As the number of international students across the country has grown over the past decade and continues to grow, it is more important than ever to understand their needs, particularly in terms of hospitality.
The purpose of the study was to determine international students' concerns, perceptions of housing needs while studying in Egypt.
Two research methods were used to achieve the objectives of the study. The first of which was a personal interviews conducted by the researchers with officials in some public universities to get acquainted with the reality of the housing services provided to international students, as well as the most significant challenges that officials face in providing housing services that contribute to international students' retention and satisfaction.
The second method was an online survey questionnaire that was distributed and shared to a random sample of international students enrolled in Egyptian public universities. The survey included an introduction to the researchers with a brief explanation of the purpose of the study, Demographic variables, and housing needs.
Through personal interviews conducted by the researchers with officials in the selected universities, it was found that the percentage of international students residing in the university housing is very low compared to the total number of these students enrolled in the university. It was also discovered that there were several problems and hurdles that contributed to this.
Also, with analysis of the data gathered online from respondents, the researchers gained a clearer understanding of international students' concerns, perceptions regarding their housing needs.
The most notable findings were as follows: In general, International students determined high levels of the importance of housing needs employed in the study.
However, there were a significant differences in respondents' ratings of the perceived importance of the housing needs based on their gender and geographical region of origin. In contrast, differences were not significant among international students based on these demographic variables: marital status, age, and current degree program.
Based on the study findings, some recommendations were suggested to stakeholders in order to provide international students with their perceptions of the housing needs and thus increase the universities' abilities to retain those students. There was also some recommendations for further research.