ON-GOING PROJECT
The Revitalisation of Fishing Village as Tourism Destination: A Case on Sungai Lima
Revitalising the fishing village - Sungai Lima, is a community innovation project, led by two researchers, Dr Goh Yi Sheng and Dr Teh Pek Yen from Arts and Design, and Tourism respectively. The villagers of Sungai Lima face severe socio-economic and environmental challenges, such as aging, urban relocation, the vanishing fishing industry, and trash pollution. As such, the initiative of this project is to revitalise the village into a Slow Tourism destination by conserving the local culture and nature surrounding the village. Besides, this project also collaborates with naturalist, Mr. Ng Wai Pak from the Malaysian Nature Society to focus on the ecology of the island, particularly on the migratory birds and mangrove. This subject area has also been integrated into the degree programme to enhance the learning experience of the students, in which field trips have been conducted and students had the opportunity to stay in the fishing village to experience the realities of local fishermen and understand the true challenges faced.
Research Collaborators: Goh Yi Sheng and Teh Pek Yen
ON-GOING PROJECT
Redefining the Past for the Future: The Investigation of Nostalgic Attachment for the Representation of Ipoh Cultural Heritage in the 21st Century
The fundamental of this research taps into redefining how timeless local cultural heritage is represented in the modern world. Nostalgic experiences are lacking in most Malaysian cities. It is a delicate task of balancing economic growth for future sustainability whilst having the need to continue preserving distinct cultural heritage identities. The city of Ipoh is no different where sporadic business, heritage stewards and related agencies are not creating a conducive encouragement for cultural heritage to continue sustaining alongside booming economic growth of the country. Due to this, this current project seeks to examine the unique cultural heritage of Ipoh. To achieve this, several craftsmanship have been identified as declining in its popularity and qualitative interviews with stewards of these craftsmanship will help reveal the reasons for this decline. Along with this mechanism, this research hopes to raise awareness about the uniqueness of Ipoh cultural heritage amongst the local public and tourists. This project aligns with Ipoh's local 2035 development plan as well as supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12b of creation of sustainable impacts for tourism, creating jobs and promoting local culture and products.
Research Collaborators: Teh Pek Yen, Daniel Chong Ka Leong, Derek Ong Lai Teik, Teoh Chai Wen, John Ap, Sharif Shams Imon, Goh Hong Ching
ON-GOING PROJECT
Investigating the Impalpable Factors of Employee Retention in Hospitality Industry
Employee turnover is costly for organizations and results in low performance and a bad reputation. Many previous studies investigated physical factors on employee retention and employee reason for turnover. The present study tries to apply novel approach and investigate the reason for employee turnover by considering the impalpable factors such as individual personalities and commitment. The research tries to provide a practical solution for hospitality managers and human resource managers of the organizations.
Research Collaborators: Kamelia Chaichi, Dahlia Zawawi, and Seyed Farhad Nikhashemi
ON-GOING PROJECT
A Proposed Comprehensive Framework on Factor Effecting Tourists Visit and Revisit Intention
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a global recession in the tourism industry. The present research tries to investigate and identify critical factors that affect tourists visit intention in Malaysia by proposing a comprehensive model of tourism visit and revisit intention. The findings of the research hope to provide insights that can be useful and practical in promoting and developing Malaysia as a perfect tourism destination for travelers and provide various practical suggestion for government, private and public hospitality marketers in Malaysia.
Research Collaborators: Kamelia Chaichi, Hossein Nezakati, Leong Mei Kei, Charuwan Phongpanichanan, and Hairani M Nur
ON-GOING PROJECT
Proposing a Model of Customer Loyalty in Hospitality Organization
Different generations feel non-identical about customer loyalty. Many previous studies investigated customer loyalty and the results were inconsistent. The present research tries to propose a novel model of customer loyalty by considering the impact of different generations in the hospitality services context.
Research Collaborators: Kamelia Chaichi, and Mei Kei Leong
COMPLETED
Exploring the Profound Reasons for Employee Job Satisfaction in Restaurants
Restaurants as a service industry are an important part of the hospitality industry. Employees are an inseparable part of the service industry and their satisfaction is crucial in the restaurants. Past studies investigated mostly customer satisfaction in the restaurants and ignored employees’ satisfaction. The current study tries to apply mixed method research to deeply understand the reasons for employee satisfaction in the restaurant industry which results in better service delivery, and performance.
Research Collaborators: Kamelia Chaichi, Marcus L Stephenson, Suha Fouad Salem, and Mei Kei Leong
