الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Domestic tourism; especially in developing countries, is considered foundation for the development of international tourism. It can provide people with a greater understanding and appreciation of what their country has to offer and can help to conserve foreign exchange by encouraging locals to see their own country rather than travelling abroad. It also maintain and sustain the tourism industry during the valley periods of international tourism by providing an alternative and demand substitution. Domestic tourism requires an appropriate level of hospitality services in order to meet customer requirements and thus to achieve customer satisfaction. Therefore, the overall aim of this study is to explore the requirements of Egyptian domestic travellers (EDTs) from hospitality services aiming to develop a good practice model for hotel managers to better meet the requirements of the Egyptian travellers. A critical review of concepts and issues relating to domestic tourism and hospitality services provide the basis for the development of a conceptual framework to identify the requirements of leisure travellers in regard to hospitality services. Two sources of evidence were used to achieve the aim of the study and to address the objectives as well. These two sources are: self-administered questionnaires and face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The questionnaires were distributed to a sample of Egyptian customers who stayed in three and five star hotels in three Egyptian destinations in order to investigate their requirements in regard to hospitality services. The interviews were conducted with hotel managers in the same investigated destinations/hotels to identify their perspectives in terms of the requirements of EDTs from hospitality services and how they meet and achieve these requirements. The results suggested that variety of room rates, safety and security procedures, room cleanliness as well as staff hygiene are considered by the majority of EDTs when selecting a hotel to stay in. Food price, value for money, food portion and food quality are considered as the most important food and beverage attributes for most EDTs when eating at any food service establishments. wimming pool, health spa/fitness and cinema are considered by EDTs as the most important indoor activities; whereas, their requirements regarding outdoor activities differ according to the destination facilities. A major contribution of this study is the development of a good practice model or hotel managers to better meet the requirements of EDTs and achieve ustomer satisfaction. The model will support establishments in maximizing their profits. |