International Journal of Applied Research in Management and Economics

A Comparative Statistical Analysis of Foreign Visitors' Volume and Overnights Spent at the Balkan Locale

Vasileios Baratsas — 2024-06-23

Tourism is an intertemporal field of research due to the sensitive nature of the elements that constitute the field. Heritage, religion, history, art and life make the Balkans a craving destination for tourists to visit. The simplicity of moving across continents through the Balkans enables the growth of movement. The Balkan borders and the way to demarcate them were always a topic of great conflict. Half of the Balkan countries belong entirely to the region and the rest by a small portion to half of their borders. Two clusters have been raised through the history of research, the west-ern and the eastern Balkans. Both locals living out of the country of origin and foreigners are travelling to the Balkan area. Thus, the Balkans is a competitive destination both for its residents and the rest of the visitors. The most visited destinations are Greece and Croatia and the rest follow. An exploratory data analysis (E.D.A.), with secondary data collected from the national statistical offices of each country under study, tourist national organisations, minis-tries, confederations, O.E.C.D. (Organisation for Economic Coop-eration and Development) and the U.N.W.T.O. (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) tourism barometer has been pre-pared. The secondary data analysis presents and compares, through charts, the volume of visitors per country and/or per year, their overnights and the total count for the aforementioned vol-umes by each country either separately or in conjunction with the rest of the Balkan locale. A growth trend in all volume numbers of tourists and their overnights is showcased until the 2019 pandemic outburst, as a progression, and from 2019-2021 the volume num-ber has diminished due to COVID-19 and movement restrictions. From 2021 onwards volume numbers came back to their rise trend surpassing or equivalent in numbers to the benchmarks of 2019. Thus, tourism is returning to the growth numbers with no re-striction assisting the situation. Countries with coastlines receive more tourism than the rest of the countries. Further research is needed to accumulate and compare data for the gender and nation-ality of the tourists arriving in the Balkan locale.

Business Development Through E-Commerce Adoption: A Case Study of an Entrepreneurship Expo at Makerere University

Proscovia Katumba — 2024-06-23

This study examined students' e-commerce adoption factors using data from an entrepreneurship expo at the College of Business and Management Sciences in 2018. A cross-sectional survey involving 774 students revealed significant predictors of e-commerce adoption. Smartphone ownership and regular internet usage increased adoption (OR = 1.7307, p = 0.043), while exhibitors offering food and beverages saw higher adoption rates (OR = 3.6558, p = 0.047). However, post-purchase reviews, entrepreneurship support participation, and e-commerce application use were associated with lower adoption odds. The findings underscore the shift towards digital models, with smartphones enhancing sales and profitability among university students. This study sheds light on e-commerce adoption drivers among students, emphasizing marketing strategies, internet engagement, and technology accessibility.

The State of the Art of Methodological Research on the Role of the Brand in Local Products

Edvina Polaj — 2024-06-23

The products of the territory play an important role in the economic life of a country. They provide the right framework for economic and social development at the local and national levels. In the Albanian literature, there are no in-depth studies regarding the methodology used to increase the value of the local brand, and as a result of not researching this factor, this study helps the brand with local indicators. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the methodology in general and the method used in the research on the role of the brand with indicators of origin in local products in Albania. Methodologies are suggested, which consist of the examination of all methodological approaches for the role of the brand with local indicators and the identification of the method for researching the case study. For the importance of branding agricultural and livestock products with local indicators and preserving their originality and development, the concept of the methodology and method that must be followed in order to give accurate results and the values that the local brand carries in itself in development is important of it and the area that is applied to increasing the economic performance of agro-processing industries. The literature shows that the impact of increasing the value of the territorial brand in our country is based on the case study method and the cross-case research methodology. Meanwhile, in order to prove the importance of the local brand in increasing the consumption of products and increasing the income of the industries in this sector, the STATA program was used to process the data collected from consumers, and the "R" program was used to process the data of the collected industries. From the results of the research, it has been established that the local brand affects the increase in consumption and income in the agricultural and livestock agro-processing industries. This paper serves as a methodology for studies in this field that are necessary for the case of Albania.