A Proposed Framework for Analyzing the Impact of Augmented Reality Technology on the Tourists’ Behavioral Intentions (An Applied Study on the Tourism Sector in Egypt)

Abstract:
The research objectives: Egypt is one of the most prominent tourist countries in the world. The tourism sector is one of the most important sectors in Egypt, because it represents one of the most significant sources of national income, and it has a significant impact on the Egyptian economy. The religious tourism sector is one of the important niche tourism segments in Egypt. The religious tourism has an additional advantage of being resilient to political instability, compared to the other niche tourism segments in Egypt. The "Religions Complex area" in Egypt is one of the most important religious historical sites in Egypt, because the many different Islamic, Christian and Jewish archaeological sites on its land (such as: Amr ibn al-As Mosque, the Hanging Church, and the Jew Temple). Therefore, objectives of this research were to:

Determine the problems facing tourists regarding tourist guiding methods (with or without human tour guide) in the "Religions Complex" area (by conducting exploratory or pilot study in the "Religions Complex" area in Egypt).
Design and develop an augmented reality (AR) application as a proposed solution (to solve some of the problems revealed in the pilot study), and as a marketing initiative to support the religious tourism and the "Religions Complex" area in particular, and to support the Egyptian tourism in general, especially after the many internal and external challenges that Egypt witnessed during the past years (from 2011).
Evaluate the designed augmented reality (AR) to ensure that its ability to solve the problems revealed in the pilot study, and also to measure its benefits in enhancing the tourists' behavioral intentions toward the Religions Complex area, thus supporting the Egyptian tourism in general, and the "Religions Complex" and the religious tourism in particular.

The research Methodology: To achieve the research objectives, the researcher designed and developed the (Religions Complex AR app) with the help of an Egyptian company specialized in designing the AR and VR applications. Then, the researcher evaluated this AR application by developing a proposed framework to study the impact of using this AR app on the tourists' behavioral intentions toward the Religions Complex area. The methodology used to evaluate the (Religions Complex AR app) was based on an experimental approach and a quantitative approach. The research population included all tourists (whether international or local tourists) who visited the tourism destination which known as the (Religions Complex in Old Cairo area) during the period of data collection. The researcher distributed the questionnaires to a convenient sample of the international and local tourists (who visited the Religions Complex area during the period of data collection) after their experience to the (Religions Complex AR app). The data were collected over a period of two months (from the beginning of November 2023 to the end of December 2023). The sample size was (384), and a total of (293) completed questionnaires were collected representing an overall response rate of 76.3%.
The research results: the researcher concluded that:

The designed AR application (Religions Complex AR app) can be used as an alternative or complement to the human tour guides, thus solving some of the problems (revealed in the pilot study) facing tourists regarding tourist guiding methods in the “Religions Complex area”, such as the shortage of human tour guides, and the problem of insufficient information facing tourists with human tour guides.

The designed AR application (Religions Complex AR app) enhanced the tourists' behavioral intentions toward the Religions Complex area, thus supporting the Egyptian tourism in general, and the "Religions Complex" and the religious tourism in particular.