The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been making incessant efforts to promote tourism in order to attain the avowed objective of economic diversification and growth. It has organised a number of events, including the oft-quoted Dubai Shopping Festival, to attract tourists in the UAE. The festival has been a prime mover behind tourism marketing, taking advantage of the perceived positive international business image enjoyed by the country far and wide. Using survey data, an attempt is made in this study to analyse the perceptions of first-time visitors and of those repeating their visits to the festival and other related events and sites in the UAE. The results provide interesting insights into an assessment of festival tourism provided by the tourists for policy makers willing to expand the tourism sector in the vibrant and diversifying economy of the UAE. The study shows that tourist perception in the UAE is multidimensional, in line with conventional wisdom, and highlights that it is influenced by all the festival tourism-related facilities and environment.

PurposeThis paper seeks to examine the factors and barriers that contribute to successful knowledge sharing among the university teaching staff.Design/methodology/approachBased on an extensive review of literature, measures of knowledge sharing are identified. These include such factors as nature of knowledge, working culture, staff attitudes, motivation to share and opportunities to share. A model is developed for the study and hypotheses are formulated. Primary data were collected through a survey from a sample of teaching staff from both public and private universities in Malaysia.FindingsBased on empirical research, the study shows some contrasting findings. As for the sample drawn from teaching staff belonging to public universities, there is a significant relationship between knowledge sharing and the independent factors mentioned earlier. Results from the sample from staff teaching in private universities do not show such relationships.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size itself and the generalisation of results to teaching staff from higher education institutions in Malaysia constitute a major limitation.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study provide useful insights to management of higher education institutions in providing facilities to enhance knowledge sharing among teaching staff.Originality/valueThe study makes a valuable contribution, given that there is a dearth of empirical studies of this nature focusing on the South East Asian region.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the determinants and usage of global technology services in Saudi Arabia. The technology under investigation is social network technology, Twitter. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon relevant extant literature, the paper proposes a research model, which examines the relationship between personal and social factors and usage of Twitter, as well as the moderating effects of gender and user experience. Data were collected online from 281 Saudi Twitter users, and the research model was empirically tested using standard procedures. Findings – The findings support some of the proposed direct and moderating effects. For example, enjoyment, freedom of expression, and social interaction were found to influence Twitter usage. Gender as well as user experience has a moderating effect in the relationship between self-presentation and usage. Research limitations/implications – The proposed framework contributes to global (technology) services management and marketing research by integrating personal and social factors, and demographics as direct and contingent factors in understanding user acceptance of social network technologies in the Arab region. Detailed discussions of the research, managerial and contextual implications conclude the paper. Originality/value – The personal and social motives behind the use of social network sites in the Arab region particularly Saudi Arabia is ill understood due to a dearth of research on the region. This paper helps to bridge this research and knowledge gap.

Purpose -Despite the spread in usage and ownership of credit cards, few studies have examined its effect on consumer debt in developing nations. The main purpose of this paper is to understand consumers' attitude and spending behavior using credit cards. Design/methodology/approach -This study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted in Malaysia. Based on an extensive review of literature, a model is developed to identify the psychographic factors that influence the consumer attitudes toward using credit cards. Findings -The paper found support for some of the theoretical expectations and lends support to some of the earlier deviations reported in the literature. Practical implications -The findings are likely to be important to banks and financial institutions issuing credit cards, as they help managers to have a better understanding of cardholders in Malaysia and their attitude and behavior toward usage of credit cards. Originality/value -This paper makes a valuable contribution given the fact that there is a dearth of empirical studies of this nature focusing on Malaysia.

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