Overtourism in Cox's Bazar in the Pre, During and Post COVID-19 Period

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, overtourism was one of the most buzzing terms in many of the world's popular tourism destinations. Overtourism was featured as a problem for decades, and evidently, protests of the residents against the visitors were common. Simultaneously, the tourists reported frustrating holiday experiences owing to overcrowding, longer queues, and socio-environmental degradation of the destinations. Cox's Bazar that is Bangladesh's one of the most popular tourist destinations during the peak season, is not an exception. Thus, this research aims to figure out the causes and repercussions of overtourism in Cox's Bazar before COVID-19. The study then analyses the overall scenario of overtourism in Cox's Bazar during and after the post-COVID-19. This study is carried out relying on both primary and secondary data sources. Besides in-depth interviews of the locals, tourists, industry stakeholders, journal articles, organizational and government publications, website materials, and other sources are used as sources of data and information generation for pre, after, and post COVID-19 overtourism scenario in Cox's Bazar. Based on findings, the chapter suggests guidelines to monitor and mitigate the detrimental influences of overtourism in Cox's Bazar. As expected, this study can support tourism destinations to tackle possible issues generated from overtourism and guide the authorities for the more beneficial tourism industry. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.

The Malaysian Higher Education Students' Perceptions and Acceptance Toward Mobile Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the era of pandemic, almost all educational institutions had to undergo education via the Internet instead of face-to-face teaching approach. Thus, the use of mobile devices application is becoming more significant and prevalent among students at higher education institutions (HEIs) during the pandemic. Furthermore, many universities currently use their smartphones and download the mobile applications for their studies. Therefore, the survey study aimed to investigate the university students' perceptions and acceptance toward mobile learning (M-learning) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study employed a quantitative method, and an online survey was conducted to the university students in the higher educational institutions in Malaysia. For this study, an online questionnaire was distributed to the respondents. A total of 276 university students from selected public and private universities were take part and responded to the online questionnaires. The study concluded that Malaysian university students have positive perceptions and acceptance toward mobile learning. Additionally, the results also indicates that mobile devices aided university students in their learning process, primarily at home, during the pandemic. In conclusion, M-learning has the possibility to be a very effective instructional tool in a virtual learning environment. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Environmental surface sampling of SARS-CoV-2 in selected hospitals in Malaysia.

COVID-19 has spread rapidly worldwide. The role of fomites in facilitating onward transmission is plausible. This study aimed to determine the presence of viable virus and its persistence on the surfaces of fomites in wards treating COVID-19 patients in Malaysia. This study was conducted in two stages. First, environmental sampling was performed on random days in the intensive care unit (ICU) and general wards. Then, in the second stage, samples were collected serially on alternate days for 7 days in two selected general wards. In Stage 1, a total of 104 samples were collected from the surfaces of highly touched and used areas by patients and healthcare workers. Only three samples were tested positive for SARS-COV-2. In Stage 2, three surface samples were detected positive, but no persistence of the virus was observed. However, none of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA was viable through tissue culture. Overall, the environmental contamination of SARS-CoV-2 was low in this hospital setting. Hospitals' strict infection control and the compliance of patients with wearing masks may have played a role in these findings, suggesting adherence to those measures to reduce occupational exposure of COVID-19 in hospital settings.

An application of TAM model towards influencing online purchase intention during Covid-19 pandemic for fresh agricultural products: A preliminary findings

Online shopping was one of the essential services allowed to continue their operation by the federal government during the 2020 Malaysia Movement Control Order (Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan), commonly referred to as the MCO. In response to the MCO order, numbers of consumers who purchased their daily necessity through online increased tremendously. However, Malaysian consumer prefer to buy fresh agricultural product at physical stores and it will affect the initiative of the federal government to slow down the spread of Covid-19 in Malaysia. In the online purchasing intention for fresh agricultural products among Malaysia consumers' literature, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use attitude are under researched. Therefore, this study investigated TAM model as a framework to analyse factors influencing online purchase intention during the Covid-19 pandemic for fresh agricultural products. This study employs a quantitative research design and questionnaire was distributed by using electronic survey or e-survey via Google Form among Malaysian internet users in Peninsula Malaysia. Sample were consumers who had some experienced in purchasing fresh agricultural products through online during the Covid-19. Respondents were selected using convenience sampling. SmartPLS software version 3.0 were used to analyzed the data. The findings revealed perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and attitude are three factors that influenced online purchased intention for fresh agricultural products during Covid-19 Pandemic. Therefore, the overall findings can help the online grocers to understand factors that forming consumer attitudes and soon developing intention to purchase fresh agricultural products via online. © 2021 Author(s).