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Market research in travel and tourism
Book reviews geographical, political and economic resources which exist in separate destinations'. Choy agrees that even with forward planning and appropriate infrastructure development, irregular growth patterns, particularly in low volume Pacific Island destinations, seem unavoidable. Choy's findings are significant in light of the fact that Douglas notes that 'An explanation of the wider social and economic ramifications of tourism is outside the scope of this work' (p. 1). Without some indication of social and economic impacts, especially in localised areas, it is difficult to explain the development or decline of tourism in specific regions. The author provides no explanation for the reader of sociocultural and sociopolitical structures of Melanesia societies, which in many respects, differ significantly to those in Polynesia. A broad understanding is crucial with regard to land and resource ownership and usage, as some tourism projects remain little more than proposals or some that were constructed have been abandoned or destroyed because of unresolved ownership and access issues. The final chapter summarises aspects and prospects for tourism development in the 1990s and beyond. With the withdrawal of overseas airlines from the region and the burden of maintaining national airlines, Pacific regional development have for some time been promoted to counter this and other impacts. While regional cooperation is acknowledged as necessary by most Pacific governments to strengthen tourism growth in the region and the reality of among Melanesian administrations remains inconceivable for the near future. The administrative sector of the TCSP is 'indigenised', whether it will be able to achieve financial independence by 1998 when European funding ceases is questionable. However, with diminishing exploitable resources, Pacific nations more than ever are relying on tourism for economic development. This study achieves the purpose of the book in providing a comparative picture of the historical development of tourism in Papua New Guinea, 302
Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Douglas hopes that this history 'may make a contribution for planners and leaders to consult in order to make decisions which will assist in the sustainable and intelligent development of future tourism in Pacific Island states (p. 1)'. Unfortunately, this is doubtful as there is little indication that consultants' reports in the late 1980s and 1990s are any less ambitious or more appropriate now than they were previously. For example, the proposal in a report undertaken in 1991 by Dangroup consultants for the TCSP on an identified tourism nature site in the Solomon Islands was found to be inappropriate for the location. Douglas also supports her argument that the colonial experience and its legacy remain the significant intervening variable that has determined the direction of tourism development and its level of achievement in each country. This book has been extensively researched and can be easily read without any prior knowledge of academic tourism literature. The bibliography is comprehensive reflecting the extensive primary and secondary sources the author consulted. Reproduction of historical photographs and posters greatly enhances the reader's image of the study in its historical context and in support of portraying the author's argument that the marketing of the three Melanesian countries has focused on the romanticisation of the savage. The quality and lack of detail on the maps is disappointing. The reproduction of the map of the Western Pacific at the beginning of the book is substandard and it has neither a title nor a boundary of the Melanesian region. The map of Papua New Guinea published on the page preceding the contents page is of poor quality and is deficient of place names or other details. Why is it included prior to the body of the text with no explanation of its use and role? Most of the Tourist Regions (TR) marked on each of the country's maps included later in the book are inappropriately placed in the sea some
distance from the area they represent. In summary, this book is not a definitive historical account of tourism in Melanesia, principally because it does not sufficiently discuss the sociocultural aspects of tourism development in the three countries. However, it provides an excellent contribution to Pacific Island research given the dearth of regional and historical publications of the region. It is the first major contribution to the study of tourism in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It certainly fills a void. There is however, the question of whom the book is aimed at. The book may have a limited value for students of tourism who seek a particular theory base for the study of cultural or social impacts in Melanesia. Brenda Rudkin Centre for Tourism Research Massey University at Albany Auckland New Zealand
PII: S0261-5177(98)00007-7 Market Tourism
Research
in
Travel
and
Paul Brunt Heinemann Publishers Oxford, ()xford (1997) ix +196 pp £17.99 paper ISBN 0 7506 3082 5 Despite the large and growing body of tourism market research, there are relatively few texts that offer practical, operational guidance on the mechanisms of conducting research. Market Research in Travel and Tourism does so, and thus is a welcome addition to tourism research methodology. It should be emphasized that this text covers the fundamentals of market research only. A reader looking for instruction on forecasting, advanced market segmentation techniques, economic impact analysis, or any advanced statistical analytical tool will need to turn elsewhere. But if one is looking for an introduction to planning a market research project, selecting a sample, designing a
Book reviews
questionnaire, or conducting surveys, this is the book. Brunt begins with an overview of the nature of research generally and market research specifically. He also briefly discusses ethical issues in market research--an issue often ignored in other research texts. The author then turns to an overview of the major market research techniques, including quantitative and qualitative interviews, observation methods, and the use of secondary data sets. His treatment of the use of secondary data sets is thin, especially given the growing interest of market researchers in mining data collected by someone else. However, the balance of the chapter provides a clear and useful basic introduction to the fundamental tools used by market researchers. Chapter 3 presents guidelines for planning a research project, including a standard road map for the steps involved in a project. Given that many readers using this book will have limited experience with actually conducting research, the author might have advised that a number of such road maps arc available and that, in practice, research projects rarely progress as smoothly as his stages suggest. On the other hand, Brunt does illustrate each of the stages with an example that he describes as hypothetical but which offers sufficient realistic detail that one suspects the example is distilled from one or more of Brunt's own projects. This 'case study' covers the various stages of a complete research project and is a particular strength of this chapter. Rather than just offering a list of ideal steps or tasks, Brunt conveys a realistic view of how a research project might be managed. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 address sampling, questionnaire design, and data collection. The level of treatment of these issues is pragmatic and basic. Brunt succeeds in making potentially technical material comprehensible and meaningful. For example, his discusion of how to calculate sample size, while brief, conveys the essential information a novice marketing researcher should grasp. Brunt writes with the same clear and comprehen-
sible voice on the art of questionnaire design and surveying. His use of case studies and examples here, too, clarify the points the reader needs to understand in order to successfully conduct a basic survey. The discussion of questionnaire design is particularly thorough and informed. Brunt also offers a revealing double scenario depicting the 'right way' and the 'wrong way' to conduct an interview. Although the scenario is presented as hypothetical, one suspects, once again, this is based on the author's real world experiences. Chapter 7 covers some basic techniques for 'dealing with the data' (the title of the chapter). The emphasis here is on drawing conclusions and inferences from the data, the use of measures of central tendency and dispersal, chi square, and Spearman's rank-order correlation. The use of significance tests also is covered briefly. The book concludes with advice on how to present results in both a written report and in an orgal presentation. Attention is given to the importance of logic, clarity of expression, the nature of the audience, and other details that a novice researcher or presenter may have never considered. Market Researeh in Travel and Tourism is unequivocally a text for the beginning tourism market researcher. The book is an excellent choice for an introductory course in market research or a reference for anyone in a destination marketing organization or tourism operation that is considering conducting a survey of visitors or potential visitors. Brunt's advice on all aspects of conducting research, if followed carefully, will help any new investigator avoid making the most serious and most common mistakes that plague tourism marketing research. Stephen L. J. Smith Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies University of Waterloo Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1 Tel." 1 519 888 4045 Fax." 1 519 746 6776 E-mail." slsmith @healthy.uwaterloo.ca
PII: S0261-5177(98)00009-0 Imagining Scotland: Tradition, representation and promotion in Scottish Tourism since 1750 John Gold and Margaret M. Gold Scolar Press. ISBN 1 85928 059 5 The stated aims of this book are 3 fold and ambitious: (a) to provide a history of Scottish tourism; (b) to understand those who participated in it; and (c) to throw light on sets of images of place and landscape (of Scotland)'. For anyone coming to the subject with little previous knowledge, the book succeeds in doing something of all three, but the treatment is selective, superficial and, in several instances, inaccurate. First, the history. The authors assert a radical originality of intention, '... to fill a gap in the literature which is camouflaged by those who claim to have written histories of British tourism'. If we put aside the fact that no claimed history of British tourism exists, the implication that Scottish tourism history is virgin territory is nonsense. Much has been written, popular and academic, on 18th. and 19th. century tourism in Scotland (pace: Magnus Maclean, Drurie, Butler, Cooper, Bray, Lindsay ) and much of the first half of this book duplicates it (discussion of the tourism impact of: the works of 'Ossian', Boswell and Johnson, Scott, and Burns; romanticism; the Picturesque: Thomas Cook; Queen Victoria). On 20th. century history the book offers newer insights (on car and coach tourism, 1930s travel books, the heritage debate), but even here coverage is often limited. This is history based largely on secondary materials and limited, ad hoc primary research. Of over 350 references less than 20% are pre-1939 sources, a moderate count for original research which sets out to cover history and representation for the period 1750 to the present. The failure to make more direct use of primary sources results in errors and omissions. In the section on deer hunting tourism (a subject well worth detailed study) the influence of Scrope's book on the subject is noted
303
Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Douglas hopes that this history 'may make a contribution for planners and leaders to consult in order to make decisions which will assist in the sustainable and intelligent development of future tourism in Pacific Island states (p. 1)'. Unfortunately, this is doubtful as there is little indication that consultants' reports in the late 1980s and 1990s are any less ambitious or more appropriate now than they were previously. For example, the proposal in a report undertaken in 1991 by Dangroup consultants for the TCSP on an identified tourism nature site in the Solomon Islands was found to be inappropriate for the location. Douglas also supports her argument that the colonial experience and its legacy remain the significant intervening variable that has determined the direction of tourism development and its level of achievement in each country. This book has been extensively researched and can be easily read without any prior knowledge of academic tourism literature. The bibliography is comprehensive reflecting the extensive primary and secondary sources the author consulted. Reproduction of historical photographs and posters greatly enhances the reader's image of the study in its historical context and in support of portraying the author's argument that the marketing of the three Melanesian countries has focused on the romanticisation of the savage. The quality and lack of detail on the maps is disappointing. The reproduction of the map of the Western Pacific at the beginning of the book is substandard and it has neither a title nor a boundary of the Melanesian region. The map of Papua New Guinea published on the page preceding the contents page is of poor quality and is deficient of place names or other details. Why is it included prior to the body of the text with no explanation of its use and role? Most of the Tourist Regions (TR) marked on each of the country's maps included later in the book are inappropriately placed in the sea some
distance from the area they represent. In summary, this book is not a definitive historical account of tourism in Melanesia, principally because it does not sufficiently discuss the sociocultural aspects of tourism development in the three countries. However, it provides an excellent contribution to Pacific Island research given the dearth of regional and historical publications of the region. It is the first major contribution to the study of tourism in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It certainly fills a void. There is however, the question of whom the book is aimed at. The book may have a limited value for students of tourism who seek a particular theory base for the study of cultural or social impacts in Melanesia. Brenda Rudkin Centre for Tourism Research Massey University at Albany Auckland New Zealand
PII: S0261-5177(98)00007-7 Market Tourism
Research
in
Travel
and
Paul Brunt Heinemann Publishers Oxford, ()xford (1997) ix +196 pp £17.99 paper ISBN 0 7506 3082 5 Despite the large and growing body of tourism market research, there are relatively few texts that offer practical, operational guidance on the mechanisms of conducting research. Market Research in Travel and Tourism does so, and thus is a welcome addition to tourism research methodology. It should be emphasized that this text covers the fundamentals of market research only. A reader looking for instruction on forecasting, advanced market segmentation techniques, economic impact analysis, or any advanced statistical analytical tool will need to turn elsewhere. But if one is looking for an introduction to planning a market research project, selecting a sample, designing a
Book reviews
questionnaire, or conducting surveys, this is the book. Brunt begins with an overview of the nature of research generally and market research specifically. He also briefly discusses ethical issues in market research--an issue often ignored in other research texts. The author then turns to an overview of the major market research techniques, including quantitative and qualitative interviews, observation methods, and the use of secondary data sets. His treatment of the use of secondary data sets is thin, especially given the growing interest of market researchers in mining data collected by someone else. However, the balance of the chapter provides a clear and useful basic introduction to the fundamental tools used by market researchers. Chapter 3 presents guidelines for planning a research project, including a standard road map for the steps involved in a project. Given that many readers using this book will have limited experience with actually conducting research, the author might have advised that a number of such road maps arc available and that, in practice, research projects rarely progress as smoothly as his stages suggest. On the other hand, Brunt does illustrate each of the stages with an example that he describes as hypothetical but which offers sufficient realistic detail that one suspects the example is distilled from one or more of Brunt's own projects. This 'case study' covers the various stages of a complete research project and is a particular strength of this chapter. Rather than just offering a list of ideal steps or tasks, Brunt conveys a realistic view of how a research project might be managed. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 address sampling, questionnaire design, and data collection. The level of treatment of these issues is pragmatic and basic. Brunt succeeds in making potentially technical material comprehensible and meaningful. For example, his discusion of how to calculate sample size, while brief, conveys the essential information a novice marketing researcher should grasp. Brunt writes with the same clear and comprehen-
sible voice on the art of questionnaire design and surveying. His use of case studies and examples here, too, clarify the points the reader needs to understand in order to successfully conduct a basic survey. The discussion of questionnaire design is particularly thorough and informed. Brunt also offers a revealing double scenario depicting the 'right way' and the 'wrong way' to conduct an interview. Although the scenario is presented as hypothetical, one suspects, once again, this is based on the author's real world experiences. Chapter 7 covers some basic techniques for 'dealing with the data' (the title of the chapter). The emphasis here is on drawing conclusions and inferences from the data, the use of measures of central tendency and dispersal, chi square, and Spearman's rank-order correlation. The use of significance tests also is covered briefly. The book concludes with advice on how to present results in both a written report and in an orgal presentation. Attention is given to the importance of logic, clarity of expression, the nature of the audience, and other details that a novice researcher or presenter may have never considered. Market Researeh in Travel and Tourism is unequivocally a text for the beginning tourism market researcher. The book is an excellent choice for an introductory course in market research or a reference for anyone in a destination marketing organization or tourism operation that is considering conducting a survey of visitors or potential visitors. Brunt's advice on all aspects of conducting research, if followed carefully, will help any new investigator avoid making the most serious and most common mistakes that plague tourism marketing research. Stephen L. J. Smith Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies University of Waterloo Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1 Tel." 1 519 888 4045 Fax." 1 519 746 6776 E-mail." slsmith @healthy.uwaterloo.ca
PII: S0261-5177(98)00009-0 Imagining Scotland: Tradition, representation and promotion in Scottish Tourism since 1750 John Gold and Margaret M. Gold Scolar Press. ISBN 1 85928 059 5 The stated aims of this book are 3 fold and ambitious: (a) to provide a history of Scottish tourism; (b) to understand those who participated in it; and (c) to throw light on sets of images of place and landscape (of Scotland)'. For anyone coming to the subject with little previous knowledge, the book succeeds in doing something of all three, but the treatment is selective, superficial and, in several instances, inaccurate. First, the history. The authors assert a radical originality of intention, '... to fill a gap in the literature which is camouflaged by those who claim to have written histories of British tourism'. If we put aside the fact that no claimed history of British tourism exists, the implication that Scottish tourism history is virgin territory is nonsense. Much has been written, popular and academic, on 18th. and 19th. century tourism in Scotland (pace: Magnus Maclean, Drurie, Butler, Cooper, Bray, Lindsay ) and much of the first half of this book duplicates it (discussion of the tourism impact of: the works of 'Ossian', Boswell and Johnson, Scott, and Burns; romanticism; the Picturesque: Thomas Cook; Queen Victoria). On 20th. century history the book offers newer insights (on car and coach tourism, 1930s travel books, the heritage debate), but even here coverage is often limited. This is history based largely on secondary materials and limited, ad hoc primary research. Of over 350 references less than 20% are pre-1939 sources, a moderate count for original research which sets out to cover history and representation for the period 1750 to the present. The failure to make more direct use of primary sources results in errors and omissions. In the section on deer hunting tourism (a subject well worth detailed study) the influence of Scrope's book on the subject is noted
303