Marwa M Ghanem (also known as Marwa Abdel-Fadeel)

The important role of internet innovations in destination’s marketing and promotion has been well stated in prior research. It is been argued that internet technologies can help Destinations Management Organizations (DMOs) inspire, engage and inform tourists during, before and after their holidays. Yet, little research has investigated DMOs adoption of internet technologies and the extent to which the online activities of DMOs fulfill the needs of tourists during their journey. This study aims to answer the question of to what degree the top ten African and Middle Eastern’s (AME) DMOs integrate advances of Web1.0 and Web2.0 to serve tourist’s journey (before, during and after-holiday). Based on a modified version of the evaluation framework of Buhalis and Wagner (2013), a content analysis approach has been carried out to gather, quantify and analyze data. The results indicated that the AME destinations are still in an early stage of adopting available technologies and applications that could inspire, inform, facilitate and engage actual and potential visitors. During and after holiday phases are particularly neglected. Many of the DMOs websites focused on the visual appearance, interface and navigation design, but―in their majority―they lack integration to tools of engagement and interactivity such as forums, User Generated Content (UGC), personalization applications and sophisticated customer relationship management. This study provides managers of DMOs with a guide of new technologies and possible tools for improving, indeed optimizing, their web presence.

Prior research on heritage tourism has suggested a set of general guidelines to develop sustainability in heritage sites, but these lack details on implementation and prospective challenges, especially in the developing countries. This research studies the practical application of sustainable heritage tourism (SHT) in Egypt. In particular, it investigates the challenges facing the tourism development of the Esna heritage site, and proposes a framework of action. The emergent challenges are related to two main aspects: community (e.g. close urbanization and theft of antiquities) and management (e.g. lack of top management support and commitment, conflict of authorities, lack of awareness and appropriate skills, and lack of adequate funding). The study found that the central and most influential factors are those related to management. The suggested framework of actions outlines objectives, related actions and implementation responsibilities. The implementation of the entire suite of actions would enhance the ability of Esna to conserve heritage, develop local community and assist in facing the challenges to development. Generally, this study is a step towards a better understanding of how sustainable heritage tourism could be achieved in developing countries. It also gives relevant insights to both researchers and practitioners.

This study aims to enhance the understanding of destination management system (DMS) effectiveness and its evaluation. Upon review of the literature, it was established that DMS effectiveness and its evaluation has not yet been researched adequately. Informed by an interpretive approach, this study contributes to research particularly by investigating what constitutes effectiveness and explores the aspects (factors and relationships) that need to be considered in a holistic DMS effectiveness evaluation. Based on a qualitative case study strategy, this study adopts a comprehensive approach that considers multiple stakeholder groups’ perspectives. The research evidence is collected through a case-study of the Egyptian DMS experience (the Touregypt project). The Touregypt project gives insights to the understanding of three DMS cases that have not been researched before in DMS literature: first, an actual DMS application in a developing country; second, a public and private sector partnership experience; and third, a failed DMS experience (the system has failed in the course of this research).
Prompted by the interpretive approach, this study tried to explore DMS effectiveness based on the perspectives, attitudes and experiences of the multiple stakeholder groups (Hesse-Biber and Leavy 2010). Accordingly, the empirical data was collected through a multi-method approach that includes interviews, observation, archival document analysis (including Touregypt forum analysis), and website analysis. Data has been analyzed guided by discourse analysis, complemented with the general inductive approach of Miles and Huberman (1994). Following an interpretive theory-building strategy, the analyzed data has been further interpreted in the light of prior theories of DMS and information systems research, particularly the Delone and MacLean IS effectiveness theory (1992, 2003, and 2004).
The main contribution of this study to knowledge is a theory based model that enhances the understanding of DMS effectiveness evaluation. The suggested model identifies the aspects (factors and relationships) that need to be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of DMS. Also, the results of this study give insights to the
understanding of DMS effectiveness by shedding light on what constitutes effectiveness and the possible relationship between such constructs.

Many researchers underscored the effective role which Geographical Information Systems
(GIS) can play in supporting management and promotion of the tourism industry. This paper
investigates the practical usage of GIS for the benefit of sustainable tourism development. In
particular, it examines the possible opportunities and challenges facing the adoption of GIS to
assist sustainable tourism development. GIS can provide a unified tourism information
network on destinations. For example, it includes maps of and information on geographical
locations, topography and kinds of heritage available. Likewise, GIS offers a list of possible
cultural tourist activities as well as practices of frequent tourists. Such a unified information
network can promote the planning of sustainable development in terms of supporting
managers’ decision-making. This study explores the challenges that need to be tackled in
order to effectively acquire GIS potentials. The main contribution of this study is making a
record of GIS challenges. Informed by the characteristics of GIS as an information system,
the suggested challenges have grouped into four main constructs, each includes other subfactors.
These challenges are related to people (i.e. top management support, GIS knowledge
and skills and GIS training), data (i.e. availability of data, quality and comprehensive
information and data security), hardware and software (i.e. employing appropriate
technology, quality hardware and software), procedures (i.e. appropriate policies and
coordinating efforts) and adequate funding.