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R R E C R E A T I O N A N D S P O R T MA N A G E M E N T Gian Galassi In Good Faith UNLV researchers study leisure and hospitality preferences of Muslims Tracking guest preferences in the hospitality and leisure industry has become both an art and a science, with savvy marketing professionals developing increasingly creative methods to understand what drives customers to choose certain hotels, restaurants, gaming devices, leisure activities, or retail establishments. There is one segment of the population, however, that seems to have eluded even the most sophisticated loyalty cards, focus groups, and even scholarly inquiry. According to Jennifer Livengood, assistant professor of recreation and sport management in UNLV’s hotel college, very few empirical investigations in hospitality and leisure scholarship have focused on the religious and spiritual influences on leisure behaviors, with a particularly surprising dearth of data about non-Judeo Christian religious traditions, such as Islam. Until now, that is. Livengood, along with UNLV Associate Professor of Recreation and Sport Management Kurt Stahura and UNLV Assistant Research Professor Beth Barrie, received a seed grant from the UNLV hotel college to determine the hospitality and leisure preferences of Muslims within the United States and to further understand Islamic perceptions of the industry. “Given the substantial number of adherents to the Islamic tradition in this country and around the world, it is puzzling that this population has received so little attention from the hospitality and leisure discipline,” Livengood says. She says the lack of attention to the needs of Muslims residing within the United States is surprising for many reasons, particularly since so many other countries with large hospitality sectors, such as the United Arab Emirates, have made significant advances in providing religiously appropriate services to Muslims. It’s an area that researchers say amounts to a huge missed opportunity. “Las Vegas has done a wonderful job of accommodating the unique cultures and traditions of a variety of people, including those from the Middle East and the Far East,” says Stahura. “If our research can provide additional insights about how people who practice Islam have been 26 PREMIER ≤ SPRING 2009
urdened then there might be opportunities for the hospitality and leisure industry to procure additional patrons from that particular population.” And that might be an understatement. According to the Council on American Islamic Relations, there are approximately 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide, seven million of whom reside in the United States. Previous research has shown that establishing places designated for prayer, offering gender segregated floors for individuals traveling alone, and providing more “halal,” (Arabic for “permitted”) food choices for Muslim guests could help the industry better attract a relatively untapped and potentially lucrative market. Beyond the profit motive, though, researchers also believe that hotel and leisure operators can send a message that they welcome people from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds simply by providing amenities that cater specifically to different faiths. “We are ultimately in the business of improving people’s lives, and that means being inclusive of everyone, including those who are religiously diverse,” says Livengood of the hospitality and leisure industries. “If somebody somewhere could not do what they wanted to do UNLV Recreation and Sport Management Professors Beth Barrie, Kurt Stahura, and Jennifer Livengood are helping the hospitality and leisure industries better serve Muslim travelers —a relatively understudied segment of the global market. Photos by Geri Kodey, ’86 because of their religious beliefs, traditions, or other constraints, I would see that as a tremendous failure in our field.” Livengood, Stahura and Barrie will use an ethnographic approach to the study, which requires in-depth interviewing and participant observation. The researchers will interview adults between the ages of 18 and 70 who identify with the Islamic tradition and who are either active or inactive at their local mosque or Islamic center. All data obtained from this process will then be analyzed and organized into emerging themes. Researchers hope the study will eventually evolve into a larger-scale investigation, resulting in the development of training programs and published training manuals for professionals working with religiously diverse communities. And for students. Next spring, Livengood will teach a new course called “Leisure Services in a Diverse Society,” which is designed to expose students early in their educational careers to the importance of being culturally sensitive and inclusive. Stahura and Barrie, who both teach introductory and advanced courses on leisure delivery, say the research will also further inform their classroom instruction and help forge a new path of academic inquiry. “We think it is critical to expose our students to the multitude of diverse people that we serve and will continue to serve as the United States population more closely reflects the diversity of world cultures,” Stahura says. “If we’re not in tune with those cultural differences within the population, then we’re not serving our constituents.” This is not the researchers’ first investigation into the influence of religion and spirituality on leisure. Livengood has written extensively about the perceptions of leisure constraints and the role of leisure in the spirituality of New Paradigm Christians. Last year, Stahura collaborated with Livengood on research that examined the role of leisure in the lives of Catholics. Results of the current study will be submitted to the leading journals in the field and serve as the foundational building blocks for future scholarly inquiry. To learn more about their research, contact Jennifer Livengood at 702-895-2734. 27 SPRING 2009 ≤ PREMIER
Page 1 and 2: A WILLIAM F. HARRAH COLLEGE OF HOTE
Page 3 and 4: In This Issue Visit us at: hotel.un
Page 5 and 6: Industry Insights “...many Americ
Page 7 and 8: to make Innovation UNLV a reality f
Page 9 and 10: Judy Nagai PGA of America Gift Prom
Page 11 and 12: Bob Boughner ! A l u m n u s o f t
Page 13 and 14: # UNLV Harrah Hotel College Dean St
Page 15 and 16: First Class UNLV Singapore Marks Ma
Page 17 and 18: How has the support from the dean h
Page 19 and 20: L A S V E G A S R E D U X made far
Page 21 and 22: L A S V E G A S R E D U X that Las
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Page 33 and 34: his restaurant Holzschopf Gasthaus
Page 35 and 36: S PE A K E R T I T LE A ND CO M PA
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Page 39 and 40: to Denver and managed a restaurant
Page 41 and 42: MEMBER HONOR ROLL A N N U A L M E M
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