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Item A critical evaluation of social media’s influence on the travel attitudes of Chinese consumers when travelling to Europe(2019)For this research project, Chinese outbound tourism in the context of European travel was identified to be the area of focus. Social media has been recognised to be a driving force behind the behavioural attitudes of Chinese tourists; therefore, the research aim was aligned to critically evaluate the influence of social media on the travel attitudes of Chinese consumers when considering tourism in Europe. Furthermore, the research aimed to explore motivations and other influencers that affect Chinese consumers when travelling to Europe with emphasis on the extent of influence that social media holds within the context of travel. An analysis of the present literature regarding the subject area was conducted, allowing for primary research questions to be formed as a basis for further research. Moreover, the primary research derived from the literature review and was carried out through the use of an online questionnaire, asking respondents open-ended and closed-ended questions. From comparing and contrasting the primary and secondary data, various conclusions were inferred such as an emphasis on ‘group-orientated’ motives being found alongside the suggested strong influence of other motives such as knowledge acquisition, relaxation, and exploration. In addition, the potential prevalence of sub-cultures was identified through the inference that national culture dictates codes of conduct and daily life matters rather than travel specific motives. Through the research, WeChat was suggested to be the most utilised social media platform alongside Sina Weibo being inferred as the most utilised online travel platform. Additionally, it was proposed that the travel of Chinese consumers is influenced through the use of social media, accentuated through findings that display higher levels of trust for travel recommendations from social mediaItem The perception of Knowledge Management in the Hospitality industry and Job satisfaction(2019)The aim The aim of this study is to investigate the knowledge management (KM) and job satisfaction in the hotels located in Edinburgh. The study focuses on the frontline employees, to examinant knowledge management, job satisfaction and its possible implication which is job retention. The research will find out the KM practice in hotels in Edinburgh and to measure KM and job satisfaction. Methodology This research will be using a quantitative approach, online questionnaire. The perception of KM is measured with a five-point Likert-scales where it allows flexibility. Also, the online questionnaire will be distributed with the use of Facebook to increase the response rate. The sampling frame is QMU student who has work experiences in a hotel located in Edinburgh. The sampling technique is convenience sampling hence it relies on the researchers' judgement to recruit the respondents. Outcome This research was able to recruit 52 respondents and the majority of the respondents are within the age group of 18-25. The research has proven that KM will lead to job satisfaction, the implication of KM but the data is inadequate to prove job retention. This requires future research.Item An investigation into the motivational factors for consumers to choose Airbnb’s accommodation rather than Hotels(2019)The aim of the study was to investigate the motivational factors that drive consumers to choose an Airbnb accommodation rather than a hotel in order to compare the motivations between Airbnb and hotel guests and to find the pivotal factors that have caused the increasing competitions between those two kinds of accommodation. A quantitative approach and an Online Questionnaire have been chosen to gather data for this research. Firstly because of the limited time available to gather meaningful data, and secondly because an online survey would have enabled the researcher to gather answers confidentially, quickly and cost-effectively. Moreover, the answers of the 130 participants have been collected with Bristol Online Survey and analysed with SPSS. The results of the questionnaire suggested that Airbnb and hotels have different type of guests that have diverse kind of motivations. In fact, has it has been observed from the literature that even if these two kinds of accommodation offer almost the same kind of services the mainly compete on price. Hence, price has been observed to be the major motivational factor for Airbnb consumers and that hotels responded to this threat by lowering their prices in order to attract more tourists. However, it has been demonstrated that only low budget hotels and a portion of mid-range hotels have been affected by the competition between Airbnb since luxury hotels address to different kind of tourists. For this reason, the researcher aimed to understand the major causes of the competition in order to predict the future of the hospitality sector. Additionally, few limitations in relation to the age, gender and participants’ purpose of travel emerged from the study. Hence, the researcher is aware that not all the results are generalisable to the entire population. In fact, the last chapter provides recommendations for future research related to the research topic based upon the limitation and the findings of this study.Item To investigate whether tourists are aware of and are influenced by the cultural and ethical norms when selecting a travel destination.(2019)There is a numerous amount of literature surrounding ethical issues in tourism however, there is a lack of analysis based on tourists’ perceptions and awareness whilst choosing a destination to visit and being there. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether tourists have knowledge of ethical issues or are influenced by them, and if they should be made more aware of the impacts they have whilst on their travels in terms of the locals and environment. Following an in-depth literature review, key themes emerged that enabled the researcher to structure the direction of the research. To achieve the aim and objectives a qualitative approach was more appropriate compared to quantitative. This research conducted eight semi-structured interviews, four being aged between 18-30 and four aged between 40-80, from a variety of different countries. The sample was chosen to see if there was any differences between generations and they were all keen travellers therefore were able to provide useful information. After receiving the data from the interviews they were categorised using thematic analysis, driven by the formed themes in the literature review. The findings have shown there is a lack of awareness surrounding tourists’ knowledge of ethical issues and more should be done to inform them of the impacts they have. Many of the tourists’ did not think of ethical issues before their travels and this is because they have not been informed, as a result all the participants who had experienced it only know about these ethical issues because they have had first-hand experience themselves. Therefore a recommendation was included to suggest tour operators should do more to provide tourists of the ethical issues they could experience while they are abroad and their impactsItem An Exploration into the Contributions Associated with Volunteer Engagement within Ecotourism Wildlife Projects(2019)This study aims to provide an exploration in to the effect of voluntary help for endangered animals through analysing helping behaviour and observing the relationship between humans and animals. It will aim to identify the motivational factors associated with volunteering in ecotourism projects and attempt to demonstrate the positive contribution that volunteers make towards wildlife conservation through collecting data from open-ended questionnaires which were administered to 41 participants who had volunteered before in a range of international conservation projects which all share the same goal of protecting endangered species. The study will also aim to evaluate the volunteers experience associated with the level of engagement in ecotourism projects and understand the growing interest in volunteer tourism through interviewing an internationally recognised organisation, POD. This study will aim to identify the motivational factors associated with volunteering in ecotourism projects and attempt to demonstrate the positive contribution that volunteers make towards wildlife conservation. Ultimately, this study shows that the general consensus on wildlife tourism is that it is a substantial industry with a need for a greater understanding of both visitors and wildlife. Overall, the studies made by this project show that engagement with wildlife affects the satisfaction of volunteer’s massively. The findings also explore the negative and positive effects that wildlife tourism can cause tourism and show that ultimately, volunteer organisations value their volunteers very highly.Item Investigating how Walt Disney World creates “Disney Magic”(2019)Aim and objectives The main aim of this project is to investigate how Walt Disney World creates “Disney Magic” within its theme parks and what impact this has on guests and Cast Members. The research objectives are: To investigate what; marketing and promotion strategies, branding and consumer image tactics, service quality and guest experience influences, theming techniques and employee management ideals are used within Walt Disney World Orlando. In order to discover; the impact these have on guests and how Cast Members feel about their role in “creating magic”. Design and methods For this research a mixed methods approach has been selected. An online survey of the general public is used to gain insight into branding, promotion and Disney experience. This is compared to structured interviews with previous Walt Disney World Cast Members to assess their feelings around creating Disney Magic and employee issues the hospitality and tourism businesses commonly face. Findings The key findings include the idea that guest’s perceptions of Cast Member’s involvement and Cast Member’s perceptions of their involvement are rather different. It is also discovered that the marketing and promotion, branding an consumer image, and theming strategies that are used at WDW are extremely effective and have major impacts on the guests overall relationship with the company. Conclusions Despite the limitations of this research it is interesting to look into the sheer number of different factors that go into creating Disney Magic and how the subtlety of many of these is astounding. Recommendations for future research include using larger sample sizes, and factoring in age and gender into both elements of the methods chosen.Item To critically evaluate undergraduates’ motivations for pursuing a Hospitality and Tourism Management internship abroad(2019)Aim This research investigates into critically evaluating the motivations of International Hospitality and Tourism Management (IHTM) undergraduate students from Queen Margaret University (QMU), to undertake internships abroad. Design and Methodological Choices This study has undertaken a mixed method approach using a questionnaire and semi structured interviews to collect primary data. With that being said, the questionnaire undertook a random sampling technique (probability) whereas the semi-structured interviews undertook a purposive heterogenous sampling technique (non-probability). Moreover, the mixed method approach received 31 responses for the questionnaire and 5 semi-structured interview participants. It is also important to note that the explanatory sequential design was used to create the semi-structured interview questions. The interviews have been analysed using a thematical approach, which created the apparent themes analysed and discussed in chapter 4. Moreover, the data collected has been analysed in the discussion section using the triangulation approach. Key Findings This research agreed with Coker and Porter’s (2015) view of “one size does not fit all”, as the findings show that all students who have or will undertake an internship are doing it for a different motivation. Motivations were clearly unique to individuals and further ranged from personal to professional growth. Additionally, it became apparent that ‘to travel and explore’ was the most popular motivation in regard to undertaking an internship abroad, with cultural awareness growth being the second most important. Moreover, from the motivational parameters which were created by analysing the secondary data, and then presented in the questionnaire, all the motivational factors which were present, had been indicated by at least one student. This can further be seen from the responses received in the interviews, where all the participants had indicated a different reason for their motivations for undertaking an internship.Item Gender Equality: A Vision of Work-life Balance For Women Working in Management in the Hospitality Sector(2019)The aim of this research study is to investigate and analysed how women manage to balance their personal life and work, whilst maintaining a successful career development in the Scottish hospitality sector. This study also helps to gain a better understanding of the women challenges and the factors that influence the career advancement. The aim and objectives of this research will be accomplished through an in-depth literature review along with the results and analysis of the online survey. The researcher decided to adopt a quantitative approach distributing online survey to 68 respondents, women and men, who are currently working in the hospitality sector, mainly in a management position or with an aspiration for a future career progression. The researcher decided to include a few men participants, in order to get a better understanding of the similarity or dissimilarity between the two genders. The results gathered from the analyses of the online survey, identified the different themes and emerging theme that have a direct impact on the career progression and the work-life balance of women working in the hospitality industry. Finally, this study will outline different future recommendations for this research topic such as the possibility of a further investigation focusing more explicitly on the women’s perspective, the comparison of work-life balance between women and men at the same managerial level, a future research should adopt a mixed-method approach in order to get a more holistic and comprehensive insight of the research topic, and, finally, a future comparative study could be undertaken to compare the hospitality sector with another female-dominated sector.Item What effect and impact does the consumption of craft beer have on individual identities and local communities within Edinburgh?(2019)Aim This research ascertains the effects and impacts made by the craft beer industry, and the consumption of craft beer, on individual identities and local communities within Edinburgh. Design and Methodological Approach This research selected a qualitative research, while using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design with online surveys to guide the second stage of focus groups. Data source and methodological triangulation were carried out throughout the research before a thematic analysis was used to answer the research question. Key Findings The research findings satisfied the objectives given and equipped the researcher to answer the research question. The key findings highlight the impact of craft beer consumption on the individual identities, the communities of interest created amongst craft beer consumers in online but also offline groups. Further, the research examined the relationships that they form along with their characteristics, opinions, and beliefs, whereby the main focus lies upon small-scale production within Edinburgh. In addition to that, the dissertation demonstrated evidence that craft beer consumers focus on a sense of localism, act open-minded and adventurous. Finally, it was also established that there is a clear gap between the craft beer industry and its consumers that need to be addressed. Future recommendations Key recommendations for further research are most noticeably the need for a comparative study to allow comparative analysis across geographical areas and an in-depth follow-up study, exploring the perceived gap between the industry and its customers.Item Reducing Plate Waste in the Hospitality Industry(2019)This paper gives a detailed breakdown of food waste and explores the history, causes and prevention schemes that have been set up by governments and businesses in the hospitality industry. The aim of this research was to learn the attitudes of consumers with regards to different elements of plate waste to offer viable solutions to food service companies. Research was conducted in a quantitative data form and distributed online to a large range of people, delivering insights on consumer attitudes towards portion size and take home options from restaurants, as well as considering the processes hospitality businesses undertake that lead to food wastage from the perspective of employees. It was found that customers are unlikely to request a take home option for their unfinished meals but if offered they are likely to accept. The opinions towards portion sizes in restaurants are dependant on the setting in which they are served, however there is data to suggest that giving customers the freedom to substitute different parts of their meals results in less plate wastage. Employees of the hospitality industry report that few businesses incorporate food waste prevention schemes into their operational plans and that few businesses are likely to offer take home options for their customer’s unfinished meals. Recommendations for businesses that wish to minimise or prevent plate waste are suggested as well as areas of future research that could strengthen the findings from this research paper.