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Iran, with its young and highly literate population, constitutes one of the main higher education markets in the Middle East region. Having now developed a highly comprehensive higher education sector, a result of the efforts to advance the higher education system following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, it is of no surprise that more than four million Iranians are currently enrolled in higher education institutions in Iran. Regardless of these developments, however, meeting the increasing demand for tertiary education has been a challenge leading to a large number of Iranians pursuing tertiary education opportunities overseas. This has created a vast and promising market for student importing countries, which has proved to be too difficult for international student recruiters to penetrate due to international sanctions imposed on Iran and local economic problems coupled with certain restrictions imposed internally by the ruling authorities. Despite the challenges of not being politically recognised as legitimate except by Turkey, North Cyprus has been one of the most popular destinations for Iranian students particularly in the last decade. Relative to its size, North Cyprus has proved to be one of the most internationalised higher education system in the world with more than 30,000 international students from more than 100 different countries and more significantly, Iranian students constitute one of the largest cohort. This chapter explores the student recruitment process from Iran with a specific focus on the external and internal challenges faced by the students as well as by the recruiters. North Cyprus is particularly evaluated as a case study to present how some challenges may have been overcome and student flow can be achieved even to a country that has been struggling against the externalities of international political non-recognition.

Value for money (VfM) is a concept widely recognized by many even beyond the field of the built environment. A concept known as value management (VM) is one of its kind that construction professionals and clients employ towards achieving vVfM. This study critically examined the VM practices of the construction sector of Northern Cyprus. The first section introduced what value management is from various professionals views and the concept behind it. The second aspect of this work looked at VM considering various expert research on the field. The third section looked at how VM is practised in Northern Cyprus. The result shows that VM practice is still in its infancy even though some construction companies or firms have adopted the process for some of their projects. The term value management is not common among the construction professionals in Northern Cyprus, but instead, they are more familiar with what they called ‘job plan’.

It is salient to be acquainted with the key elements that determine educational tourists’ decision in selecting an overseas destination while considering the rise of international competition amidst nations concerning international students. There has been a growth in the number of nations committed to attracting educational tourists. This issue is evident in countries involved in higher education (HE), such as Northern Cyprus, identified as an edu-tourism destination. Northern Cyprus can attract a whopping number of tourists, and the higher population is most likely to be made up of international students regardless of its interdiction on direct flights and political pressure. This chapter centres on analysing educational tourists’ motivators in selecting a tourism education destination abroad and on revealing effective recruitment and promotion plans towards attracting them. The chapter includes the descriptions and discussions of educational tourism, the HE industry over the years, globalisation and internationalisation of educational tourism, factors influencing educational tourists’ decision-making process and key elements influencing educational tourists’ decisions in HE institutions. At the end of the chapter, a case study is presented that reports the findings of interviews with educational tourists, overseas recruitment agents and Eastern Mediterranean University staff responsible for promoting the institution. The results identified eight factors affecting educational tourists’ decisions on study destination. Those factors comprise cost, ease of access, location, social factors, quality of education, instruction language, cultural environment and communication quality. The sub-factors of the main eight factors are scholarships, destination’s scenery, safety, friends’ and relatives’ influence and cultural differences. This chapter brings a significant knowledge about the motives that affect educational tourists in selecting at a particular HE destination. Based on the study’s findings, educational institutions may consider various recommendations to redesign their strategies towards attracting educational tourists more effectively. Generally, this study promotes an apprehension about the diverse elements that affect educational tourists’ selection of a destination study. An in-depth understanding of these factors will help education institutions’ decision-makers better develop plans of action to provide desired services to educational tourists, attract and keep them in return.

Introduction Summary: Tourism is accepted as a multidisciplinary industry .Hoteliers and tour operators/travel agencies (TO/TA) count as two main stakeholders in the tourism sector, and they are interdependent with regard to their marketing and service objectives. Distribution channels, as TO and TA, are an important part of tourism growth. As TOs and TAs are the intermediaries between tourist and tourism service providers. Tourists travel to satisfy or fulfill their dreams because travel is a need for psychological relief that motivates people for temporary movement to different places and different countries. The research aims to examine the effects of perceived stakeholder conflict factors (PSCF) issues identified from the existing literature on guests’ outcomes in accommodation establishment located in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus. PSCF is, namely, misinformation, unmanaged bookings and operational mistakes involving quality-price inconsistency and unsolved guest’s problems should be considered by both parties. Therefore, the objective of this study is to address the research gap regarding the effects of PSCFs on guests’ perceived value (GPV), guest satisfaction (GS) and behavioral intention (BI). Purpose: This study aims to investigate stakeholders conflict and its effects on guests’ outcomes, namely GPV, GS and BI associated with accommodation establishments, which has not been examining empirically before. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study conceptualized PSCFs and developed a scale for assessing this conflict and its outcomes. Through careful instrument development process, four sub-dimensions and 17 items of PSCFs were identified. Findings: The overall PSCFs’ effects obtained indicate that GPV, GS and BI are associated with accommodation establishments, and are negatively affected by the unsatisfactory relationship between these two key stakeholders. Originality/Value: The study empirically tested the conceptual model through conducting survey research to collect data from the guests whose trips were organized through a TO/TA and staying in five-star or four-star accommodation establishments located in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus.

This chapter aims to present the development of education in the South-East European (SEE) countries, which took place under strong influence of the European Union (EU) education policy. This is examined irrespective of the different relationships these countries have with the EU. Some of these are Member States, and others are candidate or partner countries. The chapter opens with the explanation of the concept of SEE, and it is processed with a discussion on the concept of Europeanization in the education field. The concept refers to the process of forming a common education policy in the EU. This is also transferred to non-EU European countries. The third subchapter synthetizes and evaluates the main characteristics and challenges of the education in the SEE countries from the perspective of common European policy goals.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the role of internal branding (IB) in fostering branding citizenship behavior in the hospitality context as well as the mechanisms underlying the relationship.

Design/methodology/approach: This study obtained empirical evidence from 377 hotel employees in North Cyprus.

Findings: Our findings support the positive relationship between IB and brand citizenship behavior (BCB). The evidence was found for a dual and sequential mediating role of brand trust and brand commitment. Moreover, the organizational climate serviced as a moderator to influence the positive relationships between IB and BCB.

Practical implication: This study has shown that employees are rewarding firms involved in IB initiatives in the form of BCB – directly and indirectly –through trust and commitment. This finding can advance managers’ understanding, enabling them to better manage their IB initiatives to achieve the most effective outcomes.

Originality/value: The research advances convergence between IB and BCB research streams, which has been under-explored in the tourism context. Besides, it extends the IB and brand citizenship literature through a novel dual and sequential mediation mechanism and organizational climate as a novel moderator.