Search results

Travel ban, restriction and health hazards are the results of disruptive shocks in the tourism industry leading to a significant negative impact on the tourism business. We investigated the COVID-19 induced different restrictions effects in Bangladesh through the synthesis of the literature evidence. Our study found the tourism industry is one of the hardest-hit service industries worldwide during the pandemic. The main purpose of this chapter is to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry in Bangladesh. New post-epidemic potentials for sustainable tourism growth are outlined. The consequences of COVID-19 in global sustainable tourism are discussed using a qualitative technique based on emergent literature, the most recent tourism reports and content analysis in this chapter. This book chapter complements the literature inventory on COVID-19 by estimating and tracking the world economy's major effects, the impact on sustainable travel and tourism, the effects on nature wildlife tourism and (new) openings for further sustainable tourism. Finally, it analyses the nature and scope of COVID-19's effects on tourism, recovery and resolution in the post-pandemic tourism industry, as well as the suggestions for future growth of sustainable tourism.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development underscores eradicating global poverty (Goal#1) and empowering women and girls (Goal#5) to foster sustainable, inclusive communities (Goal#11). The World Bank recognises female entrepreneurship as a catalyst for global economic growth, poverty reduction and gender equity. This chapter delves into the challenges hindering female entrepreneurship, obstructing poverty alleviation and community sustainability efforts worldwide. Public–private collaborations are crucial to support women in launching start-ups, adopting new technologies, enhancing digital skills and accessing financing in the era of Industry 4.0.

Our focus is on women entrepreneurship in BRICS nations due to their diverse growth trajectories and global economic significance. Employing a qualitative approach, we analyse public and private initiatives promoting female entrepreneurship in BRICS countries. Our findings highlight both commonalities and distinctions in their strategies and policies, implicitly contributing to poverty reduction and social and economic growth. This chapter not only identifies barriers faced by women entrepreneurs but also underscores factors fuelling their ventures. It offers a practical toolkit for scholars, policymakers and practitioners (entrepreneurs and consultants) to devise tailored strategies and actions for local growth and intervention. The study comprises four parts: the introduction, setting the chapter's goal and previewing outcomes; the second part, exploring female entrepreneurship as a key to poverty alleviation and community sustainability; the core, the third part, unveiling in-depth BRICS country analysis; and the conclusion, summarising implications and highlighting avenues for further research.

Gunung Mulu National Park (GMNP) is one of the two protected areas with UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) status in Malaysia. Until now, this area can only be accessed by tourists via air and water transportation only. Recently, the government has proposed the construction of a road connecting GMNP to several areas, including Miri City through a high-impact infrastructure project. However, this project might instigate the potential benefits and challenges in terms of tourism development and community well-being. As custodians of the park, their support for this initiative needs to be dismantled so that the management of the national park can still be implemented holistically and does not jeopardise the current UNESCO status of WHS. WHS is UNESCO-designated area of cultural, historical, scientific, or other significant value, legally safeguarded by international agreements, and preserved for the benefit of future generations due to its exceptional value to humanity. Thus, this study aims to examine challenges and socioeconomic impacts of the proposed road among key informants' perspectives at Long Terawan Village, Long Iman Village, Batu Bungan Village and GMNP Headquarters. The study was conducted via in-depth interviews with 10 community members residing in the settlement, including a tribal chief, boatman, lodging operator, park guide and farmer, all of whom are professionals and representatives of the local community. They were designated as key informants on account of their extensive engagement and development within the community. Through a thematic analysis, their perspectives on the proposed roads to be built in the area were elucidated. The study offers pragmatic understanding of socioeconomic impact assessment, which could inform strategic decision-making by incorporating information regarding potential benefits and challenges of the proposed road construction to an isolated protected area.

This paper aims to explore the asymmetric effect of liquidity risk (LR) and Shariah board size on bank financial stability for a panel of Islamic banks (IBs) based in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Southeast Asian countries over the 2006–2019 period.

This paper uses the asymmetric nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) error correction model insofar as it allows assessing not only whether IBs with large boards outperform their peers with reduced boardrooms but also unveiling the potential asymmetries between LR and stability.

The findings show that while increasing the number of the Shariah board members does not impact the financial stability of IBs in both the short and long runs its decrease appears to enhance their stability in the long run. The findings also show that a hike, as well as a fall in LR, significantly influences the stability in the long run, which underlines the role that LR plays in bank financial stability.

A prominent line of future research may consist in extending the country sample to cover more representative full-fledged IBs based on different regions, which allows the breakdown of the sample into GCC-based and non-GCC-based IBs. Doing so is interesting in terms of governance implications. Another extension would consist in considering additional sources of risk to stability.

IBs should enhance their expertise, which helps them diversify their funding strategy and cater for liquidity solutions. They also must establish a better Shariah governance framework to contain their risk-taking behavior that ultimately contributes to achieving financial stability.

This paper contributes to the empirical literature in Islamic banking by performing a model that simultaneously accounts for both short- and long-run asymmetries in the relationship between the financial stability of full-fledged IBs, the LR and the size of the Shariah supervisory board.

The desire to find a new look of expressing the Muslim identity in society has led to a renewal of Muslim women’s interest in fashion. This allows fashion players to make trendy clothing and expand their business to meet the rising needs of Muslim women. Thus, this study aims to explore the concept of hijab fashion from the perspective of Islamic clothing retailers in Malaysia.

Data for this study were collected qualitatively using semi-structured interviews and analysed using a deductive thematic analysis.

This exploratory study describes hijab fashion as a representation of clothing for ideal contemporary Muslim women that enhances the beauty in Islamic outfits from the perspective of Islamic clothing retailers. Hijab fashion has emerged as a modern form of the modest dress code in accordance with Islamic guidelines representing the hijaber identity. It is not just a veil to cover the awrah but also represents the impression of fashionableness and modernity, reflecting the self-image, trendy style and personality representing the true ideal Muslim women, who are known as Muslimah.

The sample and findings are based exclusively on the perception of retailers directly involved in Malaysia’s Islamic fashion business.

The findings from this study benefit the fashion retailers, Islamic fashion industry players and policymakers by highlighting the importance of providing appropriate products and services concerning the growth of Muslim consumer market and their spending behaviour.

The findings offer a new perspective on the nature of the phenomenon of hijaber fashion as a symbol of the modern Muslim woman from the viewpoint of Islamic fashion practitioners.

Problems of Malaysian construction industry have often been associated, in part to incompetent construction manager (CM) when managing the construction projects. Although various education and training provisions have been introduced, critics argue that the provisions have not been effective. Central in the debate on the adequacy of the CM education and training offered is the answer to the question of “what constitutes the technical competency of the CM?” The purpose of this paper is to present the study that identifies the technical competencies required by the CM to address the question.

Multi-layered thematic analysis of literature was first carried out to identify the technical competency elements. Then, interviews were undertaken to confirm the elements of competencies. It was followed with questionnaire surveys to test the validity of the technical competencies against different contractors’ category and grade/size.

The findings suggest that the technical competencies of CM are generic, regardless of the size of construction organisation or the types of projects they undertake. A total of 16 CM technical competencies were identified which include the ability to manage: staff, materials, labour, plant, sub-contractors, safety, money, quality, time, environment, site administration, pre-construction activities, project closeout and handover, third parties, computer literacy, and construction contract.

The findings suggest that generic education and training is possible to develop technically competent CM. It also provides insights to the CM technical competencies which the industry is expecting.

This study aims to examine the factors that influence the increase in purchase intention toward green batik products with religiosity as an intervening variable.

The study used a survey method that involved a sample size of 185 participants selected through purposive and accidental sampling techniques. The analysis was conducted by using IBM SPSS AMOS 21 software. The collected data were subjected to path analysis using multiple linear regression models.

The result indicated that religiosity plays a mediating role in the association between factors and the intention to purchase green product (GPd) of the Indonesian natural dye batik product. This finding is in accordance with the construction of theory of planned behavior in understanding consumer purchase intentions. GPd, green brand and green price exhibited a positive correlation with green purchase intention (GPI). Interestingly, the price was found to no longer serve as the primary factor in GPI.

The analysis would have been more compelling if it had used a mixed-method approach by introducing the variables of customer satisfaction and promotion.

This research postulates that increased prices are no longer a deterrent to the purchase of GPd. Instead, consumer consciousness regarding GPd plays a pivotal role in driving GPI. GPd have revolutionized individuals’ consumption patterns to contribute to environmental preservation. The use of green batik products is seen as advantageous in helping mitigate environmental degradation.

The present research assesses the impact of religiosity, as an intervening variable, on the augmentation of GPI by gauging its significance in enhancing ecological consciousness and moral values.

This paper aims to explore the socio-cultural meanings of functional foods for Tunisian consumers and to understand how these meanings shape their preferences and practices in the particular context of a Middle-East and North African (MENA) region.

A constructivist perspective based on multi-qualitative methods was designed allowing data collection in a natural setting through focus groups interviews, individual in-depth interviews and projective techniques among Tunisian consumers.

Findings show the complexity and importance of conscious and unconscious non-health-related socio-cultural factors in the construction and acceptance of functional foods by the Tunisian consumer. Common sense knowledge, social environment and tradition shape the constructions and practices of functional foods. These factors may act as a shortcut to compensate for unhealthy behaviour and as a social marker to reflect trendiness and identity.

The findings are specific to the Tunisian setting and may be not transferable to other settings.

The role of information is central in functional food acceptance. Communication on health effects should consider not only the formal nutritional health benefit but also lay knowledge.

The findings of this research contribute in the government’s understanding of Tunisian’s constructions of health and well-being by suggesting that besides health motives, non-health-related factors such as lay knowledge, social influences and conspicuous consumption play an important role in functional foods choice.

This paper contributes to extend functional foods literature by exploring the complex interconnected conscious and unconscious socio-cultural constructions behind functional food choice. It contributes also to the understanding of the food consumer behaviour in the specific cultural context of the Arab-Muslim MENA region, an under investigated setting.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of basin water depth towards the cumulative distillate yield of the traditional and developed single basin double slope solar still (DSSS).

Modified single basin DSSS integrated with solar operated vacuum fan and external water cooled condenser was fabricated using aluminium material. During sunny season, experimental investigations have been performed in both conventional and modified DSSS at a basin water depth of 3, 6, 9 and 12 cm. Production rate and cumulative distillate yield obtained in traditional and developed DSSS at different water depths were compared and best water depth to attain the maximum productivity and cumulative distillate yield was found out.

Results indicated that both traditional and modified double SS produced maximum yield at the minimum water depth of 3 cm. Cumulative distillate yield of the developed SS was 16.39%, 18.86%, 15.22% and 17.07% higher than traditional at water depths of 3, 6, 9 and 12 cm, respectively. Cumulative distillate yield of the developed SS at 3 cm water depth was 73.17% higher than that of the traditional SS at 12 cm depth.

Performance evaluation of DSSS at various water depths by integrating the combined solar operated Vacuum fan and external Condenser.