McManamon, Mary Jo

Senior, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Major: English

Minor: Theatre

Thesis Director: Joel Reynolds, Department of Hospitality Leadership

Faculty Reader: Carolyn Goffman, Department of English

Bio: Mary Jo is a senior at DePaul and is graduating in June. During these four years she has had such a great experience with all her classes. Besides taking classes for her major, she has taken classes that included topics such as Business Management and Restaurant Operations. She feels these classes and her current work experience at her restaurant Theatre on the Lake, has helped her decide that she wants to have a career in the hospitality industry. Her thesis project topic has been heavily influenced by her career interest. She will be starting her master’s in September for Hospitality and Leadership.

Abstract: Mary Jo’s senior thesis will focus on Cairo and Istanbul’s ability to prosper in the tourism sector of the hospitality industry and having both of their economies thrive from that. She will focus on the last fifteen years that lead both cities to where they are today, and the techniques they used as well. It will include ways that include cities establishing great hospitality, and their successful marketing angles such as using religion and history as a way to entice people to visit their cities. The tourism industry in both Istanbul and Cairo have struggled with issues such as terrorism and political turmoil and currently the new struggle they face which is the global pandemic. Some of these strategies have been improving security measures, lowering the prices of flights, and constantly advertising the uniqueness of both of their cities to gain more tourists.