Sharia Compliance Implementation Among Hoteliers in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Sharia compliance hotel has been created to cater to Muslim guests as demand and awareness for Islamic products and services increased. This innovative development can be found in countries where Muslim residents are the majority like Malaysia and Indonesia. However, there is a limited of study on the sharia compliance hotel acceptance among hoteliers particularly in Malaysia. Thus, the main purpose of the study is to examine the factors that contribute to the acceptance of sharia compliance hotel concept implementation among hoteliers. This study focuses on the middle management level employees in 3-5 star hotel situated in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Drawing from Theory of Planned Behaviour, the specific research objectives are three-fold: 1) to examine the relationship between attitude and sharia compliance hotel acceptance, 2) to investigate the relationship between subjective norm and sharia compliance hotel acceptance, and 3) to examine the relationship between perceived behavioural control and sharia compliance hotel acceptance. The study utilized quantitative research approach to achieve the stated research objectives. For data collection, a self-administered questionnaire was deployed which was developed based on previous studies. For the purpose of the study, the data collection was conducted in fifteen hotels in the Klang Valley that include hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya. The results verified hotelier’s attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control are salient attributes of sharia compliance hotel acceptance in the hotel industry. The research model based on the theory of planned behavior managed to explain more than 60 per cent of the variance in sharia compliance hotel acceptance.

Adventure Tourism in Nepal Himalayas: Environmental Effects

Nepal is known as an ideal destination for adventure tourism with its diverse natural attractions and cultural heritage. However, The Nepali Himalayas is highly vulnerable to human influenced change, occurring at local and national scales. The objective of this manuscript is to assess the overall situation of the adventure tourism activities in the Nepali Himalayas and various environmental effects related to it. The methodology will be literature review with an evaluation of the findings. The collected data from publications of the Nepal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is organized and analyzed in a descriptive way where some of the data were presented in tabular form using a simple statistical tool. At the end, the manuscript will suggest the establishment of educational programs focused on different target groups and essential policy measures for local stakeholders and governmental bodies to reduce adverse environmental impacts of adventure travels.

Measuring Cultural Diversity Impact in Hospitality Industry Leadership: Managerial Communication Perspective from Five Star Hotels in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

This study aims to measure the cultural diversity impacts in hospitality industry leadership from the perspective of managerial communication. Data were obtained from all the 10 five star hotels in Kathmandu valley. 167 respondents were sampled from the managers of five star hotels in Kathmandu valley, Nepal using structured questionnaire. Data analysis is made using descriptive analysis and Leadership Practices Index measured through dimension suggested by GLOBE Model. The study found out that maximum majority (48.48%) employees were the residents of Bagmati Province itself. For effective functioning of any organization workplace communication plays crucial role. Though numerous challenges are faced by employees working in hospitality industries in terms of communication 96% of respondents believed that managerial communication problem could be overcome if better tactics were used. Upon responding the importance of communication in workplace 54.76% employees stated that effective communication would help managers to set goals and targets for attaining objective of the hotel or their department followed by its importance at the time of serving guests and working in team while coordinating. Likewise, 41.07% feels that effective communication makes employees feel secure and helps to achieve targets. Also, 40.48% feel easy to work in team with the help of effective communication. 19.05% thinks through effective communication exchanging necessary ideas become easier. Communication leadership scale suggested by GLOBE model shows the maximum number of leaders are performance oriented i.e., 83.03% whereas assertiveness, Power Distance and in-group collectivism are the least but still above the 50%, which shows the leader still maintain power distance, least in-group collectivism. Hence, based on the findings of the study, the study concluded that managerial communication skills impact in hospitality business for its growth and maximization. This original study is crucial for hotels, government agencies and prospective employees of hospitality sector of Nepal and worldwide at large.

Tourism and Community Perception: Quest of Sustainability from Happiness Paradigm

Change is normally phenotypic and influenced by external environment however transformation is genotypic and irreversible which mostly comes from within. Social change and transformation might also be triggered by external stimulus that may be intentional or accidental. Tourism has emerged globally as one of the powerful external but intentional agents of modern society for socio-economic transformation. Namche Bazar, the gateway to Mt. Everest, experienced tremendous socio-economic transformation (genotypic) due to tourism otherwise it would simply be a seasonal resting place for Sherpa shepherds and nomads. The dichotomy of discourses on tourism lies on perspectives: tourism as a symbol of modern society or postmodernity versus tourism as a vehicle of imperialism. The former view depicts tourism as an agent of economic prosperity whereas the later claims that tourism consumes and despoils destinations’ image and essence. The imperialistic discourse on tourism is entirely built on negative hypothesis. In tourism, phenotypic impact is rather superficial and can be restored if perceived negatively unlike genotypic. Amid these positive and negative propositions, a third paradigm emerged with sustainability variant that hooked up the two juxtaposed hypotheses as an alternative model of mass tourism. It portrayed tourism as a double-edged dagger that insists on efficient and effective manipulation of tourism for positive implications. The ‘sustainable tourism’ – a buzzword among tourism academia - stands in favor of planned, managed, controlled and responsible tourism. However, the crux of sustainable tourism lies in the quantification and measurement of sustainability. A sustainability premise of a stakeholder at the destination might be unsustainable for the other as like of economists and environmentalists for example. The incongruity perspectives have troubled the tourism academia to quantify, measure and analyze the indicators of sustainable tourism from unanimous parameters. This study is, therefore, an attempt to analyze the sustainability of a tourism destination via happiness (hedonic as well as eudaemonic) parameters of the community people, one of the main stakeholders in the destination and yet do not directly thrive on tourism business. The paper is directed by a thematic proposition ‘the more the happiness level of stakeholders, the better will be the sustainability situation of the destination’.

Impact of COVID-19 on Pilgrimage Tourism: A Case Study of Lumbini, Nepal

The coronavirus outbreak is troubling the pilgrimage tourism industry in terms of economic, social, food, employment, and spiritual faith as pilgrimage activities are being stopped during the pandemic. The COVID-19 restriction and the nationwide lock-down has made it a very difficult time for pilgrims to stop the travel movement and this has made a big worry for government around the world. The pilgrimage tourism in Mecca, Vatican City, Israel, and India has been affected much by pandemic as gathering in the pilgrimage sites have been restricted since the year 2020. Lumbini one of the most important pilgrimage site, which is also a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site in Nepal, and has a significant contribution to the national economy. This research uses Lumbini, Nepal, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, to explore the impact of novel coronavirus on pilgrimage tourism and discusses the challenges experienced by Buddhist pilgrim, monks and nuns in different monasteries in 2020 and during the first quarter of the year 2021. The research is qualitative. The study is based on both primary and secondary data gathered through interviews with the related stakeholders and the review of several relevant secondary sources. The outcomes of the research illustrate that pilgrimage tourism has been extremely affected by coronavirus and lock-down causing multiple effects on social creation, economic and holy activities, and daily lives of the monks and nuns in Lumbini.

Extreme Sport: Understanding the Concept, Recognizing the Value

Extreme sport is one of the fastest-growing areas in sporting activity in this century. Extreme sport appears to be used interchangeably with high-risk sport in much of the research literature. Both high-risk sport and extreme sport are defined as any sport where one has to accept a possibility of severe injury or death as an inherent part of the activity. Extreme sports are rapidly becoming the physical activity of choice. Extreme sports have diffused around the world at a phenomenal rate and far faster than established sports. Commercially, extreme is the password for corporations and advertisers to access young population. Extreme sports increasingly attract participants from different social classes and age groups, as well as females and minority groups. The extreme sport comprises tourist activities, therapeutic activities, recreational activities, and sporting activities. They have become a sporting spectacle. Extreme sports are even discussed in marketing (niche market), management, and policy literature as legitimate niches that require their peculiar understanding or inappropriate activities that need to be banned. Adventure and risk-taking sports such as mountaineering, whitewater rafting, surfing, skiing, skydiving, downhill mountain biking, rock climbing, and BASE (Building, Antenna (or Aerial), Span (i.e., bridge), Earth (cliffs or other rock formations)) have increased in popularity in recent years. This study is an overview of previous studies carried out by eminent scholars of psychology and different disciplines. The objective of this study is to understand extreme sport in better way on one side and how extreme (or adventurous) sport has been theoretically conceptualized and re-conceptualized on the other. The researcher made an effort to disseminate the knowledge of extreme sports to the students, researchers, entrepreneurs, media personnel, and other concerned authorities, related organizations, and institutions. It is also believed that this study will help to promote adventure education, adventure tourism (niche tourism) and deep ecology. The participants strongly believe that the natural world acts as a facilitator to a deeper, more positive understanding of self and its place in the environment. Fear, emotion, stress, risk, uncertainty, motivation, wellness, wellbeing, personality traits and determination are the key elements of extreme sports.

Impact of the COVID-19 in Tourism Industry in Nepal and Policy Recommendation

For the first time in history, almost all the domestic and international tourism destinations have restrictions for travel worldwide because of corona virus pandemic. Corona virus disease calls the COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing problem in more than 210 countries in the world. The purpose of this study is to find the tourism impact of COVID-19 in Nepal and purpose recommendations for the preparation of evidence based policy and strategies for further development of the tourism industry in Nepal. Secondary data used in this study were obtained from the ministry of tourism in Nepal and other various web sources and primary data were collected from the online survey and collected 52 samples. They are involved in the hospitality, education & consulting, travel & tours, adventure & expedition, trekking agencies, and government officials from national tourism originations. The study highlights that the tourism contribution in Nepal’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as a significant sector that has a linkage with other sectors. Also, the Nepalese tourism industry is dependent on international factors and the Nepal tourism industry highly relies on foreign tourists and cancellation of the mountain climbing permits for the year 2020, affects the income of foreign currency as building the capacity of stakeholders and public-private partnership initiatives to promote and work together to develop and manage in future tourism fields. well as the local economy, the loss of thousands of jobs in the tourism sector and others sectors. Overall analyses suggest that building the capacity of stakeholders and public-private partnership initiatives to promote and work together to develop and manage in future tourism fields.

Constraints to Community Participation in Tourism in Kenya: The Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary

Community Based Tourism (CBT) is among several types of tourism that have been considered sustainable and beneficial to the host populations in conservation areas. The local community participation in tourism in conservation areas is supposed to be high and its members should benefit from the tourism process. However, having been presented with opportunity to improve their livelihoods, communities are constrained in various ways and generally fail to benefit from tourism development. This study was set to investigate constraints to community participation in conservation areas. It was carried out in Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary (MES) in Kwale County, Kenya, using a descriptive survey design. Data was collected using researcher administered questionnaires and oral interviews. The results indicated that lack of coordination among stakeholders; inadequate financial resources, lack of conducive environment for tourism growth, and lack of skills/knowledge were major constraints to participation. The study concludes that to address both operational and structural constraints to community participation, the national and county governments should develop policies that compel investors to honor agreements with communities, assist communities to enter into fair collaborations with investors, and provide incentives to investors in tourism.

COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on Tourism Industry in Nepal

The article aims to measure the impact of novel corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on tourism industry in Nepal. The pause of tourism mobility for months due to an abrupt halt of transportation means; shuttered borders; and stay-at-home orders by government has brought adverse effects on Nepal’s tourism industry and its stakeholders. Likewise, airlines, accommodation, transport operators and other sub-sectors of Nepal are suffering due to international travel bans. There are spillover impacts of the pandemic on the socio-cultural structure, human psychology and global economic system where tourism industry is no exception. The impacts are gradually unfolding. Hence, the study also focuses on the preparedness and response strategy of stakeholders for combating this pandemic which has brought crisis and fear to Nepal’s tourism industry. The research is qualitative in its nature and followed basic/fundamental research type to expand knowledge on this topic which will shed light on the significant impact on the tourism industry in Nepal. The study is based on both primary data collected through interviews with intended stakeholders and the review of several relevant secondary sources.

Understanding Multisided Platforms, Circular Economy and Tourism

A multisided platform is a model that creates value by facilitating exchanges between two transaction partners which means the platform plays an intermediary role between the two groups. This is also called “knowledge economy “or “third globalization” which has been brought into one platform through technology and information. In business, the platform is recognized as a marketing terminology. Comparatively the state, government, and civil society are influenced by various technologies in several fields of human activities and provide beneficiaries to human beings. This study aims to introduce the multisided platforms and their respective fields in businesses on one side and the other side, it shows the link between tourism and circular economy and explains why is circular economy becoming a key factor for contributing to keeping the balanced environment in highly industrialized, urbanized, overpopulation including over tourism. These days the circular economy has become closely associated with sustainability and sustainable tourism and development.