Marketing Practices of Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises for Attracting Domestic Tourists in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Hotel Management, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Minia University

2 Tourism Studies Department, Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH), Luxor

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the domestic tourism from the perspective of the managers of tourism and hospitality enterprises in Egypt to explore their perception of domestic tourists and identify and critically evaluate the marketing practices they undertook to attract local tourists. A quantitative approach was adopted in this study using questionnaire survey as a tool for collecting primary data. The survey was conducted among managers of different tourism enterprises (e.g. travel agents, gift shops) and hospitality enterprises (resorts, hotels, restaurants). The sample included 116 tourism and hospitality enterprises from different tourist cities in Egypt. The results revealed that the majority of these enterprises were mainly targeting domestic tourists who provided a large share of their overall business. The results also showed that the majority of the enterprises were fairly satisfied with domestic tourists and perceived them to be slightly important to their business. The study explored some marketing practices that tourism and hospitality enterprises undertook to attract domestic tourists, such as: reducing prices and rates of products and services; offering assorted packages at reduced prices; providing suitable services for domestic tourists. The study presents some practical recommendations that would enhance the marketing activities of tourism and hospitality enterprise to attract domestic tourists.

Keywords