Ready to Start!

Hello Everyone!

As I mentioned in the last post, I met with my supervisor to discuss my dissertation idea so far. James had some really good comments and advice on how to make it less complicated and more interesting for me. Originally, I thought I would hand out surveys to creative tourists either in person or online. But as James pointed out, it would be very difficult to gain access to a large enough group of creative tourists in order to analyze data quantitatively. Creative tourism providers probably wouldn't give me the email addresses of past guests (for online surveys) and asking them to fill out surveys while they are in the middle of their holiday probably wouldn't have been looked upon favorably by the companies or their guests. Therefore, James suggested that I take a different approach. I will now be focusing on three case studies in England to gather my data. At each case study, I will engage in participant observation, interview the marketing manager, and do a content analysis of marketing materials. These are the methods that I will use to complete the following research objectives:

1. Establish typologies of creative tourists

2. Critically analyze the marketing strategies of creative tourism providers

So now, instead of mixed methods research, I'll be conducting qualitative research for both aspects of my dissertation. In a way, this might be better for me because I can focus on learning all about qualitative research methods instead of both. I've started to do some reading about how to analyze qualitative data and it looks complicated but I think the more I read, the more I will understand.

I'm really looking forward to my research now because I actually get to participate in some creative classes in order to observe the tourists. I think this method will be much more interesting for me than collecting surveys would have been. However, I really need to practice my note taking and memorization skills! According to what I've read, participant observation needs to remain really informal. I can ask questions and ask tourists to clarify certain points but I can't bring in a list of questions to go through one-by-one and record all their answers on tape. This could affect the way they act around me. Therefore, I have to mainly remember what they tell me and write it all down quickly after the class. The main things I'll be looking for/asking about are their characteristics, motivations, perceptions, expectations, interests, and feelings about the activity/holiday they are involved in. I'm really curious to know what I'll find out!

I'm also really looking forward to the marketing aspect of my research. Personally, I really want to know who they think their target markets are. I also want to see if their current marketing strategies are visible enough to attract people that may not be within their target markets. According to the literature, most people do not even know what creative tourism is! Yet the literature repeats over and over again how amazing and revolutionary creative tourism is! And I agree! Therefore, I'm hoping that my research will shed some light on why creative tourism isn't as well known as other cultural tourism niches and whether marketing has something to do with it. I see posters on the bus and tube every day about destinations that I've never considered visiting until I see these posters. Maybe creative tourism destinations/providers need more varied and visible marketing campaigns in order to attract a market that they never knew existed! I think, and my research will hopefully clarify this, that everyone would like to learn a new skill or activity that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. However, the tricky part is convincing them that this is better than a week on a sunny beach doing nothing. It's all about marketing the product in a way that makes people believe it's the best holiday that they can take!

Anyways, as you can tell, I have lots of questions and I'm really excited to get some answers. It's going to be a great experience travelling around England and visiting a few of these creative tourism providers. I think I'll be learning a lot and hopefully I'll even be able to provide some useful research to the creative tourism community!