examples of research topics in tourism

100+ Tourism Research Topics: Trends and Future Directions

Tourism research stands at the crossroads of exploration and understanding, dissecting the intricacies of an industry that transcends geographical boundaries. In this blog, we delve into the realm of tourism research topics, examining their importance, trends, popular areas of study, challenges faced by researchers, and the future directions that the field is poised to take.

Key Trends in Tourism Research

Table of Contents

Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable tourism has become a cornerstone of research in recent years, reflecting the global shift towards eco-conscious travel. Researchers are delving into the intricate balance between satisfying the wanderlust of tourists and preserving the environment.

Initiatives such as wildlife conservation, eco-friendly accommodations, and community engagement are key focus areas.

Technology in Tourism

The pervasive influence of technology on tourism cannot be overstated. From online booking platforms to virtual reality experiences, researchers are exploring the impact of technology on travel behavior.

Emerging areas of study include the use of artificial intelligence in personalized travel recommendations and the implications of augmented reality for enhancing tourist attractions.

What is the Importance of Tourism Research for Students?

Tourism research holds significant importance for students pursuing studies in various disciplines, including tourism management, hospitality, business, sociology, and environmental studies. Here are some key reasons why tourism research is valuable for students:

Academic Enrichment

Increases Understanding: By conducting study on the tourist business, students may increase their comprehension of the intricate relationships between the economic, social, cultural, and environmental facets of the sector.
Application of Theoretical information: This increases the practical relevance of their education by giving them the chance to apply the theoretical information they have learned in the classroom to real-world situations.

Skill Development

Research Skills: Gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data are just a few of the vital research skills that come from conducting tourist research. These abilities are adaptable and useful in a range of work environments.
Communication abilities: Through research papers, presentations, and conversations, students learn how to effectively express their results, which improves both their writing and spoken communication abilities.

Industry Insights

Current Trends and Issues: Research allows students to stay abreast of current trends, challenges, and emerging issues in the tourism industry. This awareness is crucial for adapting to the dynamic nature of the field.
In-Depth Knowledge: By delving into specific tourism research topics, students gain in-depth knowledge of particular sectors within the industry, positioning themselves as experts in specialized areas.

Career Opportunities

Competitive Advantage: Having experience in tourism research can provide students with a competitive advantage in the job market. Employers value candidates who can bring a research-driven perspective to decision-making.
Diverse Career Paths: Whether in academia, policy-making, destination management, or market analysis, a background in tourism research opens doors to a variety of career paths within the broader field of tourism and hospitality.

Contributions to Sustainable Practices

Environmental and Social Responsibility: Tourism research often focuses on sustainable practices. Students, through their research, can contribute ideas and solutions for promoting responsible tourism, minimizing negative impacts on the environment and local communities.

Global Perspective

Cultural Awareness: Researching diverse tourism topics exposes students to various cultures, traditions, and perspectives. This global perspective is crucial in an industry where interactions with people from different backgrounds are common.

Problem-Solving Skills

Analytical Thinking: Research involves analyzing complex issues and developing solutions. This cultivates students’ analytical thinking and problem-solving skills, valuable attributes in any professional setting.

Personal Growth

Confidence Building: Successfully conducting research and presenting findings builds students’ confidence in their abilities. It empowers them to tackle challenges and approach tasks with a systematic mindset.

In summary, tourism research is a multifaceted learning experience that goes beyond textbooks, providing students with the skills, knowledge, and perspectives needed for a successful and impactful career in the tourism industry or related fields.

Challenges and Opportunities in Tourism Research

Data collection and analysis.

While technology has streamlined data collection, challenges persist in ensuring data accuracy and relevance. Researchers are exploring advanced methodologies, such as big data analytics and machine learning, to overcome these hurdles and derive meaningful insights.

Globalization and Tourism

The globalization of the tourism industry poses both challenges and opportunities. Researchers are scrutinizing the impact of global trends on local economies, cultural identities, and the environment. Striking a balance between global and local interests is a complex task that requires careful consideration.

Future Directions in Tourism Research

Emerging tourism destinations.

The landscape of tourist destinations is ever-evolving. Researchers are turning their attention to emerging destinations, investigating the factors that contribute to their rise and the implications for the broader tourism industry.

This includes understanding the appeal of off-the-beaten-path locations and the potential challenges associated with their sudden popularity.

Post-Pandemic Tourism

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the tourism industry in unprecedented ways. Researchers are exploring the long-term effects of the pandemic on travel behavior, destination preferences, and the overall structure of the tourism sector.

Strategies for recovery and resilience are also under the microscope as the industry adapts to the new normal.

Resources for Tourism Research Topics

Academic Journals and Publications: Leading academic journals in tourism research, such as the “Journal of Sustainable Tourism” and the “Annals of Tourism Research,” provide a wealth of knowledge for researchers. These publications cover a wide array of topics, from sustainable practices to cultural tourism.
Conferences and Events: Attending conferences and events, such as the “International Conference on Tourism Research” and the “World Tourism Forum,” offers researchers the opportunity to engage with peers, present their work, and stay abreast of the latest developments in the field.
Online Databases and Research Platforms: Online databases, including Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Tourism Management Database , provide access to a vast repository of research articles, theses, and reports. These platforms facilitate collaboration and information exchange among researchers.

In conclusion, the landscape of tourism research topics is vast and dynamic, reflecting the multifaceted nature of the tourism industry. As researchers continue to explore sustainable practices, emerging trends, and the post-pandemic landscape, the importance of their work cannot be overstated.

By navigating the challenges and embracing the opportunities presented, tourism researchers contribute to a more informed and resilient industry, ensuring that the joy of travel remains accessible for generations to come.

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Tourism Management Research Project Examples

Disclaimer: Some posts on Tourism Teacher may contain affiliate links. If you appreciate this content, you can show your support by making a purchase through these links or by buying me a coffee . Thank you for your support!

In my recent post ‘ how to get inspiration for your research project topic ’ I gave lots of tips on way to think of a great research project idea that suits you. In this post I will give you some tourism management research project examples to give you some guidance on what makes a suitable research project topic .

Tourism Management Research Project Examples

Remember, you can use a hypothesis or a research question, you will find examples of both below. Visit this post for more on the difference between a research question and a hypothesis .

Tourism management is a broad subject and you have the flexibility to explore a wide numbers of areas that interest you. Here are some previous topics that I have supervised to give you an idea of a suitable tourism management research project topic:

Perception and attitude towards ecotourism in Albania among tourists .
Does ecotourism economically benefit local communities: The Case Study of Nicaragua .
Sustainable tourism practices in developing countries.
The role of destination management organisation in promoting tourism in the European Union .
Prices versus the environment: An analysis of consumer motivations.
The sustainability practices within Formula One tourism.
Why do young tourists prefer dynamic packaging to traditional package holidays?
What can be done to help the fragile ecosystems of the Hawaiian Islands’ endangered plant and animal species?
Does visiting a site of suffering and death socially and commercially benefit local communities?
Perception and attitude of tourists towards the Jack the Ripper site.
The ethics of dark tourism in Cambodia.
Perception and attitude of foreign tourists towards the Edinburgh Dungeon.
How to develop a marketing plan for the London Dungeon.
Why do customers choose leisure hotels when they plan overseas holidays?
Perception and attitude of British customers toward the Hilton Hotel in London.
The impact of hotel brand on consumer choice in the UK.
Examining the implications of the Internet towards online travel agents: The case study of Lastminute.com.
The growth of the easy brand and its’ impact on market share.
Examining perception and attitude of British customers towards online travel agents.
Motivations for solo travel amongst millennials.
Perception and attitude of millennials toward cruise holidays.
Perception and attitude of tourist experiencing the sex economy in Thailand .
Role of global terrorism in shaping the image of tourism destinations – Case study of Egypt .
Perception and attitude toward Beijing’s world heritage tour among British tourists.
Use of sporting events to develop tourism branding – Analysis of Qatar with regards to the FIFA World Cup.
Perception and attitude toward extreme plastic surgery makeovers in South Asia among British customers.
Emergence of Poland as medical tourism destination.
How British customers choose medical tourism destinations for dental tour packages.
Perception and attitude of international students towards work and study in the UK.
The impacts of a gap year on skills and competencies in the workplace

Things to remember when choosing your tourism management research project topic

Whilst you might like the sound of some of the tourism management research project examples given above, remember that they might not always be feasible. Here are a list of things to consider:

Can I gain access to the respondents that I will need?
Can I complete this research project given the word count?
Can I complete this research project given the time-frame?
Is this research project realistic in terms of access (i.e. if you need to travel to a particular destination, is this possible?)
Am I able to develop a conceptual framework to form a literature review?
Is this a topic that is worthy of investigation?

For more guidance on writing your research project you might be interested in my posts how to write awesome aims and objectives and the difference between a research question and a hypothesis . I also recommend that you use some of the excellent research methods books available to you- I recommend Social Research Methods by Bryman and Research Methodology: A Step by Step Guide for Beginners by Kumar .

Do you have any good tourism management research project examples? I’d love to hear them- drop them in the comments box below!

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Home » Blog » Dissertation » Topics » Tourism » 80 Tourism Research Topics

80 Tourism Research Topics

FacebookXEmailWhatsAppRedditPinterestLinkedInIf you are a student passionate about exploring the exciting world of tourism, your quest for compelling research topics ends here. As you embark on your academic journey, we present you with a comprehensive list of research topics curated to cater to undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. Delve into the complexities of this dynamic field […]

If you are a student passionate about exploring the exciting world of tourism, your quest for compelling research topics ends here. As you embark on your academic journey, we present you with a comprehensive list of research topics curated to cater to undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. Delve into the complexities of this dynamic field and unearth opportunities for in-depth inquiry and exploration.

Tourism, a vibrant and ever-evolving industry, encompasses many aspects, from cultural heritage and sustainable practices to digital innovation and destination marketing. Whether you seek to investigate the impact of ecotourism on local communities or analyze the role of social media in shaping travel behaviours, our list aims to ignite your curiosity and guide you towards a research path that aligns with your interests and aspirations. Let these thought-provoking topics inspire you as you delve into the captivating realm of tourism and make valuable contributions to the industry’s growth and sustainability. So, let us embark on this intellectual journey together as you venture into a world of endless possibilities in tourism research.

A List Of Potential Research Topics In Tourism:

Understanding the role of wellness tourism in promoting health and well-being: a literature review.
The effect of travel restrictions on domestic tourism demand in the UK.
Investigating the relationship between tourism and coastal erosion: a case study approach.
Understanding the role of festivals and events in destination marketing: a comparative analysis.
Examining the influence of cultural tourism on destination image and tourist behaviour: a comparative study.
The effectiveness of online travel agencies (OTAs) in destination marketing and distribution.
Exploring the influence of social media on travel decision-making.
Analyzing the role of technology in shaping the future of contactless travel and hospitality services.
Analyzing the role of digital marketing and social media in rebuilding tourism demand.
Investigating the impact of cultural exchange programs on intercultural communication and understanding.
A critical review of online travel agencies (OTAs) in destination marketing and distribution.
The resilience of tourism businesses and destinations in the face of crises.
Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on tourism: challenges, adaptations, and recovery
Examining the effects of online reviews and user-generated content on tourist decision-making.
Understanding the role of cultural heritage in shaping tourist behaviour and destination choice.
The influence of travel bans and restrictions on international tourism flows.
Investigating the impact of volunteering tourism (voluntourism) on local communities and volunteers.
The impact of COVID-19 on sustainable tourism practices and environmental conservation efforts.
The role of dark tourism in commemorating historical events and memory.
The influence of Brexit on international tourist flows to the UK.
Exploring the growing trend of wellness tourism and its impact on health and well-being.
The role of destination resilience and crisis management in coping with future pandemics.
A comprehensive review of sustainable tourism practices: evaluating progress and challenges.
The impact of sustainable tourism practices on local communities: a comparative study.
Understanding the impact of tourism on water consumption and management in arid regions.
Understanding the challenges and opportunities in reviving cultural tourism post-COVID-19.
Reviewing the impact of COVID-19 on tourism: responses, adaptations, and future outlook.
The influence of tourism on traditional indigenous cultures: preserving identity and authenticity.
Analyzing the influence of food tourism on culinary heritage and gastronomic experiences.
The effect of sustainable tourism initiatives on community resilience in the post-pandemic scenario.
Understanding the influence of social media on travel decision-making among UK tourists.
The effectiveness of tourism certification and accreditation in ensuring quality and sustainability.
Understanding the transformation of business travel in the post-pandemic world.
The impact of remote work on the demand for digital nomad tourism.
Analyzing the effects of tourism policies on sustainable tourism development.
Reviewing the effectiveness of ecotourism in biodiversity conservation: case studies from different regions.
The impact of reduced tourism activities on wildlife and biodiversity conservation.
Understanding the role of tourist behaviour in contributing to wildlife conservation efforts.
Assessing the potential of virtual tourism experiences in the post-COVID-19 travel landscape.
The role of wellness retreats in promoting mental health and stress reduction.
Analyzing the influence of gender on travel behaviour and preferences.
Understanding the dynamics of adventure tourism: motivations and risk perception.
Investigating the influence of travel restrictions on domestic tourism recovery.
Examining augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in enhancing tourist experiences.
Examining the adoption of contactless payment and digital services in the UK tourism industry.
Analyzing the relationship between tourism and climate change: challenges and mitigation strategies.
Investigating the trends and challenges in accessible and inclusive tourism for people with disabilities.
Examining the effects of over-tourism on destination sustainability and resident well-being.
Analyzing the role of events and festivals in destination promotion and economic growth.
The impact of community-based tourism initiatives in developing countries: a case study approach.
Investigating the relationship between tourism and economic development in developing countries.
The effectiveness of ecotourism in biodiversity conservation: case studies from different regions.
Investigating the influence of destination image on tourist satisfaction and loyalty.
Investigating the effects of crisis communication in tourism: case studies of natural disasters and emergencies.
Examining the effectiveness of sustainable tourism practices in the UK.
The influence of dark social media on word-of-mouth in travel planning.
Examining the recovery strategies for tourism-dependent economies post-COVID-19.
Analyzing the role of social media influencers in destination marketing and branding .
Analyzing the influence of traveller sentiments and behavioural changes on destination marketing strategies.
Analyzing the role of destination management organizations (DMOs) in sustainable tourism development.
Examining the role of tourism in promoting cross-cultural understanding and tolerance.
Investigating the shifts in tourist motivations and preferences in the wake of COVID-19.
Examining the adoption of health passports and contact tracing apps in the travel industry.
Understanding the trends and opportunities in space tourism: a futuristic perspective.
Analyzing the impact of digital innovation on tourist experiences: a systematic literature review.
Understanding the long-term effects of COVID-19 on cruise tourism and industry practices.
Investigating the role of cultural heritage in shaping UK tourist behaviour and destination choice.
The role of social media in destination marketing: a critical review of strategies and outcomes.
Understanding the shifts in UK tourist motivations and preferences post-COVID-19.
Analyzing the role of digital innovation in enhancing tourist experiences.
Analyzing the influence of cultural heritage on tourist behaviour and destination selection: a literature review.
Assessing tourists’ perceptions and attitudes towards health and safety measures in post-pandemic travel.
Analyzing the impact of technology on the transformation of the tourism industry.
Analyzing the impact of Airbnb on traditional accommodation providers and local communities.
Examining the effectiveness of vaccine passports in restoring international travel.
Analyzing the future of mice (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourism after the pandemic.
Understanding the impact of tourism on wildlife and biodiversity conservation.
Understanding the perceptions and attitudes of tourists towards responsible travel practices.
Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on uk tourism: recovery strategies and future resilience.
Analyzing the effects of sustainable tourism practices in coastal destinations: a case study.
A review of the relationship between tourism and climate change: challenges and mitigation strategies.

In conclusion, if you are a student searching for compelling tourism research topics for your dissertation at any degree level, this comprehensive list has you covered. With diverse themes, including sustainable tourism practices, destination marketing, the impact of technology, and cultural tourism, these research topics offer ample opportunities for in-depth exploration and analysis. Whether you are an undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral student, selecting a research topic that aligns with your interests and research objectives is essential for a successful dissertation journey. Remember to explore the latest trends, incorporate international case studies, and critically review existing literature to enrich your research findings and scholarly contributions. Best of luck as you embark on your dissertation writing and research journey in the exciting realm of tourism!

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Tourism research from its inception to present day: Subject area, geography, and gender distributions

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Writing – original draft

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation The Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft

Andrei P. Kirilenko,
Svetlana Stepchenkova

Published: November 2, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820
Reader Comments

This paper uses text data mining to identify long-term developments in tourism academic research from the perspectives of thematic focus, geography, and gender of tourism authorship. Abstracts of papers published in the period of 1970–2017 in high-ranking tourist journals were extracted from the Scopus database and served as data source for the analysis. Fourteen subject areas were identified using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) text mining approach. LDA integrated with GIS information allowed to obtain geography distribution and trends of scholarly output, while probabilistic methods of gender identification based on social network data mining were used to track gender dynamics with sufficient confidence. The findings indicate that, while all 14 topics have been prominent from the inception of tourism studies to the present day, the geography of scholarship has notably expanded and the share of female authorship has increased through time and currently almost equals that of male authorship.

Citation: Kirilenko AP, Stepchenkova S (2018) Tourism research from its inception to present day: Subject area, geography, and gender distributions. PLoS ONE 13(11): e0206820. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820

Editor: Sergi Lozano, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), SPAIN

Received: July 27, 2018; Accepted: October 20, 2018; Published: November 2, 2018

Copyright: © 2018 Kirilenko, Stepchenkova. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files; the methodology for data acquisition is fully described in the manuscript.

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

1. Introduction

Recent years have evidenced an increased interest to tourism as a knowledge system [ 1 ] and to bibliometric analysis of tourism research output [ 2 – 6 ]. Systematic evaluation of scientific output in a particular field of study using bibliometrics (statistical analysis of publications) is usually conducted from one of three main perspectives: an individual author, an academic journal, and an academic field [ 7 ]. At the individual author level, authorship is examined in terms of academic leadership, productivity, and collaborative networks, using indicators such as the number of publications (e.g., [ 8 ]), impact (mainly through citation analysis, e.g., [ 9 ]), co-citations (e.g., [ 2 ]), and co-authorship statistics [ 5 , 10 ]. At the academic journal level, studies are primarily concerned with issues of knowledge dissemination and transfer as well as journal quality and impacts [ 11 – 13 ]. Such studies are often used as guidelines to evaluate the quality of research output in academic institutions, make funding decisions, and help institutions formulate recommendations for tenure and promotion.

From the macro-level viewpoint of the academic field itself, which is the focus of this study, systematic examination of published scholarship is used to track evolution of the discipline, identify new trends and developments, point to gaps in knowledge and areas of inconsistency in research findings, suggest directions for future research, and, more generally, provide an up-to-date overview of the field [ 6 , 14 ]. For such a wide-ranging and diverse discipline as tourism, which is infused with contributions from various fields of inquiry, the analysis of its structural properties is of a particular value. Such analyses can outline not only current relationship dynamics of tourism with the ‘traditional’ study areas like sociology or marketing but also with more closely connected areas such as hospitality or leisure studies. For example, research by Cheng et al. [ 15 ] revealed that scholarly tourism journals have been diverging from leisure and well-being domain from which tourism research originated.

Evaluation of scholarly contributions in a particular field of study has social significance as well [ 7 , 15 ]. Two issues of social importance, in particular, have attracted attention from tourism researchers: geography and gender. Strong interest to these issues from the community of tourism scholars is manifested in conferences’ academic agendas, calls for papers for special journal issues, and recurring debates in professional networks such as TRINET. With respect to the geography issue, a long-standing concern has been the existing dominance of the Western perspective in tourism research and the underrepresentation of views not encompassed by the Western philosophical, social, and political tradition [ 16 , 17 ]. While geography typically represented by the first author’s institution cannot be equated with study’s perspective, viewpoint, or philosophy, the growing diversity in geography of tourism scholarship could serve as a feasible proxy.

Similarly, issues of gender parity in research, journal editorship, and education and administration have been brought into focus [ 18 , 19 ]. A recent issue of Anatolia journal, which is entirely devoted to the topic of gender in tourism academy, argues that “[g]iven that gender is so central to our identity formation and the structures of our societies, we question how it can be received as peripheral to the dominant discussions of the evolution of tourism knowledge and research production” [ 19 ]. In the articles tracking the scholastic achievement, the gender-related findings are typically reduced to the statements of women’s underrepresentation in the ‘most productive scholars’ lists (e.g., [ 20 ]). The direct tracing of the dynamics of gender representation in tourism scholarship has not yet been conducted. This is not surprising considering the variety of names from various corners of the world that are present in scholarly output and, until recently, the lack of methods to track the gender attribution of these names with high degree of confidence.

Recent developments in natural language processing and text mining allow analyses of voluminous data corpora that were not possible before. A document like an academic article deals with several issues at once and, thus, belongs to several subject areas, albeit with different ‘strength’ [ 21 , 22 ]. However, determining topical ‘strength’ has been a persistent problem in content analysis until very recently. The unsupervised classifiers such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) or Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and supervised classifiers such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), or Naïve Bayes deliver classification of documents into multiple categories, with category weights numerically expressed. Categories and their weights are discerned based on clusters of words that repeatedly co-occurred in textual segments, providing a more measured and objective classification. Further, with development of probabilistic methods of gender identification based on social network data mining and availability of online gender name-databases, the issue of gender identification in academic scholarship can be tackled with high degree of confidence. While text data mining methods have been percolating into tourism research (e.g., [ 23 , 24 ]), study utilizing text mining approaches for content analysis of unstructured data are still in single digits [ 25 – 27 ]. Thus, recent methodological developments paved the way to the analyses conducted in this study to determine as objectively as possible subject areas of tourism research and their evolution over more than 40 years, as well as geography and gender distribution of tourism scholarship.

2. Tourism scholarship: Literature review

In bibliographic studies, the ancillary information that accompanies each journal publication (e.g., year of publishing or number of citations) allows quick summaries, aggregation, and production of trends. The textual information, however, contained in the articles or their abstracts is more difficult to summarize and interpret. Studies that are concerned with subject areas of tourism research and/or developments in the field method-wise lean to one of the two main approaches: content analysis or quantitative relational analysis. Content analysis and its multiple variants include categorization of textual units using pre-specified or inductively derived lists of disciplinary foci, topical areas, keywords, or headwords, producing frequency counts with subsequent tabulation. The relational approach is an assemblage of quantitative techniques (e.g., co-citation analysis, network analysis) that compute similarity scores between units of analysis (e.g., articles or their authors) with subsequent clustering of those units and then visualize solutions with drafted networks of related articles/citations, scholars, and fields of study [ 6 , 10 , 28 ]. So far, the content analysis approach has been more popular with tourist researchers; however, relational techniques are gaining grounds with latest development in computational methods (see Table 1 ).

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.t001

2.1. Content analysis studies

An example of content analysis with pre-identified or inductively inferred categories would be Strandberg et al. [ 29 ] who evaluated scholarship published in journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research using 18 study areas provided by the journal itself as its scientific scope: “hospitality and tourism operations, marketing and consumer behavior, HR management, eTourism/eTravel. technology, planning and development, policy, performance and financial management, strategic implications, environmental aspects, forecasting and prediction, revenue management, impact assessment and mitigation, globalization, research methodologies, leisure and culture, risk management, and change management” (p. 9). The researchers added one more category, education, and coded 292 collected papers by their primary themes. Using three sequential 5-year periods, the authors were able to follow the dynamics of the primary themes in the journal scholarship.

Park et al. [ 30 ] identified 20 subject areas of tourism research published in six major tourism and hospitality journals (2,834 articles in total), drawing on previous studies and expert opinions. These areas included “attraction management; crisis and safety management; destination marketing and management; tourism development and residence perception; economic impact and econometrics; education; geographical issues; general marketing; image and branding; information technology; meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions, including festivals and fairs; tourism planning; politics, policy, legal, and governmental issues; supply chain management; market segmentation; special interests tourism; service management; sustainable tourism and eco-tourism; tourists’ perceptions and behavior; and other” (p. 384). Classification articles into these pre-established categories was conducted by checking their title, abstract, keywords, and, in some of the cases, the entire content of the paper.

Ballantyne et al.[ 32 ] examined 2,868 academic articles published in 12 major tourism journals from the list provided by McKercher et al. [ 12 ] for a 20-year period (1994–2004), categorizing them into 21 topical areas. The areas were inductively derived based on examination of randomly drawn 200 articles from the total pool: tourist/visitor studies; destinations; tourism planning; marketing; cultural tourism; economic issues; tourism impacts; tourism trends; tourism research issues & methods; hospitality; eco-tourism; sustainable development; special events; transport; management; human resource management; environmental interpretation; tourism policy; tourism education and training; business tourism; and sports and leisure (p. 150). ‘Manual’ approach to content analysis required the researchers to select a stratified random subsample of 144 articles in order to provide a more detailed analysis of research trends in top four subject areas and scholarship in top three journals.

An example of content analysis using ‘proxy’ data is demonstrated by Cheng et al. [ 15 ] who identified the disciplinary foci of 59 tourism-related journals and tracked changes over three time periods. Researchers evaluated 21 disciplinary foci provided in the Goeldner et al. [ 33 ] list (e.g., anthropology, psychology, sociology, economics, marketing, etc.), found the list insufficient, and added eight supplementary disciplinary focuses: cultural/heritage study; management and administration; finance; computer science/technology; gerontology; literature; medicine, and philosophy/religion. Then, journal mission statements were examined to identify the disciplinary areas on which each particular journal was focusing. At this step, researchers followed the protocol of content analysis and calculated the inter-rater agreement. The final counts were used to illustrate growth of tourism-related disciplinary foci over time.

2.2. Relational techniques

As can be seen from the discussed examples, the content analysis approach and its results are dependent on the researcher’s individual perspective in selecting categories for coding. Further, since the coding involves human raters, the more complex the system of categories is, the more difficult it is to maintain the efficiency of the analysis and the adequate inter-rater reliability. Journal articles are multidimensional textual units, but raters must force them into a specific topical category, introducing another source of bias based on raters’ preferences. One of the ways to escape the problem with uni-dimensionality would be to use an article’s ‘tagging words’ provided by the authors themselves (keywords) or by the journal (headwords). Thus, Swain et al. [ 31 ] identified subject areas of papers published in Annals of Tourism Research based on headwords taken from the journal’s subject index. Top ten out of 1,830 headwords were: impacts; organizations; development; research & development; United States; Third World; tourism; international tourism; planning; transport; tourism, study of; hotel; and conferences [ 31 ]. The words were interpreted as indicative of topical research interests.

Similarly, Xiao and Smith [ 14 ] used the Annals’ subject index to discern the knowledge domains in the journal papers. Fifty-two headwords were identified that represented eight subject areas which citation frequencies were rising: “typology of tourists, community and development, alternative experience/product, sociocultural aspects and change, geopolitical regions/focus, literature/research/methods, marketing and management, and environment” (p. 496). Twenty-seven headwords were grouped into nine categories of decreasing popularity: “economics, industry and transportation, hospitality, recreation, impacts, North America, tourism (in a conventional/narrow sense), Third World, and sociology” (p. 496). The authors, however, acknowledged that the keyword and headword analyses provided inconsistent results, highlighting the subjectivity of the selected tagging words, as well as a large amount of subjective reasoning involved in aggregating the tagging words into larger themes or categories [ 31 ].

The information that is common to any two articles, whether it is keywords, headwords, authors, or references, allows for producing measures of similarity that can serve as a foundation for quantitative relational techniques. For example, co-citation analysis is based on the idea that the more cited works the two particular articles share, the closer these two articles are conceptually [ 28 ]. Yuan et al. [ 6 ] employed a modification of co-citation analysis, which they named bibliographic coupling: “Quantitatively speaking, the more common references two papers cite, the more closely the two papers relate to each other and the higher its BC strength” (p. 5). The articles were clustered based on the similarity scores but cluster labeling, that is, identification of subject areas, involved reading titles and abstracts of articles in the individual clusters. To facilitate spotting topics for each cluster, text data mining approach was employed [ 34 ]; it generated the top five terms for each cluster for further labeling by two tourism field experts.

With more relevance to the goal of this particular paper, Mazanec [ 26 ] tested whether LDA and SVM text data mining methods can detect change in the language of tourism research in order to answer a broad question of “whether, over the decades, the study of tourism has changed focus and touched on new issues or has been largely reiterating traditional viewpoints” [ 26 ]. The study found statistically significant temporal differences in frequencies of identified word groups; however, the study did not interpret these word groups in terms of research topics, or subject areas and advocated pursuing the scientific issue of text mining further to detect the reasons and contents of change. With this in mind, the study identified three specific research questions for investigation: (1) What are the subject areas in tourism research from its inception in the early 1970s to the present day and their temporal dynamics? (2) Where did tourism research develop and what is the spatial dynamics of its geography? (3) What is the gender of tourism scholarship and its temporal distribution? The study aims at objective and reliable identification of spatiotemporal distributions of tourism subject areas, geography, and gender using published tourism scholarship as the primary data source. The study selected LDA as a text mining method, which is described in section 3.2.

3.1 Data collection

We collected abstracts from the “Big Three” [ 35 ] tourism journals: Annals of Tourism Research ( ATR ), Journal of Travel Research ( JTR ), and Tourism Management (together with its predecessor, the International Journal of Tourism Management ) ( TM ) for a period of more than 40 years. These three foremost journals in the tourism field have maintained their leading positions for a long time, as confirmed by their journal rankings ( www.scimagojr.com ), impact factors, citation indices, and published literature reviews [ 5 , 7 , 12 , 13 , 35 , 36 ]. They can be viewed as analogous to ‘prestige press’ newspapers in political, media, and communication studies that act as trendsetters in the field of tourism research [ 8 , 10 , 14 , 26 , 31 , 37 , 38 ]. Abstracts rather than whole documents were selected as the most precise and concise representation of articles’ essence, including its subject area.

All the abstracts stored in the Scopus publication database for these three journals were downloaded, resulting in 8,890 article abstracts with publication dates ranging from 1974 until August 2017. Note that the publication date may differ from the date an article becomes available to readers. Standard procedures of data quality control were then applied (e.g., [ 39 ]). First, changing data formatting issues were resolved. Then, abstracts from other journals accidentally included in the database and duplicate entries were removed, resulting in 7,427 articles. Of these entries, 6,110 papers included abstracts ( ATR : 1,676 abstracts; JTR : 1,413 abstracts; and TM : 3,021 abstracts). The entries with missing abstracts mainly represented editorials, reviews, and similar publications; also note that the practice of requiring the abstracts was not yet firmly established at the beginning of the search period. Those entries without abstracts were used in the geographical and gender trend analysis, but not in the subject area content analysis.

Collected publication metadata contained the following information: publication ID in Scopus database; ISSN; title; date, volume, issue, and number of pages of the publication; name and affiliation of the first author; and the number of papers citing the publication. The author affiliation field was missing for 6.3% of entries, the author’s name was missing in 0.9%, and all other fields were missing in less than 0.1% of entries. Fig 1 shows the temporal distribution of collected data. Only the first author’s name was present in Scopus database; thus, all 7,427 papers, including those with missing abstracts, were then processed through Microsoft Academic Search to extract the records for the remaining authors. This search identified 7,045 papers; 382 papers were not present in the Microsoft publication database.

Note that the reduced number of article in 2009 is not a data collection artifact: compare Tourism Management volume 28 (2007, 1592 pages), volume 30 (2009, 936 pages) and 32 (2011, 1496 pages). The solid line represents the total number of journal papers in Scopus database with and without the abstracts.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.g001

3.2 Content analysis with LDA

The Latent Dirichlet Allocation method (LDA) [ 40 ] models a collection of documents where each document contains multiple topics (latent variables) represented through its words (observed variables). The LDA approach then attempts to find latent topics based on the distribution of the observed words over the documents. The LDA model was successfully used to extract content from the abstracts of papers published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science [ 41 ]. Talley et al. [ 42 ] used a similar method to extract the topics from ca. 80,000 grant proposals that received awards form the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Sugimoto et al. [ 43 ] applied LDA to the titles and abstracts of doctoral dissertations defended in library and information science with the goal of extracting dominant topics and identifying changes in the field over time. In the applied sciences, Moro et al. [ 44 ] analyzed the full texts of business intelligence publications with LDA and identified research trends and prospective research topics in the field. Sing et al. [ 45 ] used LDA to process over 25,000 abstracts from medical journals to identify research topics related to spinal care. Zhang et al. [ 46 ] used LDA to extract the topics from the abstracts of medical and biomedical papers published by 20 leading UK universities with the overall goal of estimating the “newsworthiness” of research in respective areas for the general mass media.

Extracting the subject areas of publications from the collected abstracts and examining their spatial and temporal variability was achieved by performing an automated search for similar patterns of words appearing in different documents. Formally, we constructed a probabilistic model of the abstracts collection through a Bayesian analysis of their texts. The analysis included the following steps, as outlined in [ 47 ]. Steps 1–8 were performed with the RapidMiner data mining platform [ 48 ], while Step 9 was performed with a program written in Python using an open-source Python LDA package ( http://pythonhosted.org/lda ):

Tokenization: breaking the sentences into discrete words and word combinations;
Part-of-speech (POS) tagging: marking each word in the sentence according to the corresponding part of speech;
Removal of stop words: elimination of common words (such as “the”) in the English language that are irrelevant in identifying the specific themes appearing in the texts. The stop words include prepositions, articles, pro-nouns and other frequent words that are equally likely to be present in documents from different topics. We used the Porter stop word list supplied with RapidMiner platform and then a custom stop list ( S2 File );
POS-based text reduction: elimination of all words other than those tagged as “noun” or “adjective”. Different types of automated text analysis concentrate on words from different POSs (e.g., adjectives are useful for sentiment analysis); however, topical analysis is primarily based on the texts’ nouns. It has been shown (e.g., [ 49 ]) that eliminating all other POS words improves article topic extraction. We found, however, that the inclusion of adjectives (e.g., “historical”, “authentic”, etc.) improves topic recognition in tourism related texts;
Stemming: reducing inflected words to their word roots, performed using the Porter stemmer [ 50 ];
Bigram collection: joining sequential tokens. Bigrams allow an analysis based on a group of words as opposed to a single word. For example, a documents containing words “tourism industry” would produce two unigram tokens: "tourism" and "industry" and one bigram: “tourism_industry”;
Synonym replacement: merging words with identical meanings such as “tourism industry" and "tourist industry". See S2 File for the synonym list;
Co-occurrence matrix creation: First, all words left in the documents are joined into a global dictionary containing N words. Then, each document is represented by an N-dimensional vector based on the presence or absence of a specific word from the dictionary in that document. Then, a co-occurrence matrix is formed by the vectors representing all documents. Three different schema of co-occurrence matrix creation were explored: binary term occurrence, term occurrence—inverse document occurrence (TF/IDF), and term occurrence. The term occurrence schema was selected because it returned the most consistent topics.
Topic extraction with LDA. We used the latent Dirichlet allocation using Gibbs sampling Python package ( https://github.com/lda-project/lda ).
Interpretation of words from identified latent topics as tourism concepts belonging to a particular subject area in tourism research.

The issues of selecting the number of topics (K) and values of the model parameters α and β are related to step 9 of LDA application. The formal method of selecting K value based on maximization of a model fit metrics (such as log likelihood) has been criticized in the literature for returning a very large number of topics, many of which are not semantically meaningful (e.g., see the influential paper by a team of researchers from Facebook, University of Maryland, and Princeton University [ 51 ]). Instead, it has been suggested that model selection should focus on topic interpretability because “there is no gold-standard list of topics to compare against for every [textual data] corpus” [ 51 ]. Subsequently, we processed the abstracts by extracting K latent topics, varying K from 10 to 30, and manually evaluating the extracted topics each time. We found that higher K values tended to return topics with similar content. In contrast, lower values of K tended to return very complex topics. Based on this preliminary analysis and following the recommendations in [ 51 ], we selected K value of 14.

Two other model parameters, α and β, define the theoretical distribution of topics over the documents. A literature review showed that the commonly accepted values are α ≈ 0.1 and β = [0.01, 0.1] (e.g., [ 41 ]), with a lower α returning fewer dominant topics per document and a lower β returning topics with less similarity. Accordingly, we selected α = 0.1 and β = 0.01. To validate the β selection, we additionally ran the model with the values β = 0.05 and β = 0.1 but found only insignificant changes in the topics expressed as a slightly higher degree of topic intersection.

4.1 Subject areas: What is being published?

The analysis of the abstracts resulted in a 14-topic solution, in which each topic was represented by multiple words with different weights. By consulting the original abstracts in the database for each topical cluster, the interpretive concepts for subject areas were identified. Then, these concepts were joined under one “umbrella” name. To provide an example, the ten most representative words for topic 5 were service , satisfaction , quality , value , relationship , attribute , custom , intention , brand , and airline ( Table 2 ). The interpretive concepts were identified as follows: customer satisfaction; service quality; purchase intention; value; and product attributes . These concepts were joined under the subject area ‘service quality and satisfaction’. To illustrate the result in more detail, we created a supplementary S1 File , which provides representative abstracts from the database that obtained the highest scores on their respective subject areas. The abstract with the highest score for the subject area "service quality and satisfaction" is presented below (1000 is the maximum score).

“In highly competitive markets , customer satisfaction is a key driver of performance , making its measurement and management crucial . Most studies on customer satisfaction take an aggregate standpoint and do not consider segment-specific differences in attribute importance . In this article , the authors report on customer satisfaction with alpine ski resorts . They hypothesize that personal , situational , and product factors moderate the relationship between attribute performance and overall satisfaction . The results show that these factors indeed influence the attribute-performance-satisfaction relationship . Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed . ” (Score: 892; abstract # 42449160073.)

Each topic is represented by multiple terms; only the first ten words with the highest weights are included. Note that the original terms were represented by word roots; the terms were converted to representative nouns and adjectives to improve readability.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.t002

The temporal dynamics of popularity of any single subject area (as a share of the entire volume) changes across time ( Fig 2 ). For example, subject area ‘tourism demand’ (# 11) falls in popularity, while the popularity of ‘service quality and satisfaction’ (#5) increases. The comparative interest in the issues of sustainable tourism (# 13) and tourism and local communities (# 14) remains relatively constant. Overall, at present, across all three journals, the issues represented by subject areas ‘tourism as a social phenomenon’ (# 1), ‘service quality and satisfaction’ (# 5), and ‘tourist experience and motivation’ (# 8) are slightly more popular compared to the issues emphasized by other areas.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.g002

The results ( Table 3 , Fig 3 ) indicate that some of the identified topics are common to all three journals, while others are more journal-specific. According to LDA analysis, ATR is highly interested in studies that view tourism as a social phenomenon and involve a variety of disciplinary perspectives. This is quite consistent with the journal self-identification as a “social sciences journal focusing upon the academic perspectives of tourism. In this role, ATR is structured by the research efforts of a multidisciplinary community of scholars” [ 36 ]. Subject area of tourism as a social phenomenon, which draws heavily on theoretical developments in anthropology and sociology and heavily involves qualitative methods of analysis, is published disproportionately more often in ATR . LDA analysis identified the higher interest of TM in the issues related to tourism industry and tourism demand, as compared to the other two publications, consistent with TM orientation as an outlet “concerned with the planning and management of travel and tourism” [ 36 ]. JTR “focuses on travel and tourism behavior, management and development… with diversity in research topics and methodologies” [ 36 ]. In analysis, JTR emerged as a well-rounded journal topic-wise that demonstrates more interest in modeling and forecasting than do the other two journals and publishes more conference announcements, primarily for the TTRA annual conference.

The areas are numbered as follows: 1: Tourism as a social phenomenon; 2: Image and risk; 3: Attractions; 4: Tourism industry; 5: Service quality and satisfaction; 6: Modeling and forecasting; 7: Conferences; 8: Tourist experience and motivation; 9: Market segmentation; 10: Decision making process; 11: Tourism demand; 12: Governing tourism development; 13: Sustainable tourism; 14: Local communities.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.g003

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.t003

4.2 Geography: Where do they publish from?

We used the first author’s affiliation data to discern the geographical pattern of tourism research. In total, the tourism journals published papers led by authors from 83 countries ( Table 4 ). Fig 4 shows the change in the relative number of papers published in various countries over time. Note that the figure shows only countries from which at least 1% of the overall paper volume within the study period was published, or at least 3% of the number of papers within any sequential 5-year period. All other countries are merged into the “Other” category. Note also that while the affiliation was missing in only 6.3% of the papers, the distribution of the missing papers over time was not uniform. At the beginning of the research period (up to 1995), the percentage of papers with missing affiliations in each year was high (mean = 18%). However, in 1996 and beyond, the percentage of missing affiliations was sharply reduced (mean = 1%). In Fig 4 , the papers with missing affiliations are ignored.

Publication country is defined from the affiliation of the first author. The countries shown have at least 1% of the total number of publications or at least 3% of publications in any 5-yeat period. To smooth over temporal variability, the figure shows 5-year running mean.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.g004

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.t004

The distribution pattern in Fig 4 and the numbers from Table 4 indicate that articles from the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada account for a large portion of tourism scholarship, especially in the beginning of the study period. However, their relative combined output dropped from 64% in 1978–1987 to 43% in 2008–2017, while scholarship from countries such as Mainland China, Spain, and Taiwan grew noticeably. In particular, Mainland China increased its output from 1% in 1978–1987 to 5% in 2008–2017, or even more if we look only at the last few years depicted in Fig 4 . It is also worth noting that the Other category ( Table 4 ) accounts for 19% of the total scholarly output in the last period, compared to 6% at the beginning. The Other category includes 70 countries, of which the ten largest contributors are Austria, Norway, France, Portugal, Sweden, Germany, Macao, Switzerland, Singapore, and Greece. The authors also visualized dynamics of geographical representation of various world regions (by the location of the first author’s institution) in tourism studies, using, for contrast, the earliest (1972–1987) and latest (2007–2017) periods ( Fig 5 ). The expansion to Asian, Middle East, African, and South American regions is clearly visible.

The color scale indicates percentage of papers coming from a specific country; papers with unknown authors’ affiliation are not taken into account. Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao are presented separately, following Scopus database format.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.g005

4.3 Gender: Who is publishing?

The authors’ gender was identified from their first names using the Genderize.io software, which predicts the probability of a specific name to belong to a certain gender from statistics extracted from social network accounts. For example, Genderize.io has 763 people whose first name is ‘Kim’ in its database; of these, 687 are females. Hence, the estimated probability of a person with the first name ‘Kim’ being a female is 90%. Only the authors whose gender was identified with at least 0.6 probability were retained; the rest of the authors were excluded, which resulted in 5,591 unique authors, including 3,064 unique first authors (which constitutes 79% / 80%, respectively, of the authors/first authors identified through Microsoft Academic search). The authors whose gender could not be clearly identified were mainly (1) those where the Microsoft Academic database included only initials, and (2) those with names from China. We speculate that the latter bias relates to the way the Genderize.io database was built: the gender was extracted from social network registration records. Because Chinese nationals are restricted in their use of the major international social networks such as Twitter and Facebook by the legislative and technological actions, the Genderize.io Chinese name base might be limited.

The results indicate that the percentage of papers authored by male tourism researchers has fallen steadily throughout the study period, from 93% in the 1970s to 60% in the 2010s ( Table 5 , column Total). The percentage of male scholars as first authors showed similar dynamics, falling from 93% in the 1970s to 57% in the 2010s ( Table 5 , column Male First Authors). The corresponding yearly dynamics are shown in Fig 6 ; note that the figure starts from 1976 to include only those years in which the genders of at least 20 first authors could be identified. Overall, through the years all journals display the same trend of increased share of female tourism scholarship, both within the authorship team and as the first author.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.g006

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.t005

5. Discussion

Using a text mining approach, namely, Latent Dirichlet Allocation, the study identifies 14 subject areas in tourism scholarship from more than four decades of research. It concludes that LDA is sensitive enough to detect interpretable topics and their trends in large volumes of textual material. Drawing on Mazanec [ 26 ], the study contributes to tourism literature by extending methods for identification of subject areas from tracking separate words as indicators of research interest [ 14 , 31 ] to deriving latent topics via text mining algorithms. The findings indicate that the identified subject areas have been in existence for the whole period of analysis, yet fluctuations in interest to those research topics have been detected. It is important to notice that the existence of the same topics during 40 years does not mean that no innovations have occurred in how researchers address pertinent issues of these areas in terms of conceptual foundations, methods of analysis, or geographical context. A more finely granulated analysis would allow identification of more specific and detailed areas of study, as topics can fragment into sub-themes when different parameters for the analysis are chosen.

The most noticeable fluctuations in relative shares of the 14 identified knowledge domains ( Fig 4 ) reflect the growing interest of researchers to the tourist as an individual, rather than tourism industry as a system. This interest transcends in such topics as tourist experience and motivation (topic 8) as well as service quality and satisfaction (topic 5). All three journals, ATR, JTR, and TM, capture this interest to individual tourist experiences, while primarily JTR and TM reflect interest to issues of quality and satisfaction ( Table 3 ). The studies of tourism from the macro perspectives of Tourism industry (topic 4), Modeling and forecasting (topic 6), Market segmentation (topic 9), Governing tourism development (topic 12) demonstrate a steady performance or, as is the case with Tourism demand (topic 11), decreases throughout the years. It is still a question how much the identified dynamics are due to the actual interest of researchers in a particular knowledge domain and how much it is reflective of the “Big Three” journal policies and preferences. One has to bear in mind that four decades ago there were much fewer tourism journals than now; therefore, less “generalistic” and more “specialty” journals like for example Journal of Sustainable Tourism , Tourism Geographies , or Tourism Economics may have drawn towards themselves research on particular topics since they were established. However, since new journals have been created in all the areas of tourism studies in the considered time frame, if is not possible to numerically estimate the influence of their topical distribution to the study findings.

With respect to geographical dynamics of tourism scholarship, the findings indicate that it has been expanding (Figs 4 and 5 ). In Table 4 , the Other category contains a large share of countries, including Macao, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Africa, India, Cyprus, Brazil, Poland, Thailand, and many others that are culturally different from the ‘collective West’ countries of the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and Western Europe [ 52 ]. This expansion does not necessarily mean that a non-Western perspective is expanding as well, since authors from non-Western cultures can adopt a Western worldview, but encouraging nevertheless. Further, the identified themes mostly reflect tourism as an industry, emphasizing marketization and segmentation, management issues, demand and consumption, and hedonic orientation and are largely associated with the Western perspective in the studies of tourism [ 16 ]. It also seems that alternative, non-consumption-oriented themes are predominantly reflected in studies classified under the topics ‘tourism as a social phenomenon’ and ‘sustainable tourism.’ To verify this assumption, we examined LDA classifications of three articles presented by Higgins-Desbiolles [ 16 ] as reflecting a non-Western perspective on tourism: [ 53 – 55 ].

Inayatullah [ 55 ] addresses an Islamic outlook on tourism as haji , where “travel or the accumulation of wisdom, ilm , is the essence of Islam. Travelling, visiting wise people, finding holy sites, was an integral part of life” (p. 411). The LDA solution classified this paper as sustainable tourism (446), tourism as a social phenomenon (291), tourism experience and motivation (145), and conferences (145) (the weights shown in parentheses total 1,000). Berno [ 54 ] studies how Polynesian people from the Cook Islands engaged with tourism and integrated it into their value system. The article was classified as tourism as a social phenomenon (319), tourist experience and motivation (296), sustainable tourism (182), tourism industry (136), and governing tourism development (65). Finally, the article by Allcock and Przeclawski [ 53 ] is an introduction to an ATR thematic edition on tourism in centrally planned economies; it does not have an abstract and, therefore, was not classified. Consequently, we analyzed another paper [ 56 ] by the same first author found in our database. This paper addressed the potential of planned economies for tourism development and was classified as sustainable tourism (234), governing tourism development (214), tourism as a social phenomenon (112), tourism industry (112), tourism demand (88), service quality and satisfaction (65), image and risk (57), tourist experience and motivation (54), market segmentation (30), and conferences (29). The only three topics with zero weights were attractions, modeling and forecasting, and local communities. As evidenced by the provided examples, the assignment into topics is quite solid.

Gender wise, the study has shown that the presence of female scholarship in the body of tourism research has been steadily increasing throughout the years. This finding is consistent across several methods used. Moreover, the citations analysis does not indicate that currently the works by female authors are lesser sited ( Table 5 ). The authors want to note, however, that these results by themselves do not support or refute any claim or statement regarding whether the parity between male and female representation in tourism academia, research, or leadership has been reached [ 19 ]. However, the social progress through the years has been clearly demonstrated by the analysis, together with the positive developments in geographic location of research contributors. These two findings, together with identification of dominant subject areas in tourism research in an objective way via text mining methods are considered the main contributions of the article to the tourism literature.

5.1. Limitations and future research

It might seem that the solution is highly dependent on number K of topics chosen. However, in the authors’ experience, it is not so. The range of 10–30 solutions was examined, and, while some of the key words were re-distributed across the topics, the main themes were nevertheless present in the solution. It should also be noted that deriving a large number of topics introduces redundancy in interpretation that may be less convenient for making summaries [ 51 ]. Yet, using a larger number of topics is possible, as shown by Kirilenko and Stepchenkova [ 57 ] who employed principal component analysis to identify themes in public discourse on climate change. Importantly, the LDA approach demonstrated in this paper is scalable. Researchers can select a theme of interest, identify articles that pertain most strongly to this theme, and conduct LDA on that textual corpus to obtain various subtopics of the theme. Furthermore, when researchers know what words they want to track, they can easily do so; for example, it is quite possible to track the dynamics of SEM analysis, sentiment analysis, or some other method in tourism studies.

As can be seen from the examples in the preceding section, some topics have less “face validity” than others, namely, the topic labeled as ‘conferences’. To understand this issue better, note that the authors did not ‘sift through’ the abstracts downloaded from the Scopus database; therefore, not only research articles but other materials such as conference announcements and reports are also present in the database. The decision to keep these materials in the database was based on the following reasons: 1) ‘weeding out’ is largely a manual procedure [ 5 ] that is inherently subjective and hence to some degree negates the use of mostly automatic classification; 2) the share of such materials in the total textual corpus is small (our estimation is under six percent); and (3) these materials, while structurally different from research articles, also signal topical interest in tourism as a field of study.

Finally, this research is limited to the "Big Three" tourism journals: the most reputable, highly cited journals with a long history. Because of that, we presumed these journals to be representative of tourism- related literature. However, this might have made our results dependent to some degree on the methodological preferences of these journals’ editorial boards (e.g., for a hypothesis-driven as opposed to a data driven research such as one used as this paper). That raises a possibility of some cutting-edge tourism research topics shifting to other journals, escaping our analysis. One possible example of such topic would be climate change impact on tourism, which is mainly published in Journal of Sustainable Tourism or in high-ranking non-tourism journals such as Climatic Change. A wider data sample would present a clearer picture of the emerging topics and their contribution to overall tourism scholarship.

Supporting information

S1 file. publication data used in this research..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.s001

S2 File. Stop words and synonym dictionary.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206820.s002

View Article
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Tourism and Hospitality Dissertation Topics

Published by Grace Graffin at January 10th, 2023 , Revised On May 2, 2024

Introduction

As a tourism student, you will be required to study the basics of tourism, hospitality, and event management. Some important issues surrounding tourism include but are not limited to medicine, finance, culture, geography, and more.

We understand that choosing the right dissertation topic can be a bit overwhelming for you. Therefore, our writers have provided a comprehensive list of topics for the tourism dissertation. These topics are recent, relevant, and exploratory enough for you to conduct a comprehensive research study.

We can even customise topics according to your needs. So, go through our list of dissertation topics, choose the one that interests you, and let us know if you would like any help from our writers.

Check our dissertation example to get an idea of how to structure your dissertation .

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Topic 1: online tourism agents and websites.

Research Aim: This research aims to study online tourism websites and travelling agents

Topic 2: Advances in Tourism and Hospitality Post-pandemic

Research Aim: This research aims to assess the advances in Tourism and Hospitality post-pandemic

Topic 3: Impacts of Social Distancing on Tourism Managements

Research Aim: This research aims to study the impacts of social distancing on tourism managements

Topic 4: Advances in Hotel Management Post-pandemic

Research Aim: This research aims to assess advances in Hotel management post-pandemic

Topic 5: The Linguistic Roots of the Word “Hospitality” across Different Languages

Research Aim: This research investigates the linguistic roots of the word hospitality across different languages and the semantic shifts over time.

Topic 6: The Relationship Between the Host and the Guest

Research Aim: This research explores the relationship between the host and the guest and how both need to act under laws and regulations.

Economic Conditions and Local Tourism Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: factors impacting destination selection for medical tourism.

Research Aim: Medical tourism is a growing trend. An increasing number of people travel to another country, seeking medical treatment which is expensive or unavailable on their own. Various factors impact the destination selection process for medical treatment purposes. The destination can be local or international. With limited evidence on the factors that impact destination selection for medical tourism, there is a need for a comprehensive study exploring these factors in detail.

Topic 2: Impact of Low budget Airline Services on Boosting International Tourism in Europe: A Case Study of Ryanair.

Research Aim: With increasing costs of air travelling, the demand for low-budget airline services is on the rise. Ryanair is one of the leading low-budget airline services based in the UK. Its cheap air tickets attract many regular travellers. Given this, the main aim of this research will be to explore whether or not low-budget airlines are actually helping to increase international tourism in Europe or not. This research will be conducted based on quantitative data which will be collected from a sample of Ryanair international tourism travellers.

Topic 3: Eco-friendly Practices and Their Effect on Hotel Selection Decision: A Case Study of UK Hospitality Industry.

Research Aim: Various technologies can be implemented to achieve eco-friendliness, such as; internet of things, automation technology, bamboo industrialisation, and sustainable building construction. On the other hand, eco-friendly practices include; water and energy conservation, renewable energy use, waste recycling and management, alternative plastic products, and more. Many hotels in the UK install solar panels and automated systems, which generate renewable energy and ensure complete automation for lights and water. It is worth evaluating how eco-friendly technologies and practices affect the hotel selection decision of guests in the UK hospitality industry.

Topic 4: How Economic Conditions of a Country Impact its Local Tourism: Identifying the Economic Factors Influencing the Tourism Sector.

Research Aim: Economic factors have a great impact on tourism. When a country is economically strong, it spends a great deal on tourism development. On the other hand, tourism could be adversely affected if a country is struggling with its finances. This research aims to investigate and critically analyse the economic factors which tend to affect the tourism sector of a country. The study will also weigh the economic upsides and downsides of these factors concerning local tourism.

Topic 5: Assessing the Impact of Social Media Platforms on Tourism Destination Selection.

Research Aim: These days, social media websites play a tremendous role for tourists in destination selection. The experiences and reviews that people share on online social platforms have a huge impact on making or breaking the future of any tourist destination. This research will analyze the role of different social media platforms in choosing tourism destinations among tourists. This research will also shed light on the rationale and factors people rely on social media to select their tourism destination.

Topic 6: Assessing the Impact of Government Rules, Regulations, and Policies on Tourism Development: A Case Study of Developing Countries.

Research Aim: The tourism sector of any country is greatly looked after by governmental and regulatory bodies. This research will analyze the role played by such bodies from the perspective of policymaking and regulation implementation. The study will also explore how the impact of policymaking and government regulations in developed countries might be different from that of developing countries.

Topic 7: Analysing the Impact of Natural Hazaresearch will measure the customer satisfaction of British lesbians after they have undergone gender reassignment at the Yanhee International Hospital in Bangkok.

Research Aim: Natural hazards can have a disastrous effect on the tourism industry of any country. The UK is one of the countries where the tourism industry has experienced huge success. Thus, this research will be carried out to analyze the impact of such hazards on the UK’s tourism sector.

Topic 8: Assessing the Factors and Preferences Impacting Tourist's Decisions to Travel to a Dark Tourism Site.

Research Aim: As a result of a shift in preferences of tourists and an urge to explore and learn, dark tourism has gained immense popularity and success in recent times. This research will explore the factors and reasons why tourists choose dark places as their tourism destination.

Topic 9: The Impact of Travel Bloggers and vloggers on the Tourism Industry.

Research Aim: Travel bloggers and vloggers are an important part of the tourism industry now. These people travel the world, document their experiences through their writing or videos, and influence people. Tourists throughout the world now depend on their reviews and choose their travel destinations accordingly. This research will aim to explore how these influencers have completely changed the tourism industry.

Educational Tourism Dissertation Topics

Tourism has gained tremendous popularity among academicians and researchers in recent times. Educational tourism primarily takes into consideration technical competencies and new knowledge gained outside the classroom environment.

Educational tourism brings to light the idea of travelling to learn about the cultures of other nations. Exchange student programmes are perhaps the most commonly employed educational tourism strategy, allowing students to learn about the culture of the host nation through research work and travel. Possible areas of research in this field of tourism for your dissertation are provided below;

Topic 1: Educational Tourism Programmes and the Popularity of Host Nations

Research Aim: This research will discuss the educational exchange programmes in detail and will also assess how educational tourism can add to the appeal of the host nations for prospective tourists.

Topic 2: Factors Affecting the Decision of British Students to Join International Student Exchange Programmes.

Research Aim: Even though student exchange programmes are popular throughout the world, there are certain countries where they are practised the most. This research will study one such country, the UK, concerning the factors that encourage British students to join international exchange programmes.

Topic 3: Factors Contributing Towards the Success of Work & Study Programmes in the UK

Research Aim: This research will analyse the factors that contribute towards the success of study programmes in the UK, i.e. benefits of studying in the UK and the attractiveness of the UK as a place to live and study.

Topic 4: To Analyse the Satisfaction of International Students Enrolled in Student Exchange Programmes in the UK

Research Aim: This research will cover an important topic, i.e., measure the satisfaction of international students enrolled in exchange programs in the UK – the same topic can be used for any other country such as the USA or Canada.

Topic 5: To Investigate Potential Marketing and Communication Tools to Promote “any country” as the Best Place to Pursue Higher Education.

Research Aim: This research will investigate and conclude the most successful marketing and communication tools that are used to promote exchange programmes in a particular country. The topic can be customised according to the country of your choice.

Topic 6: What are the factors Influencing British Students’ Decision to Join Academic Year Exchange Programme in Japan?

Research Aim: Japan is one of the most popular destinations when it comes to student exchange programmes. This research will assess the factors that influence a British student’s decision to go to Japan to pursue education.

Topic 7: To Examine the Popularity of Student Exchange Programmes Offered by Chinese-speaking Countries.

Research Aim: This research will explore the reasons for the popularity of student exchange programmes in countries where Chinese is the official language such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, etc.

Topic 8: To Investigate the Attitude and Perception of British Students toward Summer Camps.

Research Aim: Summer camps are extremely popular in the west. This research will explore the perceptions of British students towards summer camps and what motivates them to attend them.

Topic 9: Factors Affecting the Decision of University Students to Pursue a Placement Programme in the US?

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand the rationale of university students’ decisions to pursue placement programmes in the US,

Topic 10: To Examine the Satisfaction of University Students Returning from Cultural Exchange Programmes in the US.

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand the satisfaction of university students who are on their way back from exchange programmes in the US.

Medical Tourism Dissertation Topics

Medical tourism is a new area of study in the tourism industry. The gap in the prices of medical facilities available in developing and developed countries is significant, propelling many patients to travel to far destinations to benefit from economic, medical services.

Similarly, many financially well-off patients decide to have medical treatment in foreign countries with advanced and established medical systems that provide state-of-the-art medical facilities unavailable in their home countries.

Although there may be insufficient secondary data to analyse this tourism sub-topic, researching this area will prove to be interesting. You can choose your medical tourism dissertation topics from this list.

Topic 1: Investigating the Reasons Why British Citizens Travel to Different Countries for their Dental Procedures

Research Aim: This research will identify and discuss in detail the reasons why British citizens travel to different countries for dental treatment.

Topic 2: The efficacy of marketing and communication tools employed by Thai plastic surgery and extreme makeover service providers – An investigation into the attitude and perception of British travellers.

Research Aim: A large number of British citizens travel to Thailand for cosmetic and plastic surgeries. This research will aim to understand the attitudes and perceptions of British travellers who opt for these surgeries in a foreign country. The research will also assess the marketing and communication tools employed by Thai medical service providers.

Topic 3: To Identify and Discuss Critical Marketing Strategies to Promote a Weight Loss Centre in the UK.

Research Aim: This research will talk about the marketing strategies that are undertaken in the UK to promote weight loss centres.

Topic 4: Measuring Customer satisfaction of British Lesbians After Having Sex Reassignment at Yanhee International Hospital, Bangkok

Research Aim: This research will measure the customer satisfaction of British lesbians after they have undergone gender reassignment at the Yanhee International Hospital in Bangkok.

Topic 5: To Examine the Factors Influencing the Decisions of British Women to Buy Body Contour Tour Packages in East Asia.

Research Aim: This study will analyze the factors that influence the decision-making of British women when burying body contour tour packages in East Asia.

Topic 6: To Investigate the Extent to Which Swiss Weight Control Tour Packages Have Influenced Women in the UK.

Research Aim: This research will focus on the decision-making detriments of British Women who opt to purchase weight control tour packages in Switzerland.

Topic 7: How Young British Females Perceive Facial Lifting package Tours in East Asia?

Research Aim: This study will analyze how young British females perceive facial lifting package tours in East Asia.

Topic 8: To Understand and Discuss the Factors Affecting Buying Decisions to Benefit from Extreme Makeover Tour Packages in Eastern Europe.

Research Aim: This research will critically explore the factors that influence the buying decision of customers who purchase extreme makeover packages from Eastern Europe.

Topic 9: How Attractive are the Plastic Surgery Makeover Services to Female British Customers – A Qualitative Study

Research Aim: This research will understand and analyze the attractiveness of plastic surgery makeover services that influence British females to purchase them. The research will be descriptive in nature.

Topic 10: How Homosexual Men Choose Medical Tour Packages for Sex Reassignment.

Research Aim: This study will investigate gender reassignment tour packages that interest homosexual men and the factors influencing their decision-making process.

Tourism Management Dissertation Topics

Tourism management is perhaps the most interesting area of the tourism industry. It mainly involves travelling for the purpose of leisure and recreation. People travelling to other countries and outside their usual environment with the intent of leisure can be classified as tourists.

It should be noted that the phenomenon of tourism has grown tremendously in recent years, thanks to the impact of globalisation. There are many countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Maldives, and Fiji, whose largest source of income is tourism. In these countries, tourism generates huge revenue for the government and also provides employment opportunities for the working class as well as businesses.

The suggestions below can help you to narrow your research for your tourism dissertation.

Topic 1: How British Tourists Perceive Chinese World Heritage Tour – A Qualitative Study

Research Aim: This research will focus on how British tourists perceive Chinese heritage and what compels them to visit China.

Topic 2: Exploring the Factors that Make London the Most Popular Destination for Christmas Shopping

Research Aim: This research will analyse and explore the various factors that promote London as one of the most attractive destinations for Christmas shopping.

Topic 3: Investigating the Underlying Factors that British Citizens Consider when Choosing a Destination for Their Winter Holidays.

Research Aim: This research will analyse the various factors that British citizens consider and evaluate when choosing a destination for their winter vacations.

Topic 4: An Analysis of Factors Affecting Employees’ Motivation in Luxury Hotels of Dubai.

Research Aim: This research will study the factors influencing employee motivation in luxury and five-star hotels in Dubai. The study will make use of secondary data and primary research to establish the exact factors that motivate employees to work for luxury hotels in Dubai.

Topic 5: How the Tourism Industry of Thailand Responded to the Tsunami.

Research Aim: This study will dive into the past to establish how the Thai tourism industry responded to Tsunami.

Visit our topics database to view 100s of dissertation topics in your research area.

Topic 6: Factors Influencing British Customers’ Decisions of Purchasing Egypt Tour Packages.

Research Aim: This research will explore the factors that British citizens consider when planning their holiday to Egypt.

Topic 7: Attitude and Perception of British Tourists Toward Thailand as a Winter Holiday Destination

Research Aim: This study will research why the British choose Thailand as their winter holiday destination.

Topic 8: The Increasing Popularity of Cruise Travel in South Africa Among British Tourists

Research Aim: This research will consider the reasons why South African cruise is extremely popular amongst British tourists.

Topic 9: To Investigate the Efficacy of Integrated Marketing Communication Tools to Restore the Image of Amsterdam as the Best Tourist Destination in Europe

Research Aim: This research will explore the marketing and communication tools utilized to market Amsterdam as the best tourism destination in Europe.

Topic 10: Factors Influencing British Customers’ Decision to Choose a Particular Destination During the Summer/winter Holiday

Research Aim: This research will discuss all the factors that influence British citizens to choose a destination for their summer or winter holidays. This topic can be customized according to a country of your choosing.

Hospitality Dissertation Topics

Hospitality industry consists of casinos, resorts, restaurants, hotels, catering as well as other businesses that serve the tourists. At its core hospitality can be defined as the relationship between a guest and the hotel.

Other aspects of hospitality include but are not limited to liberality, friendliness, warm welcome, entertainment, goodwill, and reception. Modern-day businesses pride themselves on their acts of hospitality. Thus, it is an extremely interesting sub-topic to base your dissertation on. Some topics in this area of tourism are suggested below.

Topic 1: Examining How Popular Travel Agents Such as eBrooker and Opodo are Perceived by British Tourists

Research Aim: This research will evaluate some of the best and most popular travel agents such as Opodo and eBookers and how they assist British tourists with their destination planning.

Topic 2: Identifying the Factors that Influence Leisure Hotel Buying Decisions of British Customers

Research Aim: This research will identify the factors that influence British customers’ decision to opt for luxury hotels.

Topic 3: Identifying Features of a leisure hotel that attract British honeymoon couples

Research Aim: This research will identify features of a luxury hotel that attract British couples looking for a honeymoon location.

Topic 4: Investigating Hospitality Practices of Popular Leisure Hotels in Dubai

Research Aim: This study will investigate hospitality purchases of attractive luxury hotels in Dubai.

Topic 5: What are the Prime Factors Influencing Restaurant Selection Decisions of Young British Couples?

Research Aim: This research will explore the factors that influence British couples to select restaurants for their time out.

Topic 6: Investigating and Reviewing Strategies Employed by Hotel Restaurants and Pubs in London to Keep Their Employees Motivated

Research Aim: This research will study an important aspect of the tourism industry, i.e., how hotel restaurants and pubs in London keep their employees motivated.

Topic 7: Exploring the Relationship Between Culture and Leisure Hotel Buying Decisions in London.

Research Aim: This research will investigate the relationship between how customers in London choose a luxury hotel based on their culture.

Topic 8: Creating Brand Sales and Recognition Using Integrated Marketing Communication Tools.

Research Aim: This research will explore how brand sales and recognition are built using various marketing and communication tools.

Topic 9: Understanding the Relationship Between Customers’ Buying Decisions and Leisure Hotel Hospitality Features within the Context of Overseas Holidays

Research Aim: This research will explore the relationship between customers’ decision to choose a luxury hotel while visiting different countries.

Topic 10: The Impact of Hospitality Companies’ Brand Image on Tourists’ Buying Decisions.

Research Aim: This research will first talk about different hospitality companies and how their brand image impacts tourists’ buying decisions.

Black Tourism Dissertation Topics

Black tourism, also known as dark tourism and grief tourism, involves travelling to historical sites/places associated with death, casualties, and suffering.

Dark or black tourist sites such as battlefields, monuments, castles, Tsunami sites, and Ground Zero are man-made or natural. They are found commonly in Scotland, South Asia, China, and Eastern Europe.

Dark tourism may not be the ideal choice for many students. However, it is an exciting topic to explore. Possible research topics under this field of tourism are listed below:

Topic 1: How Local Communities Can Benefit Commercially and Socially from Tours to Death/Casualty Sites – A Qualitative Study

Research Aim: This research will explore the various benefits that local communities can experience from touring death or casualty sites.

Topic 2: Attitude and Perception of Tourists Towards Taj Mahal in India

Research Aim: Taj Mahal can be categorised as a dark tourism site because many people consider it a mausoleum. This research will discuss the attitude and perceptions of tourists when visiting the Taj Mahal.

Topic 3: To Investigate and Identify the Factors Influencing Tourists’ Decisions to Visit gGrief Sites in the UK

Research Aim: This research will explore the factors that influence the decisions of tourists to visit grief sites in the UK.

Topic 4: Is Mercat Tour in Scotland a Grief Tourism Site for Potential Tourists?

Research Aim: Mercat Tour in Scotland is considered a ghost site. This study will explore what makes this site a dark tourism destination.

Topic 5: Developing a Highly Effective Marketing Strategy to Promote London Dungeon Among the Tourists

Research Aim: This research will understand the various marketing strategies undertaken to promote the London Dungeon amongst tourists.

Topic 6: What are the Primary Factors Influencing British Tourists’ Decision to Choose Grief Sites?

Research Aim: This research will understand the various factors that influence British tourists’ decision to select a dark tourism site.

Topic 7: Developing a Marketing Strategy to Promote Beaumaris Prison in Wales as Another Black Tourism Site in Britain

Research Aim: This research will focus on developing a successful marketing strategy that will help promote Beaumaris Prison in Wales as a black tourism site in Britain.

Topic 8: How are Man-made Grief tourism Sites are Perceived by British Tourists?

Research Aim: This research will discover how British tourists perceive man-made dark tourism destinations.

Comparing the Man-made Black Tourism Sites with the Natural Disaster Grief Sites from the Perspective of Tourists

Research Aim: This research will compare manmade and natural dark tourism destinations with a focus on tourists’ perceptions.

Topic 10: Do the Local Communities Economically Benefit from Tourists Visiting Dark Tourism Sites?

Research Aim: This research will explore whether or not local communities are impacted in any way when dark tourist sites in their locality are visited.

Sustainability and Tourism Dissertation Topics

At its core, this field of tourism primarily focuses on the way tourists can live harmoniously with the planet earth. Ecotourist sites or sustainable tourist sites are those that promote fauna and flora and cultural heritage. Another objective of eco-tourism is to provide social and economic opportunities to local communities. Some interesting topics worth exploring, in this area, are suggested below:

Topic 1: Investigating the Impact of the Internet on the Growth of Eco-tourism in the UK

Research Aim: This research will study the impact of the internet on the rising eco-tourism trend in the UK.

Topic 2: Factors Affecting British Customers’ Decision of Choosing an Eco-tourism

Research Aim: This research will study the reason why British tourists opt for an eco-tourism site as compared to traditional destinations.

Topic 3: Establishing and Discussing Strategies to Promote Swansea as the Best Eco-tourist Spot in the UK

Research Aim: This research will discuss the various ways through which Swansea can be promoted as the best eco-tourist spot in the UK.

Topic 4: Analysing the Role of Price in the Selection of Eco-tourism Destinations

Research Aim: This research will understand the various factors that influence the tourists’ decision to choose an eco-friendly site for their next holiday destination.

Topic 5: Examining the Use of Integrated Marketing Communication Tools to Promote Eco-tourism in Great Britain

Research Aim: This research will study and analyze the different ways through which integrated marketing communication tools should be used to promote eco-tourism in the UK.

Topic 6: Comparing Developing World Eco-tourism Sites Against Western Eco-tourism Sites

Research Aim: This study will compare developing eco-tourism sites and developed or Western eco-tourism sites. The study will conclude which sites tourists prefer and what factors lead them to their decision.

Topic 7: Does Eco-tourism Develop Social and Economic Opportunities for Local Communities?

Research Aim: This research will explore whether or not eco-tourism helps develop social and economic opportunities in the local communities. If it does, the study will explore those factors as well.

Topic 8: Exploring the Factors Affecting the Buying Decisions of Customers Interested in Eco-tourism Sites

Research Aim: This research will identify and discuss the various factors that affect the buying decision of customers who are interested in eco-tourism sites. These factors will then be explored in detail in this study.

Topic 9: Analysis of the Potential of Edinburgh as an Eco-tourism Site in the UK

Research Aim: This research will compare manmade and natural dark tourism destinations and will also include tourists’ perceptions.

Topic 10: Assessing the Impact of Grass Root level Education in Promoting Sustainable Tourism in Europe – A Review of the Literature

Research Aim: This research will discuss the impact of grass root level education to promote sustainable tourism in Europe. The study will be based on the qualitative research method.

Important Notes:

As a tourism and hospitality student looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment with existing tourism and hospitality theories – i.e., to add value and interest to your research topic.

The field of tourism and hospitality is vast and interrelated with many other academic disciplines like civil engineering, construction, law, engineering management, healthcare, mental health, artificial intelligence, physiotherapy, sociology, management, marketing, and nursing . That is why it is imperative to create a project management dissertation topic that is particular and sound and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic; it is the basis of your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong: your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, and there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in writing your dissertation as you may end up in a cycle of rejection at the very initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

While developing a research topic, keeping our advice in mind will allow you to pick one of the best tourism and hospitality dissertation topics that fulfil your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalizing your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Please take a look at some of our sample tourism and hospitality dissertation topics to get an idea for your dissertation.

How to Structure Your Tourism and Hospitality Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

A Title Page
Acknowledgements
Declaration
Abstract: A summary of the research completed
Table of Contents
Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems to be addressed. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can also be added to this chapter.
Literature Review: This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analyzing published and unpublished literature available on the chosen research topic in light of the research questions to be addressed. The purpose is to highlight and discuss the relative weaknesses and strengths of the selected research area while identifying any research gaps. A breakdown of the topic and key terms can have a positive impact on your dissertation and your tutor.
Methodology: The data collection and analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter, which usually includes research design, research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and data analysis strategy .
Findings and Analysis: The findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include graphs , charts, and tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
Discussion and Conclusion: The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section is to establish the link between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regard to the implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
References: Make sure to complete this in accordance with your University’s requirements
Bibliography
Appendices: Any additional information, diagrams, graphs that were used to complete the dissertation but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How to find dissertation topics about tourism and hospitality.

To find tourism and hospitality dissertation topics:

Examine industry trends and challenges.
Explore cultural, environmental, or tech impacts.
Research niche areas like ecotourism or event management.
Analyse customer behaviour and satisfaction.
Consider sustainable practices.
Select a topic aligning with your passion and career aspirations.

What is the best research topic for tourism?

There is no one best topic, but here is a trending topic. “The Impact of Virtual Reality Technology on Tourist Experience and Destination Promotion: A Comparative Analysis.” This research topic explores how VR technology affects tourist perceptions, engagement, and decision-making and its implications for destination marketing strategies, comparing traditional methods with VR-based approaches in tourism promotion.

Latest Research Proposal-Prospectus Topics.

While writing the research proposal for your thesis or developing a Research prospectus for your Ph.D .; ensure that you get a great topic idea and develop it into a researchable topic sentence.
The topic is only relevant if it has the right variables and is not generic or broad, does not focus on one specific theory but addresses a research gap that is recent, feasible, and interesting.
Our research support desk is the best option for your Master's or Ph.D. research assistance if you are stuck or if you need ideas.

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You need to have a great research idea that addresses a relevant research gap. We are more than willing to support you, let us know.

02. - Defend & have your Topic Approved.

If possible, review or have your topic approved by your supervisor or senior research advisor so that you do not start and later stall midway.

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When your topic has finally been approved & is researchable, you can now start the research process : We can help you Step by Step.

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Tourism Research Topics - Latest Titles & Best Project Ideas

✔ During selection, narrow down the ideas to those you find interesting in class. When creating a topic for a tourism project , eliminate other topics you have learned until you are left with the ones you find fascinating. This can make the whole process of research to be fun for you compared to when you select an idea you find boring. Scholars tend to put more effort into interesting projects because they are curious to learn more which will be a plus.

✔ It is always advisable to consider the scope of your tourism research topic. During creation, it is advisable to modify an idea in a way that you will end up with a manageable idea. If that is not considered, you might find your study to be too narrow or wide making it difficult to get the best results. Your research topic must be easy to understand.

✔ Students should examine the resources they possess when choosing a tourism research idea. When considering whether the research topic of tourism will be achievable, you also have to check whether the resources you have will enable you to collect the right data. Review the many topics listed online to get more ideas and clues.

✔ You should consider the research assignment requirement when choosing a topic. Every tourism homework or coursework assignment has specific instructions and to understand them you may have to consult your instructor. By that, you will be able to create a tourism research paper topic that will give you the results the tutors expect.

Four Major Types of Tourism Research to Identify Interesting Topics about Tourism

Market Research: Market research, an integral component of tourism research, focuses on identifying potential markets, analyzing customer preferences, and understanding the competitive landscape. It provides valuable insights into trends, patterns, and demands of the consumer base. This type of research uses surveys, interviews, and observational studies, among others, to glean data. For instance, topics for research on market research might investigate tourists' accommodation preferences, their choice of destination, or their propensity to engage in certain activities.
Motivational Research: This research area focuses on why people travel. A motivational research topic would seek to address this question by examining the factors that influence individuals to choose a particular destination or engage in specific activities. This type of research often involves psychological and sociological perspectives, studying the impact of elements like culture, lifestyle, personal interests, and emotional drivers. It also explores how factors like price, accessibility, and reputation can affect tourists' decisions, thus providing a holistic understanding of tourists' behavior.
Economic Research: Students understand that tourism is a critical component of local, national, and global economies, necessitating an economic perspective to tourism research. Thus, a topic in this direction of research analyzes the economic impact of tourism on a region, including job creation, GDP growth, and infrastructural development. Furthermore, it examines the viability of tourism projects, evaluates fiscal policies affecting tourism, and forecasts future economic trends. With such research findings, stakeholders can make informed decisions that optimize the economic benefits of tourism.
Environmental Research: In the age of sustainable and responsible travel, environmental research in tourism has gained immense importance. A research topic on environmental research assesses the environmental impact of tourism activities, explores the possibilities of sustainable tourism, and devises strategies to minimize the negative effects on natural resources. It involves studying local flora and fauna, monitoring pollution levels, and evaluating the management of tourist sites.

These are the four major types of tourism research and identifying a project topic on any of the areas would help contribute unique perspectives that help in the holistic development and growth of the tourism sector. As a student, choosing a research topic on any of the areas above should ensure that your final year project recommends and helps industry stakeholders to make strategic decisions, adapt to evolving trends, and ensure the sustainability of tourism activities. By fostering a culture of rigorous and comprehensive research, it is possible to ensure the continued prosperity of the tourism industry. Identifying comprehensive tourism topics for research is the first major step toward carrying out a successful project.

How to tell what or which topic is best for tourism research

Selecting the best topic for tourism research involves several key steps. Begin by exploring your personal interests within the broad spectrum of tourism, considering areas like sustainable tourism, cultural heritage preservation, or destination marketing. Then, focus into existing literature to identify gaps and emerging trends. Assess the relevance and potential impact of the topic of interest, ensuring it aligns with your academic or professional goals. Then you can seek guidance from our experts and so that we can refine your ideas and brainstorm potential topics. In that case, we normally develop three sample topics, from which you choose the best by narrowing down based on feasibility, novelty, and significance. Finally, craft clear and focused research questions, a concept or idea paper to guide your investigation and then present it to your supervisor for their approval or guidance. By following these steps, you can identify a research topic that captivates your interest, addresses important issues, and contributes meaningfully to the field of tourism. This is especially significant because if you proceed and start your tourism research proposal or project and have the topic rejected or adjusted after; you may lose a lot of time and work. So identify the best topic for your tourism research and once the topic is approved, proceed with the research work.

Looking for a Suitable Research Title About Tourism? Free Samples

Assessing the Impact of Destination Image on Tourist Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty: This title seeks to discuss one of the most crucial factors that influence tourists’ decision to visit a particular tourist attraction site. In the paper, the destination image is shown to be an important factor in tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty. Let us guide you on the best way to create a tourism research project topic because we have the most experienced research assistants.
Analyzing the Significance of Peace and Security to the Growth and Development of the Tourism Industry in a Country: This study evaluates and analyzes some of the reasons why peace and security are very important for countries that rely on international tourists for a considerable amount of government revenue. The study seeks to show that war and insecurity can destroy the tourism industry of a country.
An Investigation into the Negative Impacts of Tourism on a Country: A Look at New Strains of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Introduced by Tourists: The primary objective of the paper is to investigate and identify some of the dangers associated with international tourism. The study focuses on cases of strange sexually transmitted diseases introduced to other countries by visiting tourists. To consult with reliable hired research project topic writers , confer with our company.
Evaluating the Factors that Promote Tourism in an Attraction Site: The Importance of Availability of Essential Services: The dissertation evaluates the major factors other than the attraction site, those which influence the decision of tourists to visit the area. The paper aims to elaborate that the availability of essential services is an essential consideration. Through this study, the essential services that can promote tourism will be pointed out. This is a research title about tourism that can even be used to write a thesis project for a master's student .
A Comparative Analysis of Local and International Tourism: Why is International Tourism More Popular than Local Tourism? The purpose of this paper is to analyze and identify the reasons why most people prefer to tour other countries other than their own even when their countries have great tourist destination sites. The paper proposes measures that governments can adopt to promote local tourism. We can offer you both expert and affordable tourism research project topic help.
An Analysis of the Role of the Government in Promoting and Encouraging Tourism: A Case Study of the Brazilian Government: This is a great title for a tourism case study that explains the pertinent role played by governments in promoting tourism in their respective countries. Specifically, the study discusses the approaches that the Brazilian government has adopted to promote tourism. It will also be pointed out whether the strategies applied by the Brazilian government can be extended to other countries. This research title helps identify gaps between governance & tourism in Brazil.

If you are a student or a scholar doing a research paper or dissertation project on tourism , ensure to seek professional guidance to help you identify a research title that is unique, trendy, and one that will be fun to research and write about. Our experts generally provide tourism research title ideas that guide the available options one could explore. We may offer comprehensive research support where need be step by step depending on a student's specific needs.

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Research Topics for Tourism Students – Thesis Titles 2024

Free research titles for a bsc or masters thesis in tourism student.

A Study on Legislative and Policy Measures for Sustainable Domestic Tourism.
The Benefits of Utilizing Technology in Influencing the Growth of Tourism.
An Investigation into the Implications of the Internet in the Development of Ecotourism.
An Investigation into the Role of Human Resource Management in Developing a Competitive Advantage in Tourist Accommodations.
Factors Influencing the Franchising Decisions among Tour Firms and Operators.
A Study on the Effects of Globalization on the International Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
An Investigation into the Impact of Strategic Development and Sustainability of the Airline Industry on Tourism.
The Effects of the Growth of Electronic Commerce on the Development of the Tourism Industry.
An Investigation into the Effects of Hotel Employees’ Job Satisfaction and Performance on the Growth of Tourism.
A Study on the Role of Tourism in the Reduction of Poverty and Economic Growth
The Impact of Educational Tourism and Its Development in European Countries
An investigation into the Advantages of Ecotourism and its benefits for Local Businesses

These sample research titles can be used as a guide to developing more comprehensive topics for a tourism research paper or thesis. If any student needs step-by-step guidance to develop the topic into a thesis, we are more than willing to help. We support tourism students with topics & research guidance and you will never regret interacting with us. For instance, you could like one of the thesis titles for tourism students listed above so you can do further research on it and add more variables to it so that it matches your interests or even seek our support to expound more and even develop comprehensive research questions.

Formulating Tourism Topics for Students - College & Undergraduate

Identifying the most suitable research topic for your tourism research paper is a time-consuming task. Supervisors often reject the topics that college or undergraduate students have developed for many reasons among them uniqueness & relevance. The use of experts is the best solution for such a problem. Our research experts will offer you an exclusive guide on crafting a research topic on tourism that will ensure that you do not give your supervisor a hard time when selecting your topic. If you feel that you require a competent firm to help you create a topic idea on tourism, you should consider hiring our firm. We will work tirelessly to ensure that you receive outstanding help with creating topics for undergraduate scholars at an affordable rate. Our help with tourism research topics ideas for college students students entail;

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Students may tell us that they need professional assistance in generating a research project on tourism; we will professionally assist them. We will ensure that you have identified a unique topic that is simple to understand. College students regard a tourism course to be easy. That might not be entirely true when the time comes for them to create a research topic. Instructors sometimes can assign a topic to a student but that is not very common nowadays. Like other scholars, college students are required to choose a topic on which they will carry out research and so they may look out for some of the latest tourism topics for students.

Ecotourism Thesis Topics for Students: Best Research Help

Moreover, our dedication to guiding students through their exploration of ecotourism thesis topics prepares them for meaningful careers in sectors such as sustainable tourism management, conservation policy, and environmental advocacy. We are committed to nurturing their growth into professionals who can tackle the complex challenges facing the tourism industry today. Through our support, students not only gain a deep understanding of the principles of ecotourism but also develop the skills to effect positive change, ensuring a lasting impact on both the environment and society. Our investment in ecotourism research underscores our broader mission to contribute to the development of sustainable tourism practices and to foster a new generation of leaders committed to making a difference in the world.

Sample Research Topics Related To Ecotourism: Good For Thesis Research

Ecotourism offers a pathway towards a more responsible and inclusive form of tourism. In the quest to explore this sustainable approach, the selection of ecotourism research topics & samples becomes crucial for students, researchers, and practitioners alike. These topics not only shed light on the multifaceted impacts and potentials of ecotourism but also pave the way for innovative solutions and strategies to enhance its benefits and mitigate its challenges. This exploration is not just about academic inquiry; it's about participating in a global conversation on how to balance the needs of the planet with the desires of the curious traveler, ensuring that tourism continues to be a force for good in the world.

Evaluating the Socioeconomic Impacts of Ecotourism on Indigenous Communities : This topic extends beyond the basic economic benefits to explore how ecotourism affects the social fabric, cultural preservation, and economic resilience of indigenous communities. An e cotourism thesis research project on it could examine variables such as changes in employment patterns, impacts on traditional practices, community participation in ecotourism planning, and the effects of income diversification through ecotourism.
Assessing the Effectiveness of Ecotourism Sites in Promoting Wildlife Conservation and Biodiversity: This research topic idea on ecotourism could focus on specific variables like species population trends, habitat restoration efforts, and the role of tourist contributions in funding conservation projects. It might also compare conservation outcomes between areas with active ecotourism programs and those without, to identify key factors contributing to successful biodiversity conservation.
Sustainable Management Practices in Ecotourism: A Comparative Analysis of Global Ecotourism Certifications: This among other ecotourism research topics would explore the effectiveness of different eco-certification standards in promoting sustainable management practices among ecotourism operators. Variables could include certification criteria, compliance rates, operational changes post-certification, and the impact of certifications on tourist perceptions and choices.
The Influence of Ecotourism Experiences on Tourist Environmental Awareness and Behavior Change: This is a thesis topic that could look into how specific aspects of ecotourism experiences—such as guided tours, educational programs, and interaction with local communities—affect tourists' environmental awareness, attitudes, and behaviors. Variables might include pre- and post-visit changes in environmental knowledge, commitment to sustainable practices, and advocacy for conservation issues.
Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Enhance Sustainable Tourism Experiences in Ecotourism Destinations: This ecotourism thesis topic could investigate the role of specific technologies (e.g., augmented reality, geolocation services, and environmental monitoring sensors) in enhancing visitor engagement and sustainability at ecotourism sites. Variables of interest might include technology adoption rates, visitor satisfaction levels, impacts on environmental awareness, and reductions in ecological footprints due to technology use.
Analyzing the Impact of Policy Frameworks on the Development and Sustainability of Ecotourism Initiatives: This research could focus on the comparative analysis of national and international ecotourism policies, examining variables such as policy effectiveness, barriers to implementation, stakeholder engagement in policy development, and the role of policy in mitigating ecotourism-related conflicts.
Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for Ecotourism Destinations: A Vulnerability Assessment: This thesis topic sample would explore the specific vulnerabilities of ecotourism sites to climate change and assess various adaptation strategies. Variables could include the frequency and severity of climate impacts, stakeholder perceptions of vulnerability, investment in adaptation measures, and the effectiveness of these measures in ensuring the sustainability of ecotourism operations.

By incorporating any of these ideas and topics into the research design, thesis projects can offer a more nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding ecotourism. This approach not only enriches the academic contribution of the research but also provides practical insights that can inform the development of more effective and sustainable ecotourism practices. If you need more sample thesis topics related to ecotourism, do not hesitate to reach out and we shall guide and support you with the entire research process.

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Qualitative research, tourism

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Carina Ren 3

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Qualitative research refers to inquiries applying a range of qualitative methods in order to inductively explore, interpret, and understand a given field or object under study. Qualitative research in tourism takes its inspiration primarily from the cultural and social sciences such as anthropology and sociology. Most often, the aim of this research approach is to explore and search for meaning or to develop an understanding through empirical studies, generating rich descriptions or collecting material, which may become subject to interpretation. Qualitative research seeks to avoid making generalizations, grand claims, and reductions and is often characterized by a high level of reflectivity and sensitivity to power relations and ambiguity. All of these characteristics will be elaborated further below.

The concept of qualitative research covers a range of methodologies, but is usually contrasted with and seen in opposition to quantitative and deductive research, as it attempts to...

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Ateljevic, I., A. Pritchard, and N. Morgan, eds. 2007 The Critical Turn in Tourism Studies: Innovative Research Methodologies. London: Elsevier.

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Mol, A. 1999 Ontological Politics: A Word and Some Questions. The Sociological Review 47:74-89.

Phillimore, J., and L. Goodman, eds. 2004 Qualitative Research in Tourism: Ontologies, Epistemologies and Methodologies. London: Routledge.

Ren, C., A. Pritchard, and N. Morgan 2010 Constructing Tourism Research: A Critical Approach. Annals of Tourism Research 37:885-904.

Riley, R., and L. Love 2000 The State of Qualitative Tourism Research. Annals of Tourism Research 27:164-187

Tribe, J. 2005 New Tourism Research. Tourism Recreation Research 30:5-8

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Ren, C. (2014). Qualitative research, tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_426-1

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Tourism and Hospitality Dissertation Topics Ideas

Are you ready to embark on an exhilarating academic journey delving into Tourism Dissertation Topics? Selecting the perfect topic can seem daunting but fear not! With the boundless opportunities within the realm of tourism, crafting your dissertation can be an exciting endeavor. Tourism research topics encompass a diverse array of captivating subjects, ranging from the […]

Tourism research topics encompass a diverse array of captivating subjects, ranging from the exploration of distinct hospitality styles to the immersion in delectable cuisines, cultural customs, accommodations, travel services, entertainment hubs, and vibrant musical events. With such rich content, students can draw inspiration from their own travel experiences, infusing their research with personal anecdotes and insights.

Consider the staggering growth of international tourist arrivals, as evidenced by the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, which surged by an impressive 7% in 2010, reaching an astounding 940 million. This statistic underscores the undeniable relevance and immense potential for growth within the tourism industry, making it an ideal avenue for your academic exploration.

Whether you’re intrigued by the allure of exotic destinations or fascinated by the intricacies of tourism management, there’s a wealth of opportunities awaiting your exploration. Let’s transform your dissertation into an extraordinary voyage of discovery, where every topic you delve into unlocks new insights and enriches your understanding of this dynamic field. Get ready to embark on an exciting academic adventure as we explore captivating tourism research topics together!

Table of Contents

Tourism Dissertation Topics Ideas to Take You Out of Dissertation Writing Nightmare

Unlock the excitement of selecting tourism research topics, accommodation tourism dissertation topics:.

The Impact of Boutique Hotels on Tourist Experience: A Comparative Study
Sustainable Practices in Eco-Lodges: Balancing Environmental Conservation with Guest Comfort
Accessibility and Inclusivity in Hotel Design: Enhancing Accommodation Options for Persons with Disabilities
The Rise of Airbnb: Disrupting Traditional Accommodation Models and its Implications for Local Communities
Luxury Camping: Exploring the Growing Trend of Glamping and Its Influence on Tourism Experiences

Food and Beverage Services:

Culinary Tourism: Analyzing the Influence of Local Cuisine on Tourist Destination Choices
Farm-to-Table Dining Experiences: Evaluating the Sustainability and Authenticity of Locally Sourced Food in Tourism
Food Tourism in Urban Settings: Exploring Food Tours and Gastronomic Adventures in Metropolitan Areas
Food Trucks and Street Food Culture: Impact on Destination Image and Visitor Satisfaction
Allergen Management in Hospitality: Strategies for Ensuring Safe Dining Experiences for Guests with Food Allergies

Recreation and Entertainment:

Adventure Tourism and Risk Management: Balancing Thrills with Safety Measures in Extreme Sports Activities
Cultural Festivals as Tourism Attractions: Assessing Their Role in Destination Marketing and Community Development
Virtual Reality Experiences in Tourism: Examining Their Potential to Enhance Visitor Engagement and Satisfaction
Sustainable Theme Parks: Strategies for Minimizing Environmental Footprint and Maximizing Social Benefits
Urban Exploration Tourism: Investigating the Phenomenon of “Ruin Tourism” and Its Ethical Considerations

Transportation:

High-Speed Rail Tourism: Assessing the Impact of Train Travel on Tourism Patterns and Destination Accessibility
Electric Vehicles in Tourism: Exploring Sustainable Transportation Options for Tourists in Urban Areas
Cruise Tourism and Destination Development: Analyzing the Economic and Environmental Impacts of Port Infrastructure Expansion
Micro-Mobility Solutions for Tourists: Evaluating the Role of Scooter Sharing and Bike Rentals in Urban Tourism
Airport Design and Passenger Experience: Enhancing Airport Facilities to Improve Tourist Satisfaction and Destination Competitiveness

Travel Services:

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and Destination Marketing: Investigating the Role of Digital Platforms in Tourism Promotion
Peer-to-Peer Travel Platforms: Examining the Sharing Economy’s Impact on Traditional Travel Services
Sustainable Tour Operator Practices: Strategies for Reducing Environmental Impact and Supporting Local Communities
Wellness Tourism and Spa Services: Understanding Tourist Preferences for Health and Wellness Experiences
Travel Insurance in Tourism: Assessing the Importance of Comprehensive Coverage for Tourists’ Peace of Mind

Ecotourism:

Community-Based Ecotourism Initiatives: Evaluating Their Effectiveness in Promoting Conservation and Socio-Economic Development
Wildlife Watching Tourism: Balancing Conservation Goals with Tourist Satisfaction in Natural Habitats
Ecotourism Certification Programs: Assessing Their Role in Ensuring Environmental Responsibility and Quality Assurance
Indigenous Tourism and Cultural Preservation: Exploring Indigenous-led Ecotourism Enterprises and Their Contribution to Cultural Heritage Conservation
Marine Ecotourism: Examining Sustainable Practices for Diving and Snorkeling Activities in Coral Reefs and Marine Sanctuaries

Dark Ecotourism:

Thana tourism: Exploring Tourist Interest in Dark Tourism Sites Related to Death and Tragedy
Disaster Tourism: Understanding Visitor Motivations and Ethical Considerations in Visiting Areas Affected by Natural Disasters
War Tourism: Analyzing the Heritage Tourism Potential of Battlefields and War Memorials
Prison Tourism: Examining the Growing Interest in Visiting Historical and Active Prisons as Tourist Attractions
Nuclear Tourism: Investigating Tourist Interest in Visiting Sites Associated with Nuclear Disasters and Energy Production

Hospitality:

Employee Turnover in Hospitality: Exploring Causes, Consequences, and Strategies for Retention in the Hospitality Industry
Personalization in Hospitality Services: Implementing Customized Experiences to Enhance Guest Satisfaction and Loyalty
Hotel Revenue Management Strategies: Optimizing Pricing and Inventory to Maximize Profitability
Service Quality in Luxury Hospitality: Assessing the Importance of Attention to Detail and Personalized Service Delivery
Diversity and Inclusion in Hospitality Workforce: Promoting Equality and Equity in Hiring and Advancement Practices

Tourism Management:

Crisis Management in Tourism: Developing Resilience Strategies for Coping with Unforeseen Events
Destination Governance Models: Analyzing Public-Private Partnerships in Tourism Development and Management
Sustainable Tourism Destination Planning: Integrating Environmental, Social, and Economic Considerations
Tourism Carrying Capacity: Implementing Measures to Ensure Sustainable Visitor Management and Environmental Protection
Tourism Education and Workforce Development: Addressing Skills Gaps and Training Needs in the Tourism Industry

Tourism Marketing:

Destination Branding Strategies: Creating Unique and Memorable Brand Identities to Attract Tourists
Digital Marketing Trends in Tourism: Leveraging Social Media, Influencer Marketing, and Content Strategies to Reach Target Audiences
Niche Tourism Market Segmentation: Identifying and Targeting Specific Market Segments for Tailored Marketing Campaigns
Destination Image and Perception Management: Strategies for Shaping Tourist Perceptions and Overcoming Negative Stereotypes
Sustainable Tourism Marketing: Communicating Environmental and Social Responsibility Initiatives to Eco-Conscious Travelers
More What are some good thesis topics in tourism marketing?

Sport Tourism Dissertation Topics:

Mega Sporting Events and Destination Development: Assessing the Legacy Effects of Hosting Events like the Olympics or FIFA World Cup
Adventure Sports Tourism: Exploring the Growing Popularity of Activities like Rock Climbing, Surfing, and Mountain Biking in Tourist Destinations
Golf Tourism: Analyzing the Economic and Environmental Impacts of Golf Resorts and Tournaments on Local Communities
Sports Event Management: Strategies for Planning and Executing Successful Sporting Events to Attract Tourists and Enhance Destination Image
Health and Wellness Tourism: Investigating the Role of Sports and Fitness Facilities in Attracting Health-Conscious Travelers to Resorts and Spas
More Sports Tourism Dissertation Topics Ideas

Sustainable Tourism Dissertation Topics:

Community-Based Tourism Enterprises: Assessing Their Contribution to Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areas
Ecological Footprint Analysis of Tourist Activities: Measuring and Mitigating Environmental Impact in Popular Tourist Destinations
Certification Programs for Sustainable Tourism: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Labels like Green Globe and EarthCheck in Promoting Responsible Travel
Wildlife Conservation and Tourism: Balancing Visitor Experience with Wildlife Protection in Natural Reserves and Parks
Responsible Tourism Education and Awareness: Strategies for Engaging Tourists and Industry Stakeholders in Sustainable Practices and Ethical Behavior
More Sustainable Tourism Dissertation Topics Ideas

Travel and Tourism Dissertation Topics:

Cultural Heritage Tourism: Examining the Preservation and Promotion of Historical Sites, Museums, and Cultural Festivals as Tourist Attractions
Medical Tourism: Understanding the Motivations and Experiences of Travelers Seeking Healthcare Services Abroad
Volunteer Tourism (Voluntourism): Analyzing the Benefits and Challenges of Volunteer Programs for Local Communities and Tourists
Culinary Tourism: Exploring Food and Wine Tours, Cooking Classes, and Culinary Festivals as Tourism Experiences
Film Tourism: Investigating the Influence of Movies and TV Shows on Destination Choice and Visitor Behavior, and Strategies for Destination Marketing Utilizing Film Locations
More Travel and Tourism Dissertation Topics Ideas

Tourism Research Proposal Topics Ideas for college students.

So here are some of the tourism research proposal topics and ideas that will you find a theme for your project.

Attitude towards eco-tourism in Scotland among British tourists
Implications of the internet in the development of ecotourism
Is ecotourism better than Europe in other parts of the world?
Factors that are affecting ecotourism buying behavior
Integrated marketing communications to ecotourism in the United States of America
Developing a marketing plan for the London dungeon
Man-made dark tourism sites: the perception and attitude of Europeans
All about Jack, the ripper site
Is it socially good to visit a site of suffering and death by the local communities?
Factors affecting the customer buying behavior of dark tourism in the United States of America
Hospitality in religion
The effects of globalization on the international hospitality industry
The role of hospitality in the development of a country
Is marketing the only thing responsible for building the international hospitality industry in New York?
The internet revolution and hospitality
The death of tourism and hospitality in Asia
How tsunami affected the tourism industry of Phuket, Thailand?
How to remove the negative and bad reputation of Amsterdam using integrated marketing communication?
How to motivate people to visit and stay at the Marriot hotel in Dubai ?
Is South Asia the best tourist destination in winter times?
Bangkok as a winter holiday destination
Educational tourism program – how to make it.
Why do British students prefer cultural exchange programs in the US?
Why do international students prefer the UK as the best education destination in the world?
Comparison of the British with an American student
International education tourist programs and the contribution of British students to promote them.
Can a high volume of tourists have a negative effect on Switzerland’s environment?
What can be done to revitalize the tourism industry in Pakistan?
Tourist trap: A menace or a blessing?
In-depth analysis of any country’s tourism industry
Factors Influencing Visitor’s Choices to Visit Urban Destinations
Government instability. When a place is suffering from political problems, it will drive tourists away.
How have high prices affected tourism in London?
Does Swansea have the potential in becoming the new ecotourism destination of the UK?
Do British customers prefer international ecotourism rather than British ecotourism?
Examining the implications of the Internet on the growth of ecotourism
How to promote Beaumaris-Prison in Anglesey, Wales, as a new dark-tourism site in the UK.
Factors affecting British customers when choosing dark-tourism sites in foreign countries.
How to develop a marketing plan for London-Dungeon.
How to make Mercat-Tour in Scotland a dark tourism site.
The implications of the Tsunami on the tourism industry in Phuket, Thailand.
Role of strategic human resource management in developing sustainable competitive advantage in contemporary budget hotel chains.
What makes South-East Asia an attractive tourist destination during winter for British customers?
The Role of the London Olympics in enhancing the scope of tourism to the city.
Perception and attitude toward Beijing’s world-heritage tour among British tourists.

Hope these topics will help you come up with memorable tourism dissertations. Writing a dissertation on tourism can be fun as compared to other dissertations as you can write about any exotic place you are dying to visit.

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Tourism and COVID-19: Impacts and implications for advancing and resetting industry and research

The paper aims to critically review past and emerging literature to help professionals and researchers alike to better understand, manage and valorize both the tourism impacts and transformational affordance of COVID-19. To achieve this, first, the paper discusses why and how the COVID-19 can be a transformational opportunity by discussing the circumstances and the questions raised by the pandemic. By doing this, the paper identifies the fundamental values, institutions and pre-assumptions that the tourism industry and academia should challenge and break through to advance and reset the research and practice frontiers. The paper continues by discussing the major impacts, behaviours and experiences that three major tourism stakeholders (namely tourism demand, supply and destination management organisations and policy makers) are experiencing during three COVID-19 stages (response, recovery and reset). This provides an overview of the type and scale of the COVID-19 tourism impacts and implications for tourism research.

1. Introduction: Setting the necessity and parameters for tourism COVID-19 research

The COVID-19 (declared as a pandemic by WHO, 12 March 2020) of significantly impacts the global economic, political, socio-cultural systems. Health communication strategies and measures (e.g. social distancing, travel and mobility bans, community lockdowns, stay at home campaigns, self- or mandatory-quarantine, curbs on crowding) have halted global travel, tourism and leisure. Being a highly vulnerable industry to numerous environmental, political, socio-economic risks, tourism is used to and has become resilient in bouncing back ( Novelli, Gussing Burgess, Jones, & Ritchie, 2018 ) from various crises and outbreaks (e.g. terrorism, earthquakes, Ebola, SARS, Zika). However, the nature, the unprecedented circumstances and impacts of the COVID-19, demonstrate signs that this crisis is not only different, but it can have profound and long-term structural and transformational changes to tourism as socio-economic activity and industry. Indeed, the global and huge scale, the multidimensional and interconnected impacts challenging current values and systems and leading to a worldwide recession and depression are the most distinctive characteristics of this pandemic.

COVID-19 tourism impacts will be uneven in space and time, and apart from the human tool, estimates show an enormous and international economic impact: international tourist arrivals are estimated to drop to 78% causing a loss of US$ 1.2 trillion in export revenues from tourism and 120 million direct tourism job cuts representing seven times the impact of September 11, and the largest decline in the history ( UNWTO, 2020 ). Being one of the most important global employer (1 in 10 jobs are directly related to tourism, UNWTO, 2020 ) and the major GDP contributor for several countries, tourism and COVID-19 are the epicenter of all international discussions and economies.

Within the burgeoning industry discussions and research about tourism and COVID-19, there is an unanimous call to see and use the pandemic as a transformative opportunity ( Mair, 2020 ). Industry should not only recover but also reimagine and reform the next normal and economic order ( McKinsey, 2020 ), while researchers should not solely use COVID-19 as another context to replicate existing knowledge for measuring and predicting tourism impacts ( Gössling et al., 2020 , Hall et al., 2020 ). Although such studies are important for managing the pandemic, they do not advance knowledge and/or guide the industry to a step beyond. Moreover, because of the interlinked socio-cultural, economic, psychological and political impacts of COVID-19 of this magnitude, unforeseen trajectories instead of historical trends are expected and the predictive power of ‘old’ explanatory models may not work. Moreover, there is enough evidence to claim that both the tourism industry and research have matured to a good extent providing sufficient knowledge about how to study and effectively: (1) design and implement crisis recovery and response strategies (e.g. McKercher & Chon, 2004 ); (2) build resilience to address future crises ( Hall, Prayag, & Amore, 2017 ). What is still lacking is knowledge about how crisis can foster industry change, how companies can convert this crisis disruption into transformative innovation and how to conduct research that can enable, inform and shape the rethinking and resetting of a next normal.

Crises can be a change trigger, but none crisis has been so far a significant transition event in tourism ( Hall et al., 2020 ). Crises have also been used as a political tool to stabilize existing structures and diminish the possibility of collective mobilization ( Masco, 2017 ). As change can be selective and/or optional for the tourism stakeholders (e.g. tourists, operators, destination organisations, policy makers, local communities, employees), the nature and degree of crises-led transformations depend on whether and how these stakeholders are affected by, respond to, recover and reflect on crises. Consequently, to better understand, predict but also inform and shape change, tourism COVID-19 research should provide a deeper examination and understanding of the tourism stakeholders’ (behavioural, cognitive, emotional, psychological and even ideological) drivers, actions and reactions to their COVID-19 impacts. Research should also examine and understand the stakeholders’ lived and perceived COVID-19 experiences as well as their consciousness, mindfulness, capabilities and willingness to understand and act (pro-actively and re-actively) to the pandemic, as all these can equally influence their attitudes, behaviours and change potential.

COVID-19 tourism research should also advance our knowledge for informing, fostering, shaping or even leading such crises-enabled transformations. Otherwise, we will simply experience one crisis after the other ( Lew, 2020 ). Responding to the mushrooming euphoria of COVID-19 tourism related research, Gretzel et al. (2020) also plead for transformative e-tourism research that can shape tourism futures by making value systems, institutional logics, scientific paradigms and technology notions visible and transformable. To achieve scientific paradigm shifts, e-tourism research should embrace historicity, reflexivity, transparency, equity, plurality and creativity ( Gretzel et al., 2020 ). To avoid the bubble of the COVID-19 research orgasm and advance tourism research, others have also suggested to adopt inter-disciplinary ( Wen, Wang, Kozak, Liu, & Hou, 2020 ), multi-disciplinary ( Gössling et al., 2020 , Hall et al., 2020 ) or even anti-disciplinary ( Sigala, 2018 ) research to enable out-of-the-box, creative and flexible thinking that challenges and goes beyond existing pre-assumptions and mindsets.

To address these needs and gaps, this paper aims to critically review past and emerging literature to help professionals and researchers alike to better understand, manage and valorize both the tourism impacts and transformational affordance of COVID-19. To achieve this, first, the paper discusses why and how the COVID-19 can be a transformational opportunity by discussing the circumstances and the questions raised by the pandemic. By doing this, the paper identifies the fundamental values, institutions and pre-assumptions that the tourism industry and academia should challenge and break through to advance and reset the research and practice frontiers. The paper continues by discussing the major impacts, behaviours and experiences that three major tourism stakeholders (namely tourism demand, supply and destination management organisations and policy makers) are experiencing during three COVID-19 stages (response, recovery and reset). This analysis is useful because it provides an overview and understanding of the type and scale of the COVID-19 tourism impacts, while it also demonstrates that the way in which stakeholders and researchers understand, react and behave in each stage may form and set the next (new) normal in the post COVID-19 era. Responding to the call for transformative research, discussions are developed based on the rational that tourism research should go beyond replicating and reconfirming existing knowledge within the COVID-19 context; instead tourism COVID-19 research should see new things and see them differently to inform and guide tourism futures. Hence, the paper suggests potential new research areas and theoretical lenses that can be used for advancing and resetting industry practice and research. The paper does not aim to provide a fully comprehensive and inclusive analysis of all the impacts, theories, topics and tourism stakeholders that COVID-19 tourism research can examine. Instead, it aims to provide practical and theoretical implications on how to better research, understand, manage and transformative valorize COVID-19 tourism impacts.

2. COVID-19 circumstances and tourism: Shifting the research focus to challenge, reset and contradict institutional logics, systems and assumptions

Research investigating, measuring and predicting the COVID-19 tourism impacts is important in order to eliminate ‘casualties’, draft, monitor and improve response strategies (i.e. you cannot manage what you cannot measure). However, research focusing on the features and impacts of crises instead of their structural roots tends to conceal and stabilize the conditions and corollary social structures through which crises are produced ( Barrios, 2017: 151 ). Investigating the real roots of COVID-19 may go beyond the boundaries and scope of tourism research. Yet, the latter needs to look into and challenge the tourism ‘circumstances’ and structures that have enabled and sometimes accelerated the global spread and impact of COVID-19. Unfortunately, the economists downplay the pandemic as a purely natural event originating and operating outside of the economic system ( Nowlin, 2017 ). But, treating COVID-19 as an exogenous shock and phenomenon that has nothing to do with socio-economic structures and values, can perpetuate and strengthen the pandemic roots during the post COVID-era as well as constrain change and transformational processes.

COVID-19 is a crisis of the economized societies rooted in the growth-paradigm ( Ötsch, 2020 ). COVID-19 is also a result of the intersection of broader processes of urbanisation, globalisation, environmental change, agribusiness and contemporary capitalism ( Allen et al., 2017 ). The nature of tourism (requiring traveling) and its evolution and growth paradigms are a significant contributor to such circumstances and the current socio-economic system accelerating the spread and impact of this contagious and infectious virus. Tourism is a result but also responsible for: our highly interconnected and global world; pollution, waste and climate change; global, national and regional economic development and growth; superiority of capitalism values in people’s and business decision-making but also policy and politics formulations. As climate change increases the frequency of pandemics and outbreaks, pandemics are expected to become more common in the future ( World Economic Forum (2019) (2019), 2019 ), which in turn highlights the interwoven nature and vicious circle forces between the biological, physical and socio-economic systems.

Moreover, the economic system and mindset contributing to the COVID-19 has also been guiding and shaping the COVID-19 response and recovery strategies of governments, institutions, businesses and people alike. This can significantly perpetuate and repeat crises as we are treating their symptoms and not their roots. For example, economic priorities for maintaining business continuity and jobs, resume and recovering to the old ‘economic success growth’, have been driving governments’ policies and practices such as: economic support (e.g. subsidies, tax reliefs) to tourism businesses and employees; debates for relaxation of restrictions for re-opening and re-starting economies at the expense of a second way and human lives. Similarly, people have engaged in panic buying and (over)-consumption of online experiences (e.g. virtual entertainment, dining, drinking, traveling) during lock-downs, that demonstrate their persistence, preference and fear of loosing to their ‘consumerism’ traditional lifestyles deemed essential for their success and happiness. Early COVID-19 tourism research also reinforces a similar mindset, e.g. many studies trying to measure the economic impacts of COVID-19 trading them off to socio-cultural and biological impacts, studies aiming to predict and measure when tourists will start traveling again and when we can reach the old tourism targets. As governments race to minimise economic losses, and be the first to reopen borders and (tourism) businesses, and financial markets, investors, cash liquidity and financial survival are equally pressing multinational and small tourism enterprises, they are all also looking for tourism research that can ‘feed’ and ‘reconfirm’ their mindset and help them resume operations based on the old paradigms and business models they are founded. Debates and research are based on trading between economic benefits and losses in exchange of human rights, lives, morals and ethics. There is no discussion why trade-offs are the best methodology and mindset to decide, no one has re-imagined ‘solutions’ enabling co-existence or regenerative forces between these concepts.

Overall, research, education and our socio-economic and political system (which they shape and are shaped by each other), have all framed our mindset on how we research, measure, understand, respond and aim to recover from the COVID-19. Consequently, we have converted COVID-19 from a biological virus contagion to a financial crisis contagion and recently, an economic race to re-build our old financial competitiveness. To avoid such perpetuations, tourism research should assume more responsibility in informing, driving and leading sustainable futures. To that end, COVID-19 tourism research should not be solely seen, conducted and used as a useful tool to help resume old states. Instead, COVID-19 tourism research should also challenge our growth-paradigms and assumptions that have led to the current situation and enable us to reimagine and reset tourism (e.g. Ioannides and Gyimóthy, 2020 , Gössling et al., 2020 , Hall et al., 2020 , Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ). To achieve this, COVID-19 tourism research should criticize ontological and epistemological foundations and assumptions that underpin the current science and growth paradigms ( Brodbeck, 2019 ). It should also deconstruct and challenge the mechanisms and systems that sustain the deleterious unsustainable tourism evolution ( Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ). But to regenerate and transform tourism and its socio-economic system, tourism research should not only support new ways and perspectives of researching, knowing and evolving. COVID-19 tourism research should also inspire, motivate and inform all tourism stakeholders alike to adopt new ways of being, doing and politicising. For example:

At a macro-level, COVID-19 tourism research should generate dethinking, rethinking and unthinking of pre-assumptions and mindsets including ( Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ): globalisation as an unstoppable force; neoliberal capitalism as the best system and decision-making tool for organizing and allocating resources; growth as the sole way for development and success. It should also challenge the ‘surveillance capitalism’, whose institutionalisation and normalisation is perceived as inevitable and unstoppable because of forces including ( Zuboff, 2015 ): institutionalised facts (e.g. data collection, analytics and mining); leading tech and disrupting companies being respected and treated as emissaries of a better future solving the “faults of capitalism” (e.g. sharing economy platforms ‘democraticing’ micro-entrepreneurship); and people seeing technologies as a necessity requirement for social and civic participation, securing employment and addressing the increasingly stressful, competitive, and stratified struggle for effective life. The COVID-19 is accelerating the institutionalisation and acceptance of this algorithmic governance, management and society, previously contested as violations of human rights, privacy and laws ( Zysman, 2006 ), but now becoming normalised in the name of health and common good.

Technology is at the core of solutions for combating the COVID-19 and re-opening tourism and the economy (e.g. mobility tracing apps, robotised-AI touchless service delivery, digital health passports and identity controls, social distancing and crowding control technologies, big data for fast and real time decision-making, humanoid robots delivering materials, disinfecting and sterilizing public spaces, detecting or measuring body temperature, providing safety or security), while technology is seen as a panacea to our COVID-19 driven-needs to normalise surveillance, to ensure health and safety, to collect and analyse personal data for fast decision-making. Although COVID-19 tourism research cannot stop these technological advances, it should fight this digital trojan horse from the inside by questioning and resetting their purposes, designs and affordances, interpretations and application ethics. Technologies are constituted by unique affordances, whose development and expression are shaped by the institutional logics in which technologies are designed, implemented, and used ( Zuboff, 2015 ). COVID-19 tourism research could simply investigate and advance our information and technological capabilities to collect, analyse and use (big) data for better knowing, predicting, controlling, and modifying human behavior (e.g. tourists and employees behaviour) as a means to produce revenue and market control ( Zuboff, 2015 ). But such research will simply further support the making of everydayness qua data imprints an intrinsic component of organizational and institutional life and a primary target of commercialization strategies ( Constantiou & Kallinikos, 2015 ). Technologies have always been an enabler, a catalyst of innovation and change, a disruptor of tourism, as well as a tool to build tourism resilience in crisis ( Hall et al., 2017 ). The COVID-19 has further enhanced the role of technologies in the recovery and reimagination of tourism, while it reinforces existing paradigms in the e-tourism evolution. Developmental trends and adoption of smart destinations and tourism services, AI, robotics and other digital advances are now accelerated to combat the COVID-19 tourism implications. COVID-19 tourism research should reimagine and re-shape the purposes, usage and means of such technological advances that significantly form how our societies and economies are being transformed, how tourism is being practiced, managed and evolves with the help and/or because of the COVID-19.

At a micro-level, COVID-19 tourism research should question and reset why tourism is viewed, practiced and managed as a way to ‘escape’, ‘relax’, ‘socialise’, ‘construct identities/status’, ‘learn’ and reward themselves from a routine, unpleasant and meaningless life. Why tourism should be researched and practiced as an escape from a boring life, instead of life being rewarding and meaningful itself? Why people have to travel thousands of miles away from home to ‘learn’ and ‘be happy’? Why companies have to commercialize and commoditize communities, people and their tangible and intangible resources as tourism attractions ‘please’ the tourists’ needs and drive economic development? Tourism paradigms and mindsets like this, have led and intensified crises like COVID-19 and this cannot be sustainable for much longer. Consumerism and tourism should not be seen as the sole way to achieve happiness, self-expression, and (economic) development. COVID-19 tourism research should inspire tourists, businesses and destinations alike to re-imagine and reset new mindsets, frontiers and behaviours such as: how to use and develop tourism to valorize and not consume tourism resources, to generate well-being, sustainability and transformational learning; how to study and practice environmental/sustainable management not as a legal necessity for lobbying and formulating policies, not as marketing tool to build brands’ and people’s identities, not as an expense to be minimized, but as a mindful business investment and personal lifestyle for a responsible future.

Overall, COVID-19 tourism research should not only be the mean to overcome the crisis and resume previously chartered economic growth trajectories. It should lead the refocusing, repurposing, reframing and re-interpretation of research questions, methodologies and outcomes, so that tourism stakeholders can in turn re-direct their actioning, conduct and evolution. To that end, COVID-19 tourism research will be benefited by embedding, adapting, reflecting and expanding the theoretical lenses and perspectives of a much greater plurality of disciplines and constructs to guide and implement research. Transformative (service) research, philosophy, criminology, ethics, law, anthropology, behavioural and religious studies, political science and diplomacy, governance, bioethics, rhetoric. Researching within unchartered waters, COVID-19 tourism research may also need to apply new methodological approaches and tools that are capable to combat roots and not symptoms of tourism crises and use the latter as transformational opportunity to reset research agendas and re-imagine and re-shape unthinkable tourism futures. Due to the newness of the field qualitative approaches such as (cyber)ethnography and the need for urgent, fast and real-time research processes and outcomes, COVID-19 tourism research may also need to intensify and advance “new” methods of (big) data collection, analysis and interpretation/visualization, such as participatory sensing (i.e. using tourists as sensors for data collection).

Paradox research, as a meta-theory and/or methodology, can also be very instrumental for informing and supporting COVID-19 tourism research. Originating in philosophy and psychology (e.g. Aristotle, Confucius, Freud), paradox research (also frequently requiring multi-disciplinarity) has helped to inform, advance and transform management science research ( Schad, Lewis, Raisch, & Smith, 2016 ) and organisations ( Cameron & Quinn, 1988 ) alike. As a meta-theory, paradox research offers a powerful lens for enriching extant theories and fostering theorizing processes in management science, because it provides deeper understanding and conceptualisation of constructs, relationships, and dynamics surrounding organizational tensions. By investigating contradictions between interdependent elements that are seemingly distinct and oppositional, one can better unravel how one element actually informs and defines the another, tied in a web of eternal mutuality. As a methodology, the paradox lens encourages researchers to approach organizational paradoxes paradoxically ( Cameron & Quinn, 1988 ). Incorporating paradox research into COVID-19 research may also be inevitable, as the COVID-19 circumstances, impacts and debates have uncovered and intensified existing paradoxes, but also generated new ones. Paradox research is also paramount to COVID-19 tourism research, if the latter is to become innovative and transformative. These are because (adapted by Schad et al., 2016 ):

• Interruptions in socio-economic life can reveal structural contradictions and paradoxes, and by studying and understanding them, one can make the crisis positive and transformative
• paradoxes intensify, grow and intensify, as contemporary organizations and their environments become increasingly global, fast-paced, and complex; the evolution and circumstances of tourism and COVID-19 are a strong evidence of a highly interconnected, fast paced and complex world
• paradox is a powerful meta-theorizing tool: opposing theoretical views may enable vital insights into persistent and interdependent contradictions, fostering richer, more creative, and more relevant theorizing
• paradox identifies and challenges our pre-assumptions: as antinomies, theoretical paradoxes remain perplexing, even paralyzing, when researchers are confined by the past and/or assumptions
• paradox help us think creatively and out-of-the box, because contradictions provoke established certainties and tempts untapped creativity

Paradox research is limitedly used within tourism research, but its applicability, versatility and value are shown already in investigating: macro-level tourism and destination management issues ( Williams & Ponsford, 2009 ); business operations ( Sigala, Airey, Jones, & Lockwood, 2004 ) and tourism demand ( Mawby, 2000 ). However, as the present and post COVID-19 era is a fertile ground of persistent and new paradoxes in tourism, tourism researchers should seriously consider adopting a paradox lense. For example, the circumstances of COVID-19 (e.g. stay at home lockdowns, social distancing) have necessitated and accelerated the use of technologies by both tourists (e.g. information about travel restrictions, online crisis communication, online COVID-19 alerts and hygiene measures) and businesses (e.g. online food delivery, virtual dining, virtual wine experiences, festivals/events, virtual visits of museums, destinations). However, persistent ‘paradoxes’ (e.g. increase use of social media and loneliness, democratisation of information accessibility and information darkness, technology and (small) business empowerment/equalizing competition rules) are questioning the effectiveness of such technology solutions and have fuelled debates on whether they are a ‘cure’ or a ‘fertiliser’ and “diffuser’ of the pandemic. Not everyone has access to technology and those that they have do not necessarily have the capabilities and knowledge to effectively use the technology tools and information. The persistent digital divide found in consumers and businesses (which mainly represents a socio-economic divide of citizens and size of businesses), has converted the pandemic to an infodemic (e.g. lack or mis-information, diffusion of fake COVID-19 news and advices, emotional contagion of global depression and mental health) and a tool deepening the economic divide and competitive gap between larger and smaller tourism operators. Digital inequalities in tourists potentiated their vulnerability to COVID-19 (e.g. putting themselves and their loved one in health risk while traveling or willing to travel during and after the COVID-19), while COVID-19 vulnerability potentiate to enlarge the digital inequalities [e.g. those who have the tools and means to easier go through the COVID-19 impacts will also be the only ones who can pay and access virtual tourism experiences, who will be well informed on how, where and when travel and who will be able to afford to travel in the future, as increased (hygiene and technology) operating costs and transportation oligopolies may increase costs of tourism]. Similarly, digital inequalities in tourism businesses potentiate COVID-19 vulnerability (as larger operators that were technology ready and ‘inherited’ by size resilience, were the first and maybe the only ones to be able to virtualise operations and experiences for maintaining business liquidity, surviving, re-opening and recovering post COVID-19), while COVID-19 vulnerability increases digital and economic inequalities in the tourism competitive landscape (e.g. larger companies/destinations which are characterised by greater cash liquidity, know-how, technology readiness and resilience and so, have lower COVID-19 vulnerability, will be the ones to survive and thrive post COVID-19). Paradox research that can investigate such contradictions between the abovementioned distinct and oppositional, but also elements interdependent elements can better define, understand, manage and address their concepts and the dynamics of their web of eternal mutuality.

The COVID-19 fortified and generated many other paradoxes, which are also identifiable at all tourism management levels (macro, meso and micro) and COVID-19 tourism research can investigate for advancing and transforming research. Table 1 provides some ideas for applying such paradoxes in COVID-19 tourism research.

Paradox Research: advancing and transforming COVID-19 tourism research.

3. COVID19: Dismantling and re-mantling tourism in three stages

It is widely accepted that crisis management needs to be implemented before, during and after a crisis. Table 2 provides an overview of the impacts and implications of COVID-19 on three major stakeholders (tourism demand, tourism operators, destinations and policy makers) under three stages (representing the respond, recovery and restart stage from the pandemic) to incorporate a transformational stage envisioned in the post COVID-19 era. COVID-19 tourism research does not have to address issues in the last stage in order to be transformative. It can equally be transformative if it re-examines ‘existing’ issues and relations but through new theoretical lenses and/or methodological approaches by embedding a plurality of ‘new’ disciplines into the research designs. By doing this, one can significantly unravel unknown issues and dynamics, provide a better explanatory power and understanding of concepts and relations as well as identify and test new ‘remedies’.

COVID-19 and tourism in three stages: major impacts and some ideas for future research.

3.1. Tourism demand

Tourists have experienced themselves, through their loved ones and/or through the shared experiences of others (e.g. user-generated-content) significant disruptions and health-risks in their travel and bookings plans. The tourists’ experiences and/or exposure to others’ experiences (that are also magnified through the emotional contagion and information diffusion of the social media) can have a significant impact on their travel attitudes, intentions and future behaviours. Psychiatric research investigating the impact of traumatic experiences on people’s life, behaviours and experiences of places and services (e.g. Baxter & Diehl, 1998 ) can provide a useful theoretical lenses for understanding the travel behavior and attitudes of tourists that have been exposed to own or others’ COVID-19 travel trauma. Tourism research has mainly focused on studying how tourists develop their perceived risk and the impacts of the latter on tourists’ decision-making processes, future intentions and segmentation profiles (e.g. Dolnicar, 2005 , Aliperti and Cruz, 2019 , Araña and León, 2008 ). Others have also examined the impact of the tourists’ perception of crisis management preparedness certification on their travel intentions (e.g. Pennington-Gray, Schroeder, Wu, Donohoe, & Cahyanto, 2014 ). Such research is important, as risk perceptions are important for predicting future tourism demand and drafting appropriate recovery strategies ( Rittichainuwat & Chakraborty, 2009 ). It is also relevant for COVID-19 tourism research because of the new COVID-19 standards and certification rules that companies are now required to adopt. Research has shown that perceptions of risks may differ between tourists with different origin-country, final destination, age, sex and the typology of travel ( Rittichainuwat & Chakraborty, 2009 ). However, the impact of crisis communication and social media on perceived risk has been totally ignored. Some research is done for examining the impact of social media use on tourists’ mental health ( Zheng, Goh, & Wen, 2020 ) and crisis information systems and communication – social media ( Sigala, 2012 , Yu et al., 2020 ), however, given the increasing role and impact of social media on crisis communication and people’s health and risks perceptions, this is an area where more research is granted. As a vaccine for COVID-19 may take long to be developed and travelers may need to live with it, tourism research might benefit from medical and health research investigating how people behave, live and cope with chronic and lifestyle-related diseases (e.g. AIDS).

During lockdowns, people have experienced and become familiar with virtual services and tourism experiences. Research in technology adoption would claim that increased technology familiarity and trialability will increase its adoption. But will this apply for the controversial technologies introduced by COVID-19? Political economy and law research explaining how people react and accept human rights ‘violations’ (e.g. surveillance measures, freedom of speech, lockdowns) under conditions of ‘state of exception’ like terrorism or the COVID-19 ( Carriere, 2019 , Bozzoli and Müller, 2011 , Scheppele, 2003 ) can provide a new lenses for studying adoption of the COVID-19 controversial technologies and restrictions Research on political ideologies could further enlighten why people’s ideologies and political values may further perplex their reactions and behaviours to such interventions in their human rights.

It is claimed that while experiencing low pace, new lifestyles and working patterns, people are reflecting and recalibrating their priorities and social values. Is that true in relation to their travel behavior? Would people require and expect greater responsibility and sustainability from tourism operators and destinations? Would they be motivated to travel more but for a meaningful purpose? Or would people go back to their previous travel behaviours and preferences? Past research ( Pieters, 2013 ) has shown that consumers face a “material trap” in which materialism fosters social isolation and which in turn reinforces materialism. This might explain why during lockdowns people increased their online shopping and consumption of virtual entertainment and probably they might not have reflected and reset their values. Is that true and what is its impact on tourists’ behaviours? Consumer psychology and behavioural science explaining how people wish to align the time they spend with their values (congruence theory) can provide useful insights into such investigations. In addition, religion and spirituality studies can further enlighten the impact of COVID-19’s living conditions on tourists’ tourism sustainability preferences and attitudes as well as responses to tourism operators’ and destination sustainability practices and communications. This is because religion and spirituality is found to play an important role in influencing individuals’ thoughts and behaviors ( Laurin, Kay, & Fitzsimons, 2012 ).

Social distancing imposed by COVID-19 includes actions such as, reducing social contact, avoiding crowded places, or minimizing travel. Social distancing can significantly impact how people experience and evaluate leisure and travel activities like hiking, outdoor activities and nature-based tourism or even personal services like spas, dining, concierge services. Social distancing or better physical distancing may influence tourists’ perceptions of health hazards, insecurity and unpleasant tourism experiences. But how ‘far’ away is enough for tourism employees and other customers to be from each other without compromising sociality, personal service and perceptions of social distancing measures? Social distancing has not been studied before in service provision, while law and criminology research on ‘sexual’ consent may provide a different perspective on how people define social space and the ‘invasion’ or not of others into it.

Tourism is heavily a hedonic and sensorial experience. Servicescape design plays a major role in tourism experience by influencing customers’ emotions, behaviors, attitudes and service evaluations. However, COVID-19 operating standards require servicescapes to be redesigned eliminating or inhibiting sensorial elements and ‘changing’ tourism experiences, e.g.: smell of cleanliness instead of fragrance; social distancing and number of co-presence of clients in restaurants, festivals and other tourism settings will influence new standards of psychological comfort and acceptable levels of perceived crowdness; raised voices may generate a wider “moist breath zone” increasing viral spread; warmer temperatures create relaxing environments encouraging customers to stay and spend more, but poorly ventilated or air-conditioned indoor spaces may spread COVID-19. Would tourists and tourism firms change their behaviour and attitudes towards these new COVID-19 servicescapes? What new service etiquettes, customer expectations, behaviours and experiences would COVID-19 determined servicescapes and operational procedures may generate?

These and many other fields of research have been raised due to COVID-19 conditions, and as explained a plurality of theoretical lenses can be beneficial to provide a better understanding of these new concepts introduced in tourism research.

3.2. Tourism supply – Businesses

Tourism businesses have been racing to ensure the safety of their employees, customers, brand image and cash liquidity. To re-start, tourism companies are re-designing experiences (e.g. winery experiences, museum visits, tours, sports events, in-room dining and entertainment instead of hotel facilities) to feature smaller groups of tourists, outdoor activities and/or private experiences complying with social distancing and gathering restrictions and travellers’ expectations. Tourism companies have already upgraded their cleaning procedures by adopting new standards and restraining staff. Many of companies promote their hygiene certifications accredited by health expert associations. Tourism professionals are being trained to become ‘contact tracers’ obtaining relevant certifications confirming their skills to identify cases, build rapport and community with cases, identify their contact and stop community transmission. Restaurants, hotels, airports, public spaces are re-engineering their operations to make them contact-free or contactless. Mobile apps (for check-in, check-out, room keys, mobile payments, bookings-purchases), self-service kiosks, in-room technologies for entertainment and destination e-shopping (e.g. virtual reality for destination virtual visits to museums, attractions and destinations, movies), robots (for reception and concierge services, food delivery museum guides), artificial intelligence enabled websites and chatbox for customer communication and services, digital payments (e.g. digital wallets, paypal, credit cards). In addition, the new operating environment enforced by COVID-19 measures require firms to adopt new technologies and applications to ensure management of crowds and number of people gathered in public spaces (e.g. airports, shopping malls, museums, restaurants, hotels), human disinfectors and hand sanitiser equipment, applications identifying and managing people’s health identity and profiles.

Research can conduct a reality check and benchmarking of the effectiveness of the various respond and recovery strategies adopted by tourism operators. Research can also investigate the role and the way to build resilience to fast develop and implement such strategies. However, such research is useful and important but probably not enough for investigating the resetting of the next tourism industry normal. Transformative COVID-19 research should help industry to reimagine and implement an operating environment that is human-centred and responsible to sustainability and well-being values.

3.3. Destination management organisations and policy makers

Governments and destinations have been providing stimulus packages and interventions (e.g. tax reliefs, subsidies, deferrals of payments) to ensure the viability and continuity of tourism firms and jobs. Governments have intervened in mobility restriction and closures of businesses. Because of these, COVID-19 has resulted in a greater intervention of governments in the functioning and operations of the tourism industry. The government has also become a much bigger actor in the tourism economy (e.g. re-nationalisation of airlines and other tourism firms and tourism infrastructure like airports). This is very unique for COVID-19, as previous crises have generated research and institutional interest, but they did not have policy impact, specifically in tourism ( Hall et al., 2020 ). Would such government interventions and role sustain in the future? How will this influence the structure and functioning of the industry at a national and global level? Debates have already started questioning the effectiveness of such interventions, their fairness and equal distribution amongst tourism stakeholders ( Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020 ), their long-term impacts in terms of austerity and cuts of public expenditures. Future research looing into these issues is highly warrantied. In their CIVID-19 reactions and responses governments and destinations seem to have acted individually and nationalistic and recently selectively (e.g. bilateral and multilateral agreements amongst tourism bubbles). However, systems theory and crisis management, would argue that crises need to be addressed collectively. What would be the impact of such governmental behaviours on the future of tourism and destinations tourism policy making and strategies? As it seems, COVID-19 has raised political, geopolitical and governance issues that frameworks and concepts from these disciplines would need to be used to enlighten such research.

4. Conclusions: What is more and what is next

COVID-19 resulted in numerous socio-cultural, economic and psychological impacts on various tourism stakeholders, some of them for years to stay. Consequently, the pandemic has created a ‘fertile’ new context whereby tourism researchers can conduct research with valuable end-user benefits. However, COVID-19 tourism research should try to avoid the ‘publish or perish’ old mantra that has been driving and mushrooming tourism research ( Hall, 2011 ). Although studies conducting a reality check of impacts, predicting tourism demand, and benchmarking good and best practices are very useful and contextually interesting to assess COVID-19 impacts on various geographies sectors and stakeholders, they potentially offer limited scope to advance our knowledge on crisis management as well as to potentiate the pandemic’s affordance to reset our research agendas and expand the contribution and frontiers of tourism research and industry. It is the aim of this paper to inspire tourism scholars to view and use the COVID-19 as a transformational opportunity for reforming their mindsets in designing and conducting research and for the tourism institutions to reset their standards and metrics for motivating and evaluating the purpose, role and impact of tourism research. In addition, crises also accelerate technology innovation and change ( Colombo, Piva, Quas, & Rossi-Lamastra, 2016 ). However, these should not be viewed as inevitable, unquestionable and impossible to re-shape and re-adjust to serve real needs and meaningful values. It is the responsibility scholars to ensure that COVID-19 tourism research can ensure the latter.

The present analysis is not exhaustive in terms of the COVID-19 impacts, while impacts may not be uniform across all the actors of the same tourism stakeholder group. For example, the COVID-19 has different impacts on tourism operators based on their characteristics such as, the nature of the tourism sector (intermediaries, event organizers transportation, type of accommodation or attraction provider), their size, location, management and ownership style. Similarly, the highly heterogenous tourism demand (e.g. leisure and business travelers, group and independent tourists, special interest tourists such as religious, gay & lesbian, corporate travelers) also means that different COVID-19 impacts and implications are anticipated and worthy to be investigated for different market segments. COVID-19 tourism research should not only disclose such differentiated COVID-19 impacts, but it should also provide an enriched explanatory power about the roots of such disparities with the scope to envision and/or test any suggestions on how to address any inequalities and disadvantages that they may cause to various groups of tourism stakeholders. The analysis did not also include other major tourism stakeholders such as tourism employees, local communities, tourism entrepreneurs and tourism education (scholars, students and institutions alike). Recent developments and pressures faced by some of these tourism stakeholders were further strengthen by the COVID-19, which in turn place them in a more disadvantaged situation. COVID-19 research related to these stakeholders is equally important.

For example, COVID-19 has worsen the already difficult situation (e.g. high labour flexibility but at the expense of low salaries, lack of job security, insurance and other benefits) faced by an increasing number of tourism micro-entrepreneurs (e.g. food delivery people, ‘Uber taxi drivers’, “Airbnb hoteliers”) ( Sigala & Dolnicar, 2017 ). Algorithmic management, increased pressure and work stress are some of the negative impacts of the gig economy, which become more evident and fortified due to the COVID-19 (e.g. food delivery employees have no health insurance or coverage of lost salaries in case they get infected while working; ‘micro-hoteliers’ risk loosing their homes, as they cannot collect ‘accommodation fees’ to pay off home mortgages). Being an unofficial and sometime black economy/employment, gig tourism workers may not even be entitled to governmental subsidies provided to COVID-19 vulnerable employees or businesses. As the COVID-19 is expected to continue and reinforce contemporary paradigms and trends of this ‘causalisation’ of tourism employment (due to the upcoming economic recession and greater operating costs of tourism firms), COVID-19 tourism research needs to urgently investigate issues of employee psychological, mental and physical health, engagement, working conditions (e.g. remote working, virtual teams and virtual leadership) and other human resource issues within the COVID-19 setting. For example, traditional leadership, recruitment, management, and motivational incentives may not inspire, engage, motivate, and attract employees who have recalibrated their personal values and priorities during the COVID-19 lockdown and remote working.

The COVID-19 impacts on tourism employment create further pressures on tourism education that has severely affected by the pandemic. Apart from the virtualization of teaching and learning processes, tourism students and graduates have to also address the halt of industry interships, recruitment and questionable career paths. Tourism programs and universities are faced with reduced students’ intakes, industry and government sponsorship and research funding. Tourism researchers need to find new ways and sources for conducting research addressing social distancing, respecting the mental health and privacy issues of COVID-19 affected stakeholders. Investigating pedagogical issues such as how to make the design and delivery of tourism curricula more ‘resilient’, agile and updated to develop graduates with flexible and transferable skills to other industries is also equally important. For example, new online and offline courses and certifications have already emerged training graduates to become professional ‘contact tracer’ possessing the technical, emotional/social and ethical skills to manage customers and employees in situations of contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine (e.g. how contact tracing is done, how to build rapport with cases, identify their contacts, and support both cases and their contacts to stop transmission in their communities ( https://uh.edu/medicine/education/contact-tracer/ , https://www.coursera.org/learn/covid-19-contact-tracing?edocomorp=covid-19-contact-tracing , https://sph.uth.edu/news/story/trace ). However, is that just an opportunistic educational offering and/or a new ‘skill and qualification standard’ that tourism industry and demand would expect alike?

Many other specialized topics also warrant research within the domain of COVID-19. For example, the social entrepreneurship has been booming in tourism during the last decade ( Sigala, 2019 ) for several reasons including the 2008 economic recession. COVID-19 has boosted such tourism social ventures aiming to create social value, solve social problems created by the COVID-19 and provide help to people in need (e.g. marketplaces enabling the repurposing of various tourism unutilized resources such as labour, hotel and function space, food, cleaning material, e.g. HospitalityHelps.org ). The mushrooming of COVID-19 related tourism social ventures provides many opportunities to study and better understand this phenomenon within new and various ecosystems, stakeholders and circumstances.

Marianna Sigala is Professor at the University of South Australia and Director of the Centre for Tourism & Leisure Management. She is an international authority in the field of technological advances and applications in tourism with numerous awarded publications, research projects, keynote presentations in international conferences. In 2016, she has been awarded the prestigious EuroCHRIE Presidents’ Award for her lifetime contributions and achievements to tourism and hospitality education. She is the co-editor of the Journal of Service Theory & Practice, and the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Professor Sigala was also appointed as CAUTHE Fellow in 2020.

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Home » Blog » Dissertation » Topics » Tourism » Tourism Dissertation Topics (26 Examples) For Academic Research

Tourism Dissertation Topics (26 Examples) For Academic Research

Mark Dec 25, 2019 Jun 5, 2020 Tourism No Comments

The field of tourism has evolved tremendously with time and has attracted many students to conduct research related to different areas. This article aims to help the students in choosing the most appropriate tourism dissertation topic from the list of tourism dissertation topics and project topics on tourism. The list of tourism dissertation topics provides […]

You can select research topics on tourism, and we can help you in completing your research.

A list Of tourism dissertaton topics

Studying the concept of eco-tourism and eco-tourism destinations in the world.

Implications of the internet and iPhone applications on the travel industry.

Examining the factors that affect the tourist’s decisions to travel.

To study the concept of dark tourism and how it is affecting the tourism rates.

To compare the competitiveness in the travel and tourism sector of both developing and developed nations.

To what extent does the internet affect the travel and tourism sector in the UK.

Studying the use of ICT in analysing the preferences of tourists related to travel locations.

Conducting a literature review on the factors influencing tourism needs, demands, and perceptions.

How health tourism is helping India in improving its economy.

The relationship between geo-tagging and tourist mobility.

Analysing the functional performance of the tour operators and their recommendations related to travel destinations.

Managing travel and tourist’s marketing post disasters.

To what extent the environmental conditions affect the tourist decision-making process.

Identifying how the standards of sustainability differ from country to country taking the case of three developed countries.

To find out whether the resource-based approach can promote sustainable tourism?.

Analysing the importance of creating awareness related to conservation of natural resources for responsible and sustainable tourism.

Studying the Trip Advisor Effect on the behaviour and choices of tourists.

How does environmental management system contribute to the effectiveness of the tourism industry?

To study the impact of natural disasters on the experiences of tourists.

How can countries manage the demand and supply balance in tourism?

To what extent the concept of international education is affecting the tourism rate in the case of developed nations.

Evaluating the perception and attitude towards eco-tourism and dark tourism.

To identify strategies that can help countries in increasing their tourism rates.

How tourism can help poor countries in enhancing their economic conditions.

Comparing the rating of best tourism destinations for the past 10 years.

How countries can promote educational tourism programs?

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