Loyalty to World Heritage Cities: A Case Study of the Historic Ibn Ṭūlūn Mosque in Cairo (Egypt)

Abstract

The city of Cairo is famous worldwide for its distinct heritage sites. Its uniqueness, its call effect, and its history are significant. So, it is essential to improve its management of tourism. The main objective of this research is to analyze the satisfaction of visitors to historic mosques in the context of heritage tourism. The study focuses on tourist loyalty from several perspectives: expectations, satisfaction with the city itself and satisfaction with the mosque. The fieldwork was carried out in Cairo (Egypt), specifically in the Ibn Ṭūlūn Mosque. It is more than 2000 years old and is considered the oldest mosque in Cairo and one of the most amazing mosques in the world. There are few studies on mosques from a tourism perspective, which makes this study innovative and a substantial contribution to the literature. The methodology used was based on partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling. A structured questionnaire was used to achieve the proposed objective. The results obtained confirmed that satisfaction during their visit to the Ibn Ṭūlūn Mosque positively influenced tourists’ loyalty, and therefore they recommended revisiting it.