenges encountered by tour guides when touring with PwD. Non-probability, namely convenience and judgemental sampling methods were followed to pick tour guides from museums and national parks. Study results revealed the activities that tour guides are offering people with disabilities, guides’ own choice of activities for tourists with disabilities and the challenges faced by tour guides in the provision of those activities. The study concludes that the guiding industry has inadequate information about tourists with disabilities and thus is failing to fully serve the market. Lastly the study provides a set of recommendations that can be used by the tour guiding industry in order to effectively serve the market of tourists with disabilities.

Tourism industry plays a pivotal role in the economic development of a nation. This industry infuses opportunities with commendable impact on the economy in the areas of generating income, employment opportunities, one of the sources of foreign exchange earnings, infrastructure development and promotion of national heritage and culture, which contributes towards the national gross domestic product (GDP). This article is empirical about the contribution and impact of foreign exchange reserve, earning and the arrival of tourists on the growth of tourism industry and GDP in India. The researcher has collected secondary data, and the variables are assessed with the help of correlation and regression analysis to analyse the impact of tourism towards GDP in the country. The finding of this article is that domestic tourism is the only independent variable having significance in the GDP.

Although literature has documented many destination attributes that determine attractiveness of tourism destination, the magnitude and strength of each attribute has not been explored, especially in relation to a single wildlife tourism product. This study provides an insight into the level of tourists’ perceived value on wildlife resource attributes at Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya, with a further comparison between the international and domestic tourists. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey and collected primary data using self-administered structured questionnaires. A total of 402 respondents duly completed the questionnaires, which were disseminated through simple random sampling. Data was analysed descriptively and through independent sample T-test. The results showed that unique wildlife attractions were most valued by tourists (M = 2.26, SD = 0.99), followed by the variety of attractions (M = 2.53, SD = 1.08) and their abundance (M = 2.59, SD = 1.19) respectively. Majority of international tourists highly valued the attributes [M = 2.30, SD = 0.88; t(400) = 4.18, p < 0.001] as compared to the domestic tourists (M = 2.67, SD = 0.88), but with a small magnitude (η = 0.04). The study provides an insight that tourists value the park because of its uniqueness due to a variety of wildlife attractions. As park ecological challenges persist, park managers may re-brand the park by creating more emphasis on other key wildlife products like rhinos in order to maintain visitor value and satisfaction in the future.