Hospitality And

Tourism Research

The beginnings of
Research

Started in the late 18th century

during the middle ages (dark
ages) sources of knowledge came
from:

Pope/Priest
tradition
knowledge of the heart
knowledge of the body - rational
thinking

Magicians
observation
philosophers
scientists
scientific knowledge based on
natural sciences - that is man in
relation to environment

In the
hospitality/tourism
industry research
social science
focuses on:

natural science
non-science (religious)
pseudo-science (palmestry)
horoscope (faith)

Assumptions
Classical theory - people are
working because of pay
Systems theory - people are
happy working not only because
of pay but the treatment they get
from the management
Cultural theory

 Theories have models,

proponents, strengths and
weaknesses
knowledge builds up theories
Data is collected in order to:

describe
analyze
predict
control

Research requires...

TIME
TALENT
ATTITUDES
MONEY

Overview of Tourism
Research

It allows you to find out attributes of

your visitors including:

origin, age, education, income and

spending habits, travel patterns, lifestyles
and values, activity preferences

It gives you an understanding on:

what they like and dislike about a
destination,

 How much they think a certain

travel experience is worth,
the sources they use for travel
information
their impression of your
advertising messages
how satisfied they were in their
visit.

TYPES OF TOURISM
RESEARCH

Visitor Profile Studies - demographics

Satisfaction - measure the quality of
service provided at a business or a
destination
Economic Impact - determine what
new money is brought into the
community from tourism

 Images - determines the perception

on the destination by visitors or nonvisitors
Information - determines where and
how consumers search for travel
information
Inquiry Conversion - determines how
many people actually traveled to a
destination versus how many people
inquired about the destination

 Market share - measures the

percentage of the market one
holds - of the total available
market ( arrivals - national,
regional, local)
Carrying Capacity - study the
feasibility of tourism activity in a
certain area (events to be hosted)

Research Objectives
and Research Types

Exploratory Research

to become familiar with the basic

facts, people and concerns involved
in...
To develop a well-grounded mental
picture of what is occurring in...
To generate many ideas and develop
hypotheses on...

 To determine the feasibility of

doing additional research on...
To formulate questions/refine
issues for more systematic inquiry
on...
To develop techniques and a sense
of direction for future research
on...

Descriptive Research
To provide an accurate profile of a
group
to describe a process, mechanism or
relationship
to give a verbal or numerical picture
of...
To find information to stimulate new
explanations...
To present basic background
information or a context

 To create set of categories or type of

classification
to clarify a sequence, set of stages
or steps
to document information that
contradicts prior beliefs about a
subject

Explanatory Research
To determine the accuracy of a
principle theory
to find out which competing
explanation is better
to advance knowledge about an
underlying process
to link different issues or topics
under a common general statement

 To build or elaborate a theory so it

becomes more complete
to extend a theory or principle into
new areas or issues
to provide evidence to support or
refute an explanation

Methodology
What design?

descriptive
exploratory
explanatory

 What technique?

Case study
experiment
survey

 Who will be your respondents?

Purposive
non-purposive

 What tools to be used?

How will you analyze the data?

Importance of Topic
Selection
Approach it with caution
Most important consideration in
selecting a topic is to make sure
it is the one that you will enjoy
working with

Problems usually
encountered in topic
selection

Inability to narrow their topic so

that it could be fully treated within
a reasonable period of time,
Finding a research question that is
neither too broad nor too narrow

POINTERS
Target audience - (population) those
people who will be surveyed/those
about whom the study is conducted
Population must be of reasonable size
Good thesis question must be
researchable

 Key words must be clearly defined

Ideally, research question will
have few variables
Reasonable in breadth and in
depth
Consider the target audience

 Write with precision and clarity

definition section will help in
clarifying words you use, but key
words need to be as simple as
possible.
Develop a plan for writing the
thesis. Make a timetable to
guide you in meeting the
deadline

 Deadline will assist you in moving

from one task to the next until the
thesis is completed
keeping note cards in chapter 2 is
beneficial
library hours is required

Research Questions
Should relate to aspects of the
industry with which you are a part
The end result of your research
needs to be contribution to the
industry

 Make sure that your research

question is not a duplication of
research that has been done already
Select questions that are doable
Is there a substantial body of
literature relating to the research
question

Basis for choosing

research question
your interest in the question
the practicality of undertaking
research on the question
availability of a target population
with which to work
doability of the thesis