Bridging the hospitality and tourism university–industry research gap in developing countries: The case of Egypt

Abstract

This paper explores university–industry collaboration in developing countries through a case study of university–industry research collaboration in support of the Egyptian hospitality and tourism industry. The perceptions of four key Egyptian stakeholder groups – industry, university, government and non-governmental organisations – were identified via in-depth semi-structured one-to-one interviews. The research gap between Egyptian universities and the hospitality and tourism industry is wider than suggested in the literature on university–industry collaboration. There was consensus of the absence of a research culture in faculties of tourism and hotels where social science research was perceived as having little/no value except as a part of academic degrees or for promotional purposes, rather than for knowledge creation or to inform industry’s practices. Egyptian faculties of tourism and hotels had not undergone the first academic revolution experienced in the US and Europe in the late 19th century. There was no evidence of government interventions to drive university–industry research collaboration for the tourism and hospitality industry, despite its undoubted importance to the Egyptian economy. The study sends a message to policy-makers, particularly government, that unless serious attention is paid to hospitality and tourism education and research, the impact on economic and social development will be negative.