The Needs and Satisfaction Levels of International Tourists Visiting Canberra - Research Proposal Example

The needs, wants and satisfaction levels of international tourists visiting Canberra, Australia Executive summary This is a proposal aimed at elucidating the needs, wants and satisfaction levels of international tourists visiting Canberra, Australia. The study is significant since it will enable the management to implement strategies aimed at meeting the needs and wants of these tourists and at the same time help to improve the satisfaction levels. This will in turn help to tame the general trend of declining number of international visitors to Australia in general. It is proposed that the study address the following objectives. First, that it finds out the expectations of international visitors to Canberra. Second, that study finds out the real perception of international visitors to Canberra. Finally, that the study establishes the satisfaction levels of international tourists visiting Canberra. It is proposed that these objectives are to be realized by conducting a quantitative research. The proposed method of data collection is a questionnaire since it will be able to capture several tourists at a lower cost. The proposed sampling technique is convenience and purposive sampling. Table of Contents Executive summary 1 Introduction 3 Background 4 Management decision problem 5 Research problem 5 Research design 7 Type of research 7 Type of information 9 Method of data collection 10 Sampling technique 11 Data analysis 12 Conclusions and recommendations 13 Individual reflection 14 References 15 Introduction This proposal provides background information compelling the implementation of this study. It also provides management decision problem and research problem (Miller, Vandome, and McBrewster, 2009). The proposal also provides a detailed research design for this study by providing the type of research to be undertaken, type of information to be collected, the recommended method of data collection, sampling techniques and plan of data analysis (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). The report then provides a conclusion and recommendations for the study. There are various tourists attraction feature in Canberra. One of these features is the Australian war memorial, which was built in 1925 that commemorates the war dead of Australia (Breakey, Ding and Lee, 2008). Another feature is the national gallery of Australia which has a wide range of Australia’s art collection. New parliament house is another key tourist attraction feature in Canberra. Tourists are also attracted to the Australia national film and sound archive which is situated in the Art Deco building that was established in 1930. Australia academy of science is also a source of tourist attraction in Canberra (Buhalis and Darcy, 2010). Australian national botanic garden that contains many species of flora found in Australia is also a tourist attraction for tourists. The Australian national university is also a tourist attraction point mainly due to its beautiful grounds. Other main tourists’ attraction features in Canberra include Lake Burley Griffin, National Carillon, National Library of Australia, National Zoo and Aquarium, Black Mountain, Canberra Explorer bus, Canberra theatre centre, civic square, and Commonwealth Park. In addition, others are Canberra Thespis statue, Deakin, Forrest, general post office, London circuit, old parliament house, Parkes, Parliament triangle, Reid, Royal Australian mint, Russel, Serbian orthodox church, St. John’s Church, St Kilda Carousel and Yarralumla (Australia, 2011). Tourists are also attracted to Canberra due to its surroundings such as snowy mountains, Lanyon homestead, Mount Stromlo observatory, Tidbinbilla and Namadgi national park. Background The purpose of this study is to elucidate the needs, wants and satisfaction levels among international tourists visiting Canberra, Australia (Buckley, 2011). Tourism is one of the major contributors to the Canberra economy and Australia as a whole. The changing needs of tourists calls for establishing their needs and wants in order to be able to satisfy them (Miller, Vandome, and McBrewster, 2009). Studies have indicated that satisfaction of tourists is under the influence of several situational variables such as social settings, resource settings and management settings. It has also been established that based on the tourist’s socioeconomic and cultural characteristics in addition to their norms, experiences, preferences and attitudes, they evaluate tourists’ attraction features subjectively (Australia, 2011). Australia has been experiencing dwindling number of international tourists since 1995 and as such, there is need to establish the needs, wants and satisfaction levels of those who visit Canberra in order to inform the management on how to improve on this and increase the number of international visitors to the region (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). Thus, the main object of this proposal is to devise ways of conducting a study that will help in informing the management on the needs, wants and satisfaction levels of tourists in Canberra (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). This will in turn help the management to offer the much-needed direction on how to tailor the available resources in order to meet the needs and wants of tourists and at the same time increase the satisfaction levels. By doing so, the management will be able to reverse the declining trend of international visitors to Australia. Management decision problem There is an increased demand and desire for value for money among international tourists visiting Australia. As such, they are in need of quality attractions and for their needs and wants to be satisfied. Although there has been an increase in global tourists’ activities, Australia has since 1995 been experiencing a decline in international tourists (Miller, Vandome, and McBrewster, 2009). Previous studies have indicated that tourists’ satisfaction is largely dependent on several situational variables (Breakey, Ding and Lee, 2008). As such, management is faced with various problems such as what are the main needs and wants of international tourists. How can they satisfy these needs? Who should be involved in provision of these needs and wants and how the satisfaction levels can be improved? Research problem The statement, which is used to identify issues to be studied in a research, is referred to as the research question or research problem. Research problem is the situation, which compels the research to feel apprehensive of carrying out the study. For one to be able to formulate a research question, which is strong, he or she should be familiar with the field of research (Australia, 2011). In addition, he or she should be familiar with vital research questions in his or her area of study. The researcher should also be able to identify fields, which require more research to be able to formulate a research question. The research question should be aimed at bringing more understanding to the field of study or filling a knowledge gap (Miller, Vandome, and McBrewster, 2009). The researchers also need to know what has already been done in the field of study and what needs to be improved to be able to formulate a research question. The relevance of the study also is vital in the formulation of the research question (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). Finally, the significance of the knowledge gained in the proposed study should be considered able to formulate a research question (Australia, 2011). The research problem for this study is that there is a decline in international visitors to Australia and as such, there is need to elucidate the needs, wants and satisfaction levels of international tourists visiting Canberra, Australia in order to tailor tourists’ attraction resources to meet these needs and wants and to improve satisfaction levels (Breakey, Ding and Lee, 2008). This is necessitated by the fact that there has been a decline in number of foreign visitors to Australia in general in spite the increased tourism activities worldwide. It is important to establish these parameters in order to devise ways of increasing the number of visitors to the region since tourism forms the main part of Canberra’s economy. Thus, the study will seek to address the following objectives: To find out the expectations of international visitors to Canberra To find out the real perception of international visitors to Canberra To establish the satisfaction levels of international tourists visiting Canberra To establish the relationship between the needs, wants and satisfaction levels among international tourists with varying individual profiles Research design This is the structure of research. It holds all the elements of a research project together. It enables researchers to answer research questions using the evidence obtained unambiguously (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). In order to obtain evidence that is relevant one need to specify the type of evidence required for answering the research questions, to evaluate a program, to test a theory or to describe a phenomenon accurately (Breakey, Ding and Lee, 2008). Thus when designing research one ought to know the type of evidence required for answering the question at hand. Type of research This research will use quantitative research approach. Quantitative research methods were designed originally in the natural sciences for studying natural phenomena. However, several quantitative methods have been accepted in social sciences and they include survey methods, formal methods, numerical methods and laboratory experiments. Quantitative methods are used for empirical studies. The quantitative methods are essential in searching for truth in controlled and objective manner (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). Quantitative methods are characterized by their inflexibility where respondent are asked fixed questions in methods like questionnaires and surveys. The questions in these methods are usually closed ended. This inflexibility is advantageous in that responses can be compared across study sites and participants meaningful. They are used to predict causal relationship and to describe characteristics of the population. Quantitative research entails collection of data impartially by use of structured procedures and entails use of large amounts of samples. Quantitative studies usually begin with a theoretical framework and as such have a disadvantage of not providing for any new concepts that could be discovered during the study (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). Quantitative research is often associated with the positivist paradigm. The positivist paradigm is closely related to objectivism and adopts the philosophical stance of the natural scientist in which the social world exists externally and its properties should be measured using objective methods, rather than being inferred subjectively through reflection or sensations (Breakey, Ding and Lee, 2008). Proponents of this position advocate that the researcher will not be affected by his own beliefs and values. It is based on the assumption that the researcher is independent of and unaffected by the subject of the research (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). Positivism emphasizes highly structured methodology to facilitate replication and quantifiable analysis that can be subjected to statistical analysis as the result of such research can be Law like generalizations. Thus, quantitative research will be based on positivist paradigm. Quantitative approach entails collection of data and its conversion into numerical form to allow statistical calculations to be carried out from which conclusions are deducted (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). This method is used to collect data impartially by using structured procedures and involves using large amounts of samples. This method has a disadvantage of beginning with a theoretical framework and has little diversion from this framework as a result. Quantitative research does not allow any new concepts to be discovered during the research (Breakey, Ding and Lee, 2008). The quantitative method that will be employed is a survey. Survey involves collection of large amounts of data from the population, which is sizeable by use of questionnaires administered to the sample population (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). Surveys provide information that suggests possible reasons for particular relationships between variables and to produce models of these relationships. Survey strategy generates findings, which are representative of the whole population at a lower cost as compared to collecting the data for the whole population. Questionnaires are usually administered to the sample population (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). Surveys are known to be advantageous because of their ability to generate findings, which are a representation of the whole population at a lower cost. However, the data collected richness depends on the good will of the participants. In addition, the findings of surveys can be used to generalize to the rest of the population unlike qualitative methods, which have limited generalization. However, the data collected is unlikely to be as wide ranging as those collected using other research strategies (Breakey, Ding and Lee, 2008). This is because there is a limitation in the number of questions a questionnaire can contain, and richness of the data to be collected is dependent on the goodwill of the respondents. In spite the shortcoming, this research will employ a survey strategy (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). A self- completion survey method involving the use of questionnaires will be used to collect data. Type of information The study will seek to obtain information related to the needs, wants and satisfaction levels of international tourists visiting Canberra, Australia (Australia, 2011). First, the expectations of the visitors prior to visiting the region will be established. This will then be followed by establishing the visitors’ perception of what they have found out during their visit. This will then be used to deduce the level of satisfaction of the tourists visiting the region by comparing their initial expectation and their experience while in Canberra (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). The study will also seek to relate these needs and wants to the age, socioeconomic status, gender, race, religion and affiliation and as such information related to individual’s age, nationality, socioeconomic status, gender, race, religion and affiliation will also be established (Canberra, 2011). Method of data collection There exist a wide range of research strategies for collecting data. Some of these methods are appropriate for deductive approach while others are suited for inductive approach. Various factors influence the choice of data collection method strategy (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). The most significant factors are the research question and the objective of the study in addition to the philosophical underpinnings of the study. In order to address the present research question and objectives, this study will use a survey to collect a large amount of data from a sizeable population of international tourists visiting Canberra, Australia (Miller, Vandome, and McBrewster, 2009). Surveys usually use questionnaires to obtain the required information from the population sampled. Questionnaires as a quantitative data collection method will be employed to collect data. Questionnaires are employed as a positivist research method and have low level of research involvement and large number of respondents (Maitland and Ritchie, 2009). Questionnaire as data collection method is chosen because it will allow collection of data from a large number of international tourists at a lower cost. In addition, questionnaires are argued to contribute to reliability through promotion of greater consistency (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). This is because questionnaires eliminate variations that may emanate from questioning in case different interviewers are involved in a study. As such, questionnaires reduce cases of biasness that may be seen in interviews where the interviewer could influence the answers from respondents either inadvertently or intentionally (Weiermair and Mathies, 2004). However, questionnaires have a disadvantage of not providing an opportunity for the clarification of questions. In spite the shortcoming of questionnaires, in this case, semi-structured questionnaires will be used (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). A semi-structured questionnaire is made of both closed and open questions that are designed to capture data from respondents. Thus, in this case the semi-structured questionnaire will be designed to capture information about the needs, wants and level of satisfaction among international tourists visiting various tourism attraction features within Canberra (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). The questionnaire will be divided into two sections. The first section will deal with the expectations, perceptions and level of satisfaction about tourists’ attraction among international tourists visiting Canberra. This will help to elucidate the needs, wants and level of satisfaction among international tourists visiting Canberra (Bramwell and Lane, 2011). The second section will provide respondents profiles such as nationality, gender, race, religion, affiliations and socioeconomic status. Ordinal scales will be used to measure respondents’ expectations, perceptions and level of satisfaction with tourist attractions in Canberra, Australia. The five point and seven point Likert scales will be employed in this case. Sampling technique The target population for this study is the international tourists visiting Canberra (Australia, 2011). The study will be targeting international visitors to natural environments, leisure sites, education facilities and business tourists. A sample of any quantitative research should be a representation of the whole population. The sampling of the respondents will use a convenience and purposive sampling for international tourists. Convenience sampling means that data will be collected where the researcher will be able to access information more easily. Thus, data will mainly be collected from main tourists’ attraction features in Canberra (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). Purposive sampling implies that the researcher will be seeking for international tourists alone and not any other tourist. This is because the people of interest to this study are international tourists. The study targets 2000 international tourists visiting Canberra from various countries. This approach will be used because of easier accessibility of accounting educators and students in institutions, which offer accounting education Australia. Data analysis Data obtained will be analyzed quantitatively in three stages. These will include data preparation, data description and testing hypotheses. During data preparation logging in the data, entering the data into the computer, data transformation and development and documentation of a database will be undertaken to integrate the various measures. Description of data will employ descriptive data analysis such Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to provide description of basic features of the data in the study. This will be used to provide summaries about the measures and samples. Testing of hypothesis will involve inferential statistics (Hill and Gale, 2009). The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) will be used to carry out these analyses. In order to use this package the data obtained will first be coded, entered in the software, checked and cleaned prior to its analysis. This will allow us to store collected data in spreadsheet format, and apply a spectrum of analyses. Thus, we shall be able to generate a summary of our findings in form of tables, graphs and charts (O’Neill, Riscinto-Kozub, Hyfte, 2010). Thus, the software will mainly be used to carry out descriptive analysis of the data obtained. Conclusions and recommendations This study will be instrumental in defining how tourists’ resources are aligned to meet the changing needs of tourists. The declining number of international tourists visiting Australia is an indication that most international tourists are either unsatisfied with the current tourists’ attraction resources in Australia or are unaware of the existing resources. This study will help to elucidate the level of satisfaction of international tourists visiting Canberra Australia. In order to be able to do so quantitative methods employing a survey and questionnaires will be used to capture the special needs and wants of these visitors. The visitors to be targeted by the study include those interested in natural environmental resources, entertainment or leisure facilities, education and business. Since these categories have varying needs and wants, the establishment of their specific needs and wants will enable the management to provide well informed advice on how to meet these varying needs and wants. The study will also enable the management to elucidate the satisfaction levels of these visitors and as such will be able to provide advice on how satisfaction levels can be improved. By considering what the international tourists expects prior to visiting Canberra and what the tourists actually perceives of the region after visiting the desired destinations, the study will be able to compare this findings to the reported level of satisfaction. This will be instrumental in providing the much needed information on the satisfaction levels of various tourists visiting Canberra, Australia. We recommend that the needs and wants of various groups of international tourists visiting Canberra be elucidated by ensuring that the samples captures the needs of visitors interested in natural tourism attraction resources, education, business and leisure. This will allow the management to be able to establish special needs and wants of these different groups of international tourists. In addition, this will allow the management to provide informed advice on how to improve satisfaction levels of the different tourists groups. We also recommend that sampling be undertaken at sites where these types of tourists are likely to be found. For instance, educational tourists might be captured in educational facilities such as Australia academy of science. On other hand leisure, tourists might be captured in areas such as the national gallery of Australia and the Australia national film, Canberra theatre centre and sound archive. Those interested in natural resources might be captured in National Zoo and Aquarium, and Black Mountain region. Business tourists might be captured in business conferences held in the region. Individual reflection The assignment has enabled me to realize the learning objective of how to write a research proposal. In particular, the assignment enabled me to learn and put into practice the structure of a research proposal. It also enabled me to know how to critically analyze different kind of information and its comprehension. Furthermore, the assignment has enabled be learn how a study methodology or design is devised and how important it is in the final implementation of the proposal. I was also bale to learn on how to choose appropriate research methodology for various studies since I had to read comprehensively about several approaches available and made the appropriate choice for my case. The assignment also enabled me to realize that proposal writing is no easy task and that it requires extensive reading and note taking in addition to consuming enormous amount of time. I also realized that during the process of writing a proposal one might have to re-write several times in order to come up with a realistic and practical prototype of a proposal. The assignment also enabled me to improve my analytical skills. References Australia. 2011. Canberra. 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