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100+ Tourism Research Topics: Trends and Future Directions

Tourism Research Topics

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.

100+ Tourism Research Topics: Category Wise

  • Impact of Technology on Travel
  • Cultural Tourism and Heritage Preservation
  • Dark Tourism: Ethics and Motivations
  • Community-Based Tourism for Socioeconomic Development
  • Wildlife Tourism and Conservation
  • Gastronomic Tourism: Culinary Experiences
  • Adventure Tourism: Risk and Reward
  • Medical Tourism: Trends and Implications
  • Religious Tourism and Pilgrimages
  • LGBTQ+ Tourism: Diversity in Travel
  • Film Tourism: Influence on Destination Choice
  • Cruise Tourism: Environmental Impact
  • Rural Tourism: Exploring Off-the-Beaten-Path
  • Urban Tourism and City Planning
  • Educational Tourism: Learning Journeys
  • Wellness Tourism: Mind and Body Retreats
  • Space Tourism: Future Frontiers
  • Luxury Tourism and Experiential Travel
  • Sports Tourism: Events and Impact
  • Volunteer Tourism: Traveling for a Cause
  • Accessible Tourism: Inclusive Travel
  • Niche Tourism: Unusual Destinations
  • The Psychology of Tourist Behavior
  • Destination Marketing and Branding
  • Over-tourism: Challenges and Solutions
  • Impacts of Climate Change on Tourism
  • Cruise Tourism: Cultural Interactions
  • Heritage Tourism Management
  • Tourism and Globalization
  • Impact of Political Instability on Tourism
  • COVID-19 and Tourism: Recovery Strategies
  • Solo Travel: Trends and Safety Concerns
  • E-Tourism: Online Booking Trends
  • Responsible Tourism Practices
  • Agritourism: Farm and Rural Experiences
  • Wildlife Sanctuaries: Balancing Conservation and Tourism
  • Backpacking Culture: Trends and Challenges
  • Tourism Entrepreneurship and Innovation
  • Social Media Influencers in Tourism
  • Geotourism: Exploring Geological Wonders
  • Virtual Reality in Tourism Experiences
  • Tourism Policy and Regulation
  • Sustainable Transportation in Tourism
  • Wellness Retreats: Trends and Impacts
  • Coastal and Marine Tourism
  • Historical Tourism and Interpretation
  • Space-Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Tourism
  • Cross-Cultural Communication in Tourism
  • Slow Tourism: Embracing the Journey
  • Geopolitics and Tourism
  • Adventure Sports Tourism: Risk Management
  • Wellness Tourism: The Spa Industry
  • Religious Festivals and Tourism
  • Volunteer Tourism: Cultural Exchange
  • Impacts of Terrorism on Tourism
  • Tourism and Gender Equality
  • Dark Sky Tourism: Stargazing Adventures
  • Social Justice in Tourism
  • Music Tourism: Festivals and Events
  • Cruise Tourism: Port Infrastructure
  • Urban Regeneration through Tourism
  • Wellness Tourism: Mindful Travel
  • Cultural Appropriation in Tourism
  • Sports Mega-Events and Tourism
  • Virtual Tourism: Exploring from Home
  • Tourism Education and Training
  • Destination Resilience to Crises
  • Adventure Tourism: Environmental Stewardship
  • Slow Food Movement and Culinary Tourism
  • Accessible Tourism: Technology Solutions
  • Adventure Tourism: Cultural Immersion
  • Experiential Learning in Tourism
  • Tourism and Biodiversity Conservation
  • Indigenous Tourism: Empowerment and Challenges
  • Film-Induced Tourism: Pop Culture Impact
  • Ephemeral Tourism Events
  • Adventure Tourism: Cultural Sensitivity
  • Slum Tourism: Ethical Considerations
  • Tourism and Water Conservation
  • Space Tourism: Ethical Considerations
  • Rural Tourism: Community Engagement
  • Wellness Tourism: Mind-Body Connection
  • Tourism and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Adventure Tourism: Extreme Sports
  • The Role of Festivals in Tourism
  • Cultural Tourism and Social Inclusion
  • Wellness Tourism: Alternative Therapies
  • Tourism and Human Rights
  • Heritage Conservation and Tourism
  • Adventure Tourism: Risk Perception
  • Virtual Reality Museums and Tourism
  • Responsible Wildlife Tourism
  • Tourism and Disaster Management
  • Festivals as Cultural Tourism Attractions
  • Adventure Tourism: Psychological Benefits
  • Wellness Tourism: Eco-Friendly Retreats
  • Tourism and Aging Population
  • Culinary Tourism: Fusion Cuisine
  • Adventure Tourism: Cross-Cultural Interactions

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 research project topics

200+ Best Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

“Interested in Tourism Research Topics for College Students? Tourism involves exploring different places, and it’s a popular subject for college studies. There are many exciting topics for students to research, like how we can travel responsibly, preserving cultural heritage, and how technology affects our travel experiences.

In this article, we’ll discuss various interesting research topic ideas for college students. Whether it’s about sustainable travel, keeping traditions alive, or how places are promoted to visitors, there’s a lot to discover. Let’s explore these topics together and see how they can help us understand the world of tourism better.

Table of Contents

What Is Tourism Research Topics?

Tourism research covers a lot of ground. Students and experts study different tourism topics to get a handle on how travel and hospitality work and how we can make them better. Some specific topics people dig into:

  • How can we make tourism greener and more sustainable? This includes looking at the environmental impact of flights, cruise ships, hotels, etc.
  • Cultural tourism – like understanding how tourism affects local arts, traditions, ways of life positively and negatively.
  • Medical tourism – people traveling for cheaper healthcare.
  • Adventure tourism – researching the thrill-seeking niche.
  • Hospitality management – running hotels, airport logistics, etc. Behind the scenes.
  • Marketing destinations and travel deals.
  • Jobs and money – how tourism boosts or harms local economies.
  • Tourism laws and policies – smart regulations?
  • How technology is changing tourism – apps, VR trips, automation.

Basically, tourism research helps us get tourism. From green dream trips to mega resorts. Students pick topics to dive deep into all aspects of this giant industry and recommend future improvements. The goal is to pick up knowledge that helps people in the real world.

How Do I Find The Right Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students?

Here are some tips for college students on finding good travel and tourism research topic ideas:

How Do I Find The Right Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students?

1. Think About Your Interests

  • What aspects of tourism are you most passionate about? Sustainability? Cultural preservation? Economics? Identify your interests first.

2. Look at Emerging Tourism Trends

  • Explore rising issues like over-tourism, technology, and health and wellness trips. Researching a hot topic can be highly relevant.

3. Consult the Experts

  • Ask your professors, librarians, and department advisors about gaps in current research. Finding an understudied niche can lead to great opportunities.

4. Scan Academic Journals

  • Look at recent journals to see tourism topics other scholars are investigating. This can provide inspiration.

5. Consider Accessibility

  • Can you realistically research this topic based on your location, budget, and resources? Localized tourism allows for interviews, surveys, and site visits.

6. Define a Specific Focus

  • “Sustainable Tourism Strategies in Jamaica” is better than “Sustainability in Tourism.” Dig into a particular, well-defined angle.

7. Search Tourism Example Research Topics

  • Look at other schools’ research prompts and samples for ideas. Discover what issues scholars tackle.

8. Make it Interdisciplinary

  • Combine tourism with disciplines like business, anthropology, or communications for intriguing intersections.

What Are Some Good Topics Related To Tourism And Hospitality For My Thesis?

Here are some potential thesis topics related to tourism and hospitality presented in a table format:

Thesis TopicFocus
Strategies for sustainable restaurant practicesSustainability in hospitality
Training programs to support indigenous tour guidingCultural tourism
Economic impacts of medical tourism in Latin AmericaMedical tourism
Risk management for adventure tourism operatorsAdventure tourism
Addressing labor shortages in the hospitality industryHospitality management
Accessibility practices in boutique hotelsHospitality & disability studies
Digital marketing strategies for tourism boardsTourism marketing
Overtourism: Causes, implications, and solutionsSustainable tourism
Wellness tourism opportunities in Southeast AsiaMarket research
COVID-19 transformational impacts on the cruise industryHospitality & crisis management

List of 200+ Best Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

Here are the tourism research topics ideas for college students:

Sustainable Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Sustainable tourism practices and their impact on local economies
  • Ecotourism: Balancing conservation and visitor experience
  • Green initiatives in the hotel industry: A case study analysis
  • Community-based tourism for sustainable development
  • The role of government policies in promoting sustainable tourism
  • Assessing the carbon footprint of popular tourist destinations
  • Wildlife conservation and its influence on tourism strategies
  • Sustainable transportation in the tourism sector
  • The economic benefits of sustainable tourism in developing countries
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of eco-certifications in the tourism industry

Cultural Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Impact of cultural festivals on tourism in different regions
  • Heritage tourism: Preserving the past for future generations
  • Cultural exchange programs and their contribution to tourism
  • Role of museums and galleries in promoting cultural tourism
  • Cultural diversity and its influence on tourist preferences
  • The impact of indigenous tourism on local communities
  • Revitalization of cultural heritage sites for tourism purposes
  • Cultural differences in tourist behavior: A cross-cultural analysis
  • The role of technology in preserving and promoting cultural heritage
  • Religious tourism: Pilgrimages and their significance in the modern era

Medical Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Factors influencing the growth of medical tourism
  • The impact of globalization on medical tourism trends
  • Quality assessment in international healthcare services for medical tourists
  • The role of advertising in attracting medical tourists to specific destinations
  • Ethical considerations in medical tourism: A case study approach
  • Economic implications of medical tourism for destination countries
  • Integrating traditional and modern medicine in medical tourism destinations
  • Medical tourism and its effect on local healthcare infrastructure
  • Patient satisfaction in medical tourism: A comparative study
  • Legal and regulatory challenges in the medical tourism industry

Adventure Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Risk management in adventure tourism activities
  • Extreme sports tourism: Trends and challenges
  • Adventure tourism and its impact on local ecosystems
  • Psychological aspects of adventure tourism: A case study approach
  • Adventure tourism marketing strategies in the digital age
  • Cultural sensitivity in adventure tourism: A comparative analysis
  • Community involvement in the development of adventure tourism destinations
  • The role of technology in enhancing the adventure tourism experience
  • Adventure tourism and its potential for community empowerment
  • Adventure tourism and the concept of responsible travel

Dark Tourism Research Paper Topics & Ideas For College Students

  • Motivations of Tourists Visiting Dark Tourism Sites
  • Ethical considerations in dark tourism: A critical analysis
  • Dark tourism and its impact on local communities
  • The role of media in shaping perceptions of dark tourism destinations
  • Historical preservation vs. commercialization in dark tourism
  • Visitor experiences at war memorial sites: A comparative study
  • Dark tourism and the representation of traumatic events
  • The impact of guided tours on the interpretation of dark tourism sites
  • Psychosocial effects of dark tourism on visitors
  • Tourism and the commemoration of tragic events: A global perspective

Hospitality Management Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Trends in Hotel management: A Case Study Analysis
  • The impact of online reviews on hotel bookings
  • Employee satisfaction in the hospitality industry
  • Technology adoption in hospitality services: Challenges and opportunities
  • Sustainable practices in hotel operations
  • The role of leadership in ensuring quality service in hotels
  • Customer loyalty programs in the hospitality sector
  • Impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry: A case study approach
  • Innovations in hotel design and architecture
  • Cross-cultural communication in the Hospitality Workforce

Tourism Marketing Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Digital marketing strategies for tourism destinations
  • Social media influence on travel decision-making
  • Destination branding: A case study of successful campaigns
  • The role of influencers in promoting tourist destinations
  • Event marketing and its impact on tourism
  • Sustainable tourism marketing: Communicating green initiatives
  • Niche tourism markets: Identifying and targeting specific segments
  • Cultural sensitivity in international tourism marketing
  • The impact of celebrity endorsements on destination popularity
  • The role of technology in personalized tourism marketing

Economic Impact of Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Economic benefits of mega-events for host cities
  • Tourism as a catalyst for rural economic development
  • The role of small businesses in the tourism supply chain
  • Economic diversification through tourism in developing countries
  • The impact of tourism on income distribution in local communities
  • Tourism taxation and its effects on destination competitiveness
  • The role of infrastructure development in attracting tourism investments
  • Economic resilience of tourist destinations in times of crisis
  • Measuring the economic impact of cultural events on tourism
  • Economic indicators and their correlation with tourism growth

Tourism Policy and Planning Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Analyzing the effectiveness of national tourism policies
  • Community involvement in tourism planning and decision-making
  • Tourism master plans and their implementation challenges
  • Sustainable tourism development in protected areas
  • Crisis management in tourism: Lessons from past events
  • The role of public-private partnerships in tourism development
  • Urban planning and its impact on tourism in major cities
  • The influence of global events on destination planning
  • Accessibility and its role in tourism destination development
  • Stakeholder collaboration in regional tourism planning

Tourism and Technology Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Augmented reality in enhancing tourist experiences
  • The role of artificial intelligence in personalized travel recommendations
  • Big data analytics in tourism: Challenges and opportunities
  • The impact of virtual reality on destination marketing
  • Smart tourism destinations: Integrating technology for sustainable growth
  • Blockchain technology in improving tourism security
  • Mobile applications and their role in enhancing the tourist experience
  • Online travel agencies and their impact on traditional tourism businesses
  • The role of chatbots in customer service in the tourism industry
  • Social media analytics for measuring tourism destination popularity

Tourism and Climate Change Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Climate change adaptation strategies for coastal tourism destinations
  • Carbon offset programs in the travel industry
  • The impact of climate change on winter tourism
  • Sustainable transportation and its role in reducing tourism-related emissions
  • Climate change awareness among tourists: A global perspective
  • Green infrastructure in tourism destinations to mitigate climate change effects
  • The role of tourism in raising awareness about climate change
  • Sustainable energy practices in the hospitality sector
  • Climate change and its influence on tourist behavior
  • Policy measures for climate-resilient tourism development

Tourism Education and Training Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Curriculum development for tourism and hospitality programs
  • The role of experiential learning in tourism education
  • Internship programs and their impact on student preparedness for the industry
  • The effectiveness of online learning in tourism education
  • Industry-academia collaboration in shaping tourism curricula
  • Soft skills development for success in the tourism sector
  • Role of mentorship in career development in the tourism industry
  • Diversity and inclusion in tourism education
  • Lifelong learning in the ever-evolving tourism industry
  • Bridging the gap between academia and industry in tourism education

Tourism and Cross-Cultural Communication Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Language barriers and their impact on tourist experiences
  • Cultural sensitivity in tourism marketing materials
  • Cross-cultural communication challenges in the hospitality sector
  • Cultural exchange programs and their influence on intercultural understanding
  • Role of interpreters in enhancing cross-cultural communication in tourism
  • The impact of cultural training for tourism professionals
  • Addressing stereotypes in cross-cultural interactions in tourism
  • Cross-cultural negotiation in the tourism industry
  • Tourist expectations and cross-cultural encounters
  • Cultural adaptation strategies for tourism businesses in foreign markets

Tourism and Risk Management Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Crisis communication in the tourism industry
  • Risk assessment in adventure tourism activities
  • Emergency preparedness in tourist destinations
  • The role of insurance in mitigating tourism-related risks
  • Crisis management and its impact on destination image
  • Cybersecurity threats in the tourism sector
  • Health and safety standards in the tourism industry
  • Natural disaster preparedness for tourist destinations
  • The psychological impact of perceived risks on tourist behavior
  • Legal aspects of risk management in the tourism industry

Tourism and Social Media Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Influencer marketing in the tourism industry
  • The impact of user-generated content on destination perception
  • Social media and crisis communication in the tourism sector
  • Instagrammability and its influence on travel decisions
  • The role of social media in promoting sustainable tourism practices
  • Online reputation management for tourist destinations
  • Social media analytics for measuring destination competitiveness
  • The use of virtual tours on social media platforms
  • Hashtag campaigns and their effectiveness in destination marketing
  • The influence of online communities on travel behavior

Accessible Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Inclusive tourism: Addressing the needs of travelers with disabilities
  • Accessible transportation options for tourists with mobility challenges
  • Universal design in tourism infrastructure
  • The role of technology in enhancing accessibility for tourists
  • Inclusive marketing strategies for accessible tourism destinations
  • Training programs for tourism professionals on accommodating diverse needs
  • Legal frameworks and regulations for accessible tourism
  • Accessible tourism and its impact on destination competitiveness
  • Innovative solutions for making tourist attractions more inclusive
  • Community engagement in promoting accessible tourism

Rural Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • The role of agritourism in rural economic development
  • Challenges and opportunities in promoting rural tourism
  • Cultural preservation in rural tourism destinations
  • Community-based tourism initiatives in rural areas
  • The impact of technology on rural tourism experiences
  • Sustainable agriculture practices in rural tourism development
  • The role of festivals and events in attracting tourists to rural areas
  • Rural homestays and their contribution to local economies
  • Ecological and cultural sustainability in rural tourism
  • The role of local communities in shaping rural tourism policies

Film Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • The influence of movies and TV shows on travel decisions
  • Film-induced tourism and its economic impact
  • Movie location tours and their popularity among tourists
  • The role of film festivals in promoting tourism destinations
  • Collaborations between the film industry and tourism boards
  • Celebrity endorsement and its impact on destination popularity
  • Cultural representation in films and its influence on tourism
  • Film-inspired marketing campaigns for tourist destinations
  • Challenges and benefits of managing film tourism impacts
  • The role of social media in promoting destinations featured in films

Tourism and Event Management Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Event tourism: Economic impacts and challenges
  • Festival management and its role in Destination Branding
  • The impact of mega-events on local communities
  • Sustainable practices in event management for tourism
  • Event sponsorship and its influence on destination promotion
  • Cultural and historical events as tourist attractions
  • Crisis management in the context of event tourism
  • Technology integration in event planning for tourism
  • Event tourism and its role in community development
  • Evaluating the success of events in achieving tourism objectives

Volunteer Tourism Research Topics Ideas For College Students

  • Motivations and expectations of volunteer tourists
  • Ethical considerations in volunteer tourism programs
  • The impact of volunteer tourism on local communities
  • Volunteer tourism and its contribution to sustainable development
  • Skill development through volunteer tourism experiences
  • Challenges in managing volunteer tourism projects
  • Cultural sensitivity in volunteer tourism initiatives
  • Volunteer tourism and its potential for cross-cultural understanding
  • Volunteer tourism as a tool for promoting responsible travel
  • Evaluating the long-term impact of volunteer tourism on participants and host communities

100+ Most Interesting And Recent Tourism Research Topics Pdf

Here are the tourism research topics ideas for college students pdf:

Good Research Title For Tourism Students

Here are some suggested tourism research title ideas that college students could explore, presented in a table format:

research title about tourism and hospitality

Good Research Title About Tourism And HospitalityArea of Focus
Implementing Water Conservation Systems in HotelsSustainable Tourism
Impact of Home-Sharing on Hotel RevenuesHospitality Management
Virtual Reality and its Potential Applications for Travel PlanningTourism Marketing
Cultural Preservation Through Community-Based Tourism InitiativesCultural Tourism
Factors Influencing Medical Tourism Growth in Southeast AsiaMedical Tourism
Gender Representation in Adventure Tourism MarketingAdventure Tourism
Overtourism: Causes, Impacts, and Potential SolutionsSustainable Tourism
How Covid-19 Transformed Traveler Expectations and DemandsHospitality Management
How COVID-19 Transformed Traveler Expectations and DemandsDark Tourism
Accessibility Practices Among Bed and Breakfast EstablishmentsSustainable Tourism

Tourism research topics ideas for college students open doors to a world of possibilities. These topics offer diverse info, ranging from sustainable tourism practices to the influence of social media on travel decisions. As college students, these ideas provide a roadmap for investigation and discovery.

Diving into sustainable tourism, students can unravel the impacts of eco-certifications or delve into the economic benefits of green initiatives. Cultural tourism beckons with topics like heritage preservation and the role of museums in attracting visitors. For those interested in the intersection of healthcare and travel, medical tourism topics explore factors influencing its growth and ethical considerations.

The good tourism topics the daring, touching on risk management and the psychological aspects of extreme sports. Delving into the unique realm of dark tourism, students can examine visitor motivations and ethical concerns. Hospitality management topics invite exploration of trends, online reviews, and hotel leadership roles.

From tourism marketing to economic impacts and policy planning, these ideas are the best ideas for students to explore, offering academic enrichment and real-world implications for the industry. As students work on their research endeavors, these simple yet profound topics hold the potential to shape their understanding of the dynamic and evolving field of tourism.

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Tourism Teacher

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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Tourism Development, Sustainability, and Inclusion

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The tourism field of study covers multiple perspectives like the tourism experience, tourism forms (e.g., mass tourism, heritage tourism, ecotourism), tourism’s history, driving forces of tourism demand, and the effects of tourism on the economy, social fabric, cultural and environmental spheres of the ...

Keywords : Triple Bottom Line, Inclusion, Sustainable development, Social sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, Tourism

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, sustainability in hospitality and tourism: a review of key research topics from 1994 to 2020.

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN : 0959-6119

Article publication date: 23 March 2022

Issue publication date: 26 July 2022

The purpose of this study is to examine the scientific research related to sustainability in hospitality and tourism from 1994 to 2020 by conducting bibliometric and science mapping analyses and to discuss the implications for prospective research opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

Keyword co-occurrences with 2,980 published papers collected from the Web of Science (Social Science Citation Index and Emerging Sources Citation Index) were used for the bibliometric-based analysis. The authors use SciMAT software which offers relevant outputs, such as research themes and graphical outputs (strategic diagrams, cluster networks and science mapping representing the temporal evolution of the themes).

The findings show that biodiversity conservation, sustainable attitudes, climate change, protected areas, satisfaction and environmental management were the focal motor-themes in the studied periods. Additionally, four areas for future investigation are identified and discussed: sustainable behavior and environmental sustainability; consumption, demand and economic growth; tourism development and strategies; and rural tourism, poverty, ethics and education.

Research limitations/implications

This analysis shows insightful results processing a high number of published documents. However, the authors recommend further research focused on qualitative literature review for each critical topic.

Originality/value

The authors are unaware of analogous, completed and recent work about sustainability in hospitality and tourism. The authors believe this article is of great value to academics and practitioners because it synthesizes and disseminates the research topic while providing an outstanding basis for identifying research opportunities.

  • Bibliometric analysis
  • Science mapping analysis
  • Sustainability
  • Hospitality

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the University of Castilla-La Mancha for the financial support provided for this research under the Call for Research Groups (Reference: 2021-GRIN-31010), and to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the 2019 Call for R&D Projects (Project reference number: PID2019-105726RB-I00).

Molina-Collado, A. , Santos-Vijande, M.L. , Gómez-Rico, M. and Madera, J.M. (2022), "Sustainability in hospitality and tourism: a review of key research topics from 1994 to 2020", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , Vol. 34 No. 8, pp. 3029-3064. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2021-1305

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Tourism and Hospitality Dissertation Topics

Published by Grace Graffin at January 10th, 2023 , Revised On May 17, 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 .

You can review step by step guide on how to write your dissertation  here.

Latest Tourism Research Topics 

Investigating how the tourism industry has taken green and sustainable measures- a case study of uk.

Research Aim: This study will investigate the various aspects of the UK tourism industry geared towards making green and sustainable measures for environmental benefits. It will also look into the consumer’s perspective towards green tourism and its positive and negative impacts on the tourism industry and the tourists. It also helps you better understand the concept of a green environment and its influence on the tourism industry.

Environmental Management Systems and their Implementation in the UK- A Systematic Review.

Research Aim: This study will explore the quality of environmental management systems, environmental performance, improvements, and implementation in the UK. We will focus on different companies with high environmental impacts and how they have improved the environment and the use of environmental management systems (EMS). This study will also look into how it has changed or influenced the hospitality industry.

Investigating the impact of Social Media Recommendations on Hotel Booking in the UK.

Research Aim: Social media is a part of every aspect of our daily life. This research will investigate the influence of social media on tourism and specifically on choosing a hotel; it will also help you evaluate if consumers perceive social media-based recommendations differently than more traditional sources of internet-based marketing. Qualitative research will be used in this, followed by thematic analysis to find the role of social media in recommendations and influencing consumers’ searches. This will help us better understand how VR makes decisions and hotel bookings.

Assessing the Impact of Virtual Reality on Tourism.

Research Aim: Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology in tourism. This study will find the impact of virtual reality on the tourism industry. It will also investigate consumer behaviour towards it. We will better understand how VR has affected the tourism industry and significantly influenced the results. TAM research model will be developed to describe the nature of the 3D virtual world. It will also cover some psychological aspects to understand the consumer perspective.

Role of Social Media Marketing in deciding a Travel Destination- A Systematic Review.

Research Aim: This study investigates the role of social media marketing in deciding a travel destination. This study aims to find and understand how social media can achieve marketing objectives. Taking a quantitative approach, we will find the role of social media marketing and its effect on making travel choices through interviews and surveys. It will further explore the tourist’s perception, expectations, and experiences.

Investigating the Negative Impact of Travel Bans

Research Aim: This study explores the negative effects of travel bans on social, economic, cultural, and public health aspects. The study aims to analyse the repercussions of travel restrictions to inform policymaking. It will further investigate ways to avoid adverse consequences while promoting global mobility and cooperation. 

An Exploration of the Hospitality Industry Wages

Research Aim: To investigate the wage structures in the hospitality industry. This study explores factors influencing disparities and evaluates their implications. Insights will be provided on wage fairness, workplace satisfaction, gender discrimination, and industry competitiveness. It will also cover policies and practices to improve employee well-being and organisational performance.

Effects of Covid-19 on Tourism and Hospitality Dissertation Topics 

Topic 1: tourism after coronavirus pandemic - way forward for tourism and hospitality industry in the uk or any other country of your choice.

Research Aim: Tourism is a reason for most of the human mobility in the modern world. According to the World Tourism Organisation (2020), international tourism has indicated continuous growth for the tenth consecutive year, reporting 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals in 2019 and an estimated 1.8 billion international tourist arrivals by 2030 )people are forecasted to be. This particular research will focus on the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak on the tourism and hospitality industry in the United Kingdom or any other country of your choice.

Topic 2: Investigating the Long Term Effects of Prolonged and New Travel Restrictions on the UK Tourism Industry

Research Aim: Britain will require anyone entering the country to self-quarantine for two weeks, and other European countries are pondering similar measures, but the prospects of prolonged and even new travel restrictions are destroying what hopes the continent’s airlines and tourist industry have been harbouring of at least a partial coronavirus rebound. Can the tourism sector of the UK overcome these challenges?

Topic 3: Coronavirus: Dubai Tourism Insists Emirate's Hotel Sector is Healthy, Rejects Bloomberg Report but Is It Really the Case?

Research Aim: Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has denied a Bloomberg report about the emirate’s hospitality businesses adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This research will employ primary research methodology to gather data from the key stakeholders of the Emirates hotel industry to assess whether or not the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is causing panic and financial damage to the hotel industry.

Topic 4: Will Easing the Travel Restrictions Benefit the UK Tourism Sector in the Short Term?

Research Aim: Many European countries, including the UK, are easing lockdown measures, including tourist destinations preparing for the summer. Cafes and restaurants in London and other cities hardest hit by the virus in the UK have opened two weeks behind the rest of the country. However, with most travellers preferring to stay home in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, how effective are these measures going to be?

Topic 5: Coronavirus outbreak: Caribbean Tourism Struggles as Visitors Stay Home

Research Aim: In the Caribbean, the government plans to require all visitors to undergo rapid Covid-19 testing upon entry. They hope provisions such as virus tests for all industry workers and socially distanced resort dining will make people feel comfortable travelling. This research study will explore whether the measures taken by the Caribbean government will actually encourage the visitors to leave the comfort of their home and travel in the midst of the Covid-19 Crisis.

Ecotourism and Community Participation Dissertation Topics 

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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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.

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Your dissertation may seem daunting if you do not pace yourself. Getting started on it as soon as possible is the best thing you can do. Research and writing will take more time if your paper is better. Your corporate governance dissertation is giving you trouble if you picked the wrong topic.

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Tourism refers to an activity of taking a break from a busy work life and travelling to different places for amusement or recreation purposes. It has become an important source of economic progress for many countries. Tourism research can help explore factors that contribute to economic progress. Choosing interesting tourism dissertation topics can provide students with the opportunity to recommend tourism development strategies.

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Thesis topics in tourism marketing and international tourism, how to draft a good dissertation topic for tourism and hospitality management dissertation.

A good topic is crucial for a quality dissertation and a high score in the tourism module. To find a topic for your research, explore your interests and look for related literature online or discuss with your supervisor. You can also review the list provided above.

Here, are some listed research topics for tourism industry that will help you select a topic that meets your tourism research interests;

  • Dissertation topics in tourism management  
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Choosing an interesting and relevant topic in tourism can lead to a high score in the tourism dissertation module.

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Current Tourism research projects

Tourism at otago is a highly research-active department.

Our staff are committed to a range of relevant, on-going research projects. These include climate change and aviation, well-being and migration, environmental management, cultural tourism development, Aboriginal culture tourism in Australia, and the social practices and governance of leisure and events.

Current research projects within the Department of Tourism are listed below, categorised by surname in alphabetic order:

Julia Albrecht’s current research projects

Sustainability in destination management.

This ongoing collaboration encompasses a range of projects that seek to identify factors and processes relevant to integrating sustainability in destination management. Several works take a comparative approach, looking at destinations in Austria and New Zealand.

Research collaborator

Dr Marco Haid (UMIT Tirol, Austria)

Involving children in destination planning and management

Although children are increasingly acknowledged as legitimate stakeholders in tourism destinations, representation of their interests has not yet been formalised in destination planning and management processes. This research project identifies and empirically assesses existing approaches to children’s involvement in destination planning and management, as well as the nature of destination concerns where children are seen as stakeholders.

Eliza Raymond (Victoria University of Wellington; Centre for GOOD Travel)

Technology in tourism visitor experiences

This project explores and assesses current uses of technology in tourism products and experiences among tourism businesses in Otago and Southland. A key research aim is to obtain an understanding of the assumptions and attitudes behind the selection and use of technology in nature-based and cultural visitor experiences.

Dr Stu Hayes (Department of Tourism)

Anna Carr's current research projects

Good nature, bad nature.

Good Nature, Bad Nature is a Marsden-funded research project exploring the current and future management of invasive species, and peoples' values associated with contentious species.

This study will help us understand how attitudes to invasive species are formed, and consequently how to generate support for their current and future management.

Research collaborators

  • Professor Brent Lovelock, University of Otago
  • Claire Dowsett and Matthias Spall, PhD students
  • Anna Clark, Research Assistant

Environmental management of tourism

This research focuses on ecotourism, ecopreneurship and sustainable SMTEs. From 1999 to 2002 Anna worked alongside Professor James Higham on a nationwide FRST funded project investigating Ecotourism in New Zealand: profiling visitors to New Zealand ecotourism operations. In 2005 Anna had an Otago Research Grant to study Māori owned nature tourism businesses. Recreation

Anna's interests here surround wilderness recreation planning and the history of alpine and polar region recreation. From 2009-2010 she has undertaken numerous externally funded projects in this area. Anna received SPARC (SportNZ) funding for a project on 'Family preferences, experiences and benefits associated with outdoor in Aotearoa' (Project Leader: Anna Thompson) and was co-investigator on two other projects 'Immigrants and the Outdoors' (Project Leader: Brent Lovelock) and 'Enduring Participation in Outdoor Recreation' (Project Leader: Brent Lovelock). Other notable research included visitor studies commissioned by the Department of Conservation in the Hakatere, Ahuriri and Ruataniwha Conservation Parks.

Cultural landscapes and cultural tourism development

Anna's PhD (1998-2004) examined the management of visitors' experiences of cultural landscapes in New Zealand. As a result she was an invited director of Te Ana Whakairo (Māori Rock Art Centre Trust) from 2007-2011. She continues to study how cultural identity influences tourism development and land management through cultural values for landscapes, visitor demand for cultural tourism, cultural tourism entrepreneurship and cross cultural visitor interpretation. Recently, she collaborated on a book chapter exploring cultural dissonance and indigenous peoples with Canadian researchers.

In 2012–2013 she was awarded an Otago Research Grant as Principal investigator with Diane Ruwhiu (Management). The ORG will explore Māori business networks.

Stu Hayes' current research projects

Measuring the economic value of the te manahuna mackenzie basin hydro canal fishery.

This study is funded by Fish & Game New Zealand, the statutory managers of New Zealand’s freshwater sport fish. The study will gather key information about the expenditure of anglers fishing on the hydro-electric canals in Te Manahuna Mackenzie Basin, one of the most popular trout and salmon fisheries in New Zealand. Fish & Game New Zealand are interested in evaluating the overall economic impact of the canals fishery to the local community. The data will assist Fish & Game New Zealand in their planning and management of this fishery.

  • Professor Brent Lovelock – Department of Tourism, University of Otago
  • Dr Viktoria Kahui and Joel Hjelte – Department of Economics, University of Otago

Inclusive leisure for the LGBTTQIA2S+ community in Aotearoa New Zealand

We know that the LGBTTQIA2S+ community around the world faces barriers to access, participation, and inclusion across the spectrum of leisure. Our study focusses on LGBTTQIA2S+ issues in relation to leisure participation from the communities' perspectives. One outcome of this study will be to produce a resource that will be made available to leisure providers globally (i.e., booklet of ‘best practice’ case studies, tips for improving inclusive practices etc.).

  • Dr Willem Coetzee – University of Western Sydney, Australia
  • Hannah McKeeman – University of Otago

Use of technology in nature-based and cultural tourism visitor experiences and related product development

Technology offers a multitude of ways in which tourism products and experiences can be delivered differently. These range from fundamental changes that lead to completely different sets of products and experiences (such as Virtual and Augmented Reality) to comparatively minor adaptations (such as traditional products and experiences delivered online; traditional products and experiences with an added technical tool or component, for example use of an iPad to show a video pertaining to a site or attraction). It is not currently known how and to what extent tourism businesses in New Zealand make use of technological advances to improve or augment the products and experiences they offer. In a similar vein, we know little to nothing about their attitudes towards the relevant technologies that inform their related decision making (or the lack thereof). Our research seeks to explore and assess current uses of technology in tourism products and experiences among tourism businesses representatives in Otago and Southland.

  • Associate Professor Julia Albrecht – University of Otago
  • Dr Naji Gharibi – Victoria University of Wellington
  • Professor Brent Lovelock – University of Otago
  • Associate Professor Anna Carr – University of Otago
  • Claire Dowsett, Matthias Spall, and Eru Metcalf – University of Otago

Understanding how purposeful interventions in tourism education shape students' global citizenship

In light of ongoing socio-ecological issues associated with tourism, there have been growing calls for tourism educators to develop curricula aimed at enhancing students' sense of what might best be termed 'tourism global citizenship', and in which values-based intended learning outcomes (ILOs) focusing on stewardship, ethics and mutuality are foregrounded. The purpose of this teaching-related research is to understand how, and the extent to which, if at all, planned interventions in tourism curricula influence students' global citizenship, with a particular focus on stewardship, ethics and mutuality. This research is being conducted in conjunction with the Degrees of Change collaborative project.

  • Professor Hazel Tucker – University of Otago
  • Professor John Tribe and Associate Professor Brendan Paddison – York St John University, UK

Weaving Indigenous content into tourism curricula in Aotearoa New Zealand

In Aoteraoa New Zealand, where Indigenous culture is part of the fabric of society, tourism professionals are increasingly being called on to embed Māori values and ways of thinking in decision-making. Tourism students represent the crucial link between academia and the tourism industry. Subsequently, tourism curricula have an important role to play in enabling students to incorporate these values and knowledge into future tourism decision-making. This research asks, 'What best practice approaches inform effective engagement with mana whenua and Māori tourism professionals to ensure the integrity of Indigenous content in the curriculum?'

  • Sequoia Short – University of Otago

Honorary James Higham's current research projects

Climate change and aviation.

This research programme was initiated in 2009 by a research project titled 'climate change and long-haul aviation to Aotearoa/New Zealand' (with Dr. Scott Cohen, University of Surrey).  
This project examined climate change perceptions and attitudes towards long-haul aviation in three European travel markets; Norway, the United Kingdom and Germany. This programme of research has diversified into various collaborative projects that address air travel consumer behavior, behavioural and psychological approaches to understanding contemporary leisure/tourist mobility, and the 'flyers' dilemma'.

  • Dr Scott Cohen (University of Surrey)
  • Professor Stefan Gössling (Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies)
  • Associate Professor Paul Peeters (NHTV Breda)
  • Dr Christina Cavaliere (Stockton University)
  • Dr Arianne Reis (Southern Cross University)
  • Dr Martin Young (Southern Cross University)
  • Wiebke Finkler (University of Otago)

Selected publications

  • Peeters, P., Higham, J.E.S., Kutzner, D., Cohen, S. & Gössling, S. (2016). Are technology myths stalling aviation climate policy? Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 44:30-42.
  • Higham, J.E.S., Cohen, S.A., Cavaliere, C.T., Reis, A.C. & Finkler, W. (2016). Climate change, tourist air travel and radical emissions reduction. Journal of Cleaner Production, 111:336-347. Special Issue on Sustainable Tourism
  • Young, M., Markham, F., Reis, A. & Higham, J.E.S. (2015). 'Flights of fantasy': A theoretical reformulation of the 'flyers' dilemma'. Annals of Tourism Research 54: 1–15.
  • Higham, J.E.S., Reis, A.C. & Cohen, S.A. (2015). Australian climate concern and the 'attitude-behaviour gap'. Current Issues in Tourism. 19(4): 338-354.
  • Young, M., Higham, J.E.S. & Reis, A. (2014). Up in the Air: A conceptual critique of flying addiction. Annals of Tourism Research. 41:51-64.
  • Higham, J.E.S., Cohen, S.A., & Cavaliere, C.T. (2014). Climate change, discretionary air travel and the 'flyers' dilemma'. Journal of Travel Research. 53(4): 462-475.
  • Cohen, S.A., Higham, J.E.S. & Cavaliere, C.T. (2011). Binge flying: Behavioural addiction and climate change. Annals of Tourism Research 38(3): 1070-1089.
  • Higham, J.E.S. & Cohen, S.A. (2011). Canary in the coalmine: Norwegian attitudes towards climate change and extreme long-haul air travel to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Tourism Management 32(1): 98-105.
  • Higham, J.E.S. & Shelton, E. (2011). Tourism and wildlife habituation: Reduced population fitness or cessation of impact? Tourism Management 32(4):1290-1298.
  • Cohen, S.A. & Higham, J.E.S. (2011). Eyes wide shut? UK Consumer perceptions on aviation climate impacts and travel decisions to New Zealand. Current Issues in Tourism 14(4):323-335.

Low Carbon Mobility Transitions

Initiated in 2013 this project addresses low carbon mobility transitions in tourism and transportation. A focus of this work has fallen upon climate change, aviation and academic/lifestyle mobilities. The research contends that little attention has been paid to the professional mobilities of members of the academic community, specifically in New Zealand. It aims to explore how institutional norms, policies and procedures as well as individual preferences and behaviours can impact upon and influence everyday mobility practices.

  • Dr Debbie Hopkins (University of Oxford, UK)
  • Dr Caroline Orchiston (Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago)
  • Dr Tara Duncan (Dalarna University, Sweden)
  • Dr Scott Cohen (University of Surrey, UK)
  • Hopkins, D. & Higham, J.E.S. (Eds) (2016). Low carbon mobility transitions. Goodfellow Publishers: Oxford. ISBN: 978-1-910158-64-7 hbk; 978-1-910158-65-4 eBook.
  • Hopkins, D., Higham, J.E.S., Tapp, S. & Duncan, T. (2016). Academic travel in the Anthropocene: A comparative study of university policy at three New Zealand institutions. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 24(3): 376-397.

The social, political and economic risks of climate change to New Zealand

The University of Otago funded project explores the social, political and economic opportunities and risks to New Zealand arising from climate change. The multidisciplinary project deploys the 2014 5th IPCC Assessment to provide the context for a number of scenarios of climate change to the year 2100. It addresses expert insights into the impacts and implications of global climate scenarios for New Zealand's economic, social and political life. Objectives include assessment of the relative valence of impacts (the “mega-drivers”) and the strength of the interaction effects between them.

  • Professor Colin Campbell-Hunt (Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago)
  • Dr Ben Wooliscroft (Department of Marketing, University of Otago)
  • Dr Lynette Carter (Te Tumu, University of Otago)
  • Dr Daniel Kingston (Department of Geography, University of Otago)
  • Dr Sara Walton (Department of Management, University of Otago)
  • Professor Ivan Diaz-Rainey (Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Otago)
  • Dr Chris Rosin (formerly Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago).
  • Hopkins, D., Campbell-Hunt, C., Carter, L., Higham, J.E.S. & Rosin, C. (2016). Climate Change and Aotearoa/New Zealand: A Review. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 6(6), 559-583.
  • Hopkins, D., Higham, J.E.S., & Becken, S. (2012) Climate change in a regional context: relative vulnerability in the Australasian skier market, Regional Environmental Change 13(2): 449-458. IF: 1.945.

Sustainable tourism and resilience

This programme of research addresses the spatio-temporal aspects of sustainable tourism and the increasing relevance of resilience planning in tourism systems.

  • Dr Stephen Espiner (Lincoln University, New Zealand)
  • Dr Sam Spector (Queenstown Resort College, New Zealand)
  • Dr Adam Doering ( Wakayama University, Japan)
  • Spector, S., Higham, J.E.S. & Doering, A. (2017). Beyond the biosphere: Tourism, outer space, and sustainability. Tourism Recreation Research, 42(3): 273-283.
  • Espiner, S., Orchiston, C. & Higham, J.E.S. (2017). Resilience and sustainability: a complementary relationship? Towards a practical conceptual model for the sustainability resilience nexus in tourism.
  • Journal of Sustainable Tourism http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1281929 .
  • Bramwell, B., Higham, J.E.S., Lane, B. & Miller, G. (2017). Twenty-five years of sustainable tourism: Looking back and moving forward. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 25(1) http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1251689 .
  • Bramwell, B., Higham, J.E.S., Lane, B. & Miller, G. (2016). Advocacy or neutrality? Disseminating research findings, and driving change toward sustainable tourism, in a fast changing world. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 24(1): 1-8

Sustainable marine tourism and cetaceans

This multidisciplinary programme brings together research in the social and natural sciences to address complex issues of sustainability relating to human interactions with cetaceans. Key collaborators in this field include Prof. Lars Bejder (Murdoch University), Dr. Rob Williams (University of St. Andrews) and Associate Professor Katja Neves (Concordia University).

  • Professor Lars Bejder (Murdoch University, Australia)
  • Dr David Lusseau (University of Aberdeen, UK)
  • Dr Rob Williams (University of St. Andrews, UK)
  • Associate Professor Katja Neves (Concordia University, Canada)
  • Higham, J.E.S., Bejder, L. & Williams, R. (Eds). (2014). Whale-watching, sustainable tourism and ecological management. Cambridge University Press. 418pp. ISBN: 978-0-521-19597-3.
  • Higham, J.E.S., Bejder, L., Allen, S., Corkeron, P. & Lusseau, D. (2015). Managing whale-watching as a non-lethal consumptive activity. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 24(1): 73-90.
  • Heenehan, H., Basurto, X., Bejder, L. Tyne, J., Higham, J.E.S. & Johnston, D.W. (2015). Using Ostrom's common pool resource theory to build towards an integrated ecosystem based sustainable cetacean tourism system in Hawai`i. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 23(4): 536-556.

Prospects for managing tourism development in protected areas in a period of transition (PROTOUR)

This research project, funded by the Norway Research Council (2012-2014), is a comparative analysis of protected area policy relating to tourism and recreation in New Zealand and Norway. The research includes a policy analysis exploring New Zealand conservation policy as it relates to tourism and recreation and a comparative analysis of visitor management planning in New Zealand and Norway.

  • Dr Jan Vidar Haukeland (University of Life Sciences, Norway)
  • Dr Odd Inge Haukeland (NINA, Norway)
  • Professor Kreg Lindberg (Oregan State University, USA)
  • Higham, J.E.S., Haukeland, J.V., Hopkins, D., Vistad, O.I., Lindberg, K. & Daugstad, K. (2016). National Parks policy and planning: A comparative analysis of friluftsliv (Norway) and the dual mandate (New Zealand). Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events 8(2):146-175.

Brent Lovelock's current research projects

  • Associate Professor Anna Carr (University of Otago)

New Zealanders travelling abroad for medical services: Motivations, destination choice, behaviours and post-trip outcomes

This study focuses on the experiences of individual medical tourists. It investigates the motivations, destination choices, behaviours and experiences of medical tourists, using in-depth semi-structured interviews with a nationally recruited sample of returned medical tourists in New Zealand. The analysis addresses the extent to which medical tourism fits accepted models of tourist motivation, destination choice and behaviour. This research will offer useful insights into the process and experience of medical tourism and could ultimately assist with developing patient/traveller-focussed decision-making aids. The study will also be of value to policy makers and programme planners, dealing with new patterns of healthcare procurement.

  • Dr Kirsten Lovelock (Dept Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago)

Exploring the nature of the medical tourism industry, India

This study is funded by a New Zealand India Research Institute grant. Utilising a case study approach based on medical tourism provision in Delhi, this pilot project explores: the nature of the medical tourism industry, and its relationship with local health service delivery, along with the connection between health care providers and the tourism industry. We document medical tourist experiences, the experiences of the health care work force and perceptions of health care stakeholders in this locale. This locality based study provides the springboard for a collaborative longitudinal multi-sited research programme which will address the implications of medical tourism for health care in India, and for health care and tourism systems more generally.

  • Dr Kirsten Lovelock, (Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago)
  • Associate Professor Santosh Kumar (Institute of Health Management, Jaipur, India)
  • Associate Professor Monika Prakash (Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel , Gwalior, India)

Understanding Commitment and Enduring Involvement in Outdoor Recreation in New Zealand

This study provides an analysis of commitment and enduring involvement in nature-based outdoor recreation in New Zealand. It assesses the levels of commitment and enduring involvement as well as measuring the importance of a range of personal, social and environmental influences upon commitment and enduring involvement. It is one of the first comprehensive studies of ongoing commitment/involvement in outdoor recreation in New Zealand, it also is one of the first studies to expand on our understanding of the Sport Commitment Model outside of the competitive, and youth, sporting arena and into a nature-based recreational setting. Four key outdoor recreation activities are examined; hunting, fishing, mountaineering and tramping. Funded by Sport New Zealand research grant.

  • Dr Anna Thompson (Department of Tourism, University of Otago)
  • Dr Carla Jellum

Destination Competitiveness for Hunting Tourism

An ongoing project, this study considers the factors that impact upon the competitiveness of destinations for tourism that involves hunting (big game) and shooting. Dr Lovelock has undertaken work in a number of destinations (Scotland, Poland, New Zealand) and will be shortly conducting fieldwork in Botswana and Tanzania that addresses the institutional, legislative, social, economic, political and environmental factors that impact upon the activities of hunting tourism operators and upon destination level competitiveness for this niche tourism activity.

Susan Mackenzie's current research projects

Regenerative tourism and community well-being in aotearoa new zealand.

This research project investigates how destination managers and policy makers across Aotearoa develop regenerative destination management plans, and how community wellbeing is operationalised, measured and monitored these plans. As there is currently little agreement or definitive guidance on how to develop, manage, and/or monitor regenerative destination, or how to monitor of community wellbeing in tourism destinations, this research will inform policy and practice for government and tourism agencies.

Flow in adventure sport, tourism and recreation contexts

This ongoing line of research seeks to understand the antecedents, characteristics, and consequences of optimal psychological states such as 'flow' experiences (also known as 'the zone') across a range of adventure contexts for participants, competitors, and adventure guides.

Exploring links between psychological well-being and nature-based adventure

This ongoing line of research seeks to understand how nature-based adventure is linked to psychological well-being. This research has various streams as it spans nature-based adventure in recreation, sport, education and tourism contexts. Some recent applications of this work have included investigations of: adventure guide well-being, women's well-being in adventure guiding contexts, conceptualising models of the mechanisms underpinning psychological well-being in adventure contexts, and adventure sport participation and well-being.

Pooneh Torabian's current research projects

Travelling to and from new zealand: experiences of international students.

This research uses a critical mobilities lens to investigate the experiences of international students travelling to and from New Zealand. This study explores the inequalities for international students who currently live and study in New Zealand. Interviews with the students so far has illustrated the inequalities in terms of unequal access to freedom of movement and the means of travel such as a passport and visa. In addition, passports, visas, and other travel documents are more than just legal documents but are means through which governments can impose their authority and regulate international travel through and across their borders.

  • Ali Mostolizadeh (Department of Sociology & Legal Studies, University of Waterloo, Canada)

'Vaccine Passports': Mobility Justice and unequal access to travel

Vaccine passport is a new term that has recently entered the vocabulary of nation-states and those involved in the travel industry. Although the introduction of vaccine passports would facilitate re-opening of borders and air travel and assists with reviving economic situation of nation-states, it also means that those who carrying proof of immunisation are the only ones who might be able to travel freely since the citizens of many countries will not have access to vaccines as well as vaccine passports in the near future. This study aims to illustrate how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the meaning of freedom of movement globally and how the introduction of vaccine passports perpetuates the inequalities in terms of unequal access to freedom of movement.

Arts and Migration: Women's Experiences of Resettlement and Integration

The aim of this research is to explore the role of arts and leisure in facilitating the community integration and resettlement of migrant women in New Zealand. The research question forming this Participatory Action Research ( PAR ) research is 'How can arts and leisure facilitate the community integration and resettlement of migrant women in Dunedin?' We have partnered with artists from the community to run workshops for women. Considering leisure beyond economic and functional spheres can help illuminate the negotiation of hybrid identities in unique surroundings through processes of adaptation, belonging and 'home' building. Through these workshops, women explore arts as a means to tell their stories of migration and resettlement into their new communities.

Funding for this project was provided by the Centre for Global Migrations at the University of Otago.

  • Dr Neil Vallelly (Department of English and Linguistics, University of Otago)
  • Professor Vivienne Anderson (College of Education, University of Otago)
  • Dr Parisa Saadat Abadi Nasab (Research Assistant, Department of Tourism, University of Otago)

Arts behind bars: Māori Men's experiences of participating in arts programmes at Otago Corrections Facility

This research aims to examine Māori men's experiences of participating in arts programmes at Otago Corrections Facility. The arts programmes in prisons have a range of benefits for participants such as distraction from everyday institutional life, purposeful rehabilitation, skills development, and creative self-expression. This qualitative research project involves interviews with Māori men who are currently serving a prison sentence in Otago Corrections Facility to explore their experiences of taking part in arts programmes. Specifically, this study uses narrative inquiry to centre the voices of Māori men and develop a nuanced understanding of the significance of arts programmes in rehabilitation of incarcerated Māori in New Zealand.

  • Rue-Jade Morgan (Foundation Studies, Otago Polytechnic)

Negotiating Parenthood: Exploring fathers' and mothers' transition to and from parental/maternity leave in academic world

Contemporary scholarship examining parental leave in university settings and its implications on career progression, while scarce, suggests that motherhood often disadvantages women's career progression. However, it is not entirely clear what institutional, interpersonal, and individual-level factors contribute to this disadvantage. This research project examines the role gender plays in shaping the experiences of pre/post-tenured parents who take parental leave. Conducting semi-structured interviews with male faculty who have become parents in the past five years, the study explores

  • a. How they negotiate the terms of their leave
  • b. What challenges they experience
  • c. What supports they require to transition back to work

Comparing fathers' and mothers' experiences of parental leave, we aim to better understand the role gender plays in shaping the experiences of these transitions. Given the steadily growing number of fathers taking parental leave, this research is both timely and important.

Funding for this research is provided by the University of Waterloo Gender Equity Grant.

  • Dr Karla Boluk (Department of Recreation & Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo, Canada)
  • Dr Elena Neiterman (School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Canada)

Hazel Tucker's current research projects

Exploring 'value' in heritage value.

Initiated in 2009 this project is aimed at opening and exploring debates surrounding heritage 'value', particularly relating to World Heritage. The project looks at the ways in which heritage construction for tourism can re-contextualize, or de-contextualize, culture and sites, thereby raising questions as to what is being valued, by whom and how? With current trends in 'critical heritage' moving away from the search for knowledge through formal structures and universal values and towards more nuanced approaches to heritage presentation, this project investigates ways in which heritage tourism can open up and be an expression of alternative values and narratives.

  • Dr. E. Carnegie, (University of Sheffield, UK).
  • Dr. A. Emge (Germany)
  • Dr. J. Zhang (University of Umea, Sweden).
  • Tucker, H. and Carnegie, E. (2014) 'World heritage and the Contradictions of Universal Value', in Annals of Tourism Research, Vol 47, 63-76.
  • Carnegie, E. and Tucker, H. (2013) 'Interpreting the Shared Past within the World Heritage Site of Goreme, Cappadocia, Turkey', in V. Golding and W. Modest (eds.) Museums and Communities: Curators, Collections and Collaboration, London: Bloomsbury (pp. 246-259).
  • Tucker, H. and Emge, A. (2010) 'Managing a World Heritage Site: The Case of Cappadocia', in Anatolia, Vol. 21(1), pp. 41-54.
  • Zhang, J. and Tucker, H. (2017) 'Knowing Subjects in an Unknown Place', in G. Hooper (ed.) Heritage and Identity, Florida: University of Florida Press.

Tourism, Narrative and Apocalyptic Thought

This programme of research explores links between tourism and apocalyptic thought. The idea that we are living in 'the end times' is gaining increasing scholarly attention because it impacts the ways in which societies engage with issues of ecological, economic and social concern. This research examines the relationship between apocalyptic thought and tourism, and in particular, 'last chance'/heritage tourism, defined as when 'tourists explicitly seek vanishing landscapes or seascapes, and/or disappearing natural and/or social heritage' (Lemelin et al., 2010). A current project under this programme is exploring the emotional / affective links between tourism and apocalyptic thought, with a particular focus on 'hope' and /or 'pessimism' production in tourism. Building on theoretical discussions on contemporary apocalyptic thought in the broader literature, this focus on hope/pessimism affect is aimed at facilitating critical developments pertaining to the management of tourism product design and delivery.

  • Dr. E. Shelton (University of Otago, NZ)
  • Dr. J. Zhang (University of Umea, Sweden)
  • H. Bae (University of Otago, NZ)
  • Tucker, H., Shelton, E.J. and Bae, H. (2016) 'Post-Disaster Tourism: Towards a Tourism of Transition', in Tourist Studies, 1-22.
  • Tucker, H. and Shelton, E.J. (2014) 'Travelling Through the End Times: The Tourist as Apocalyptic Subject', in Tourism Analysis, Vol. 19 (5), 645-654.
  • Shelton, E.J. and Tucker, H. (2008) 'Managed to be Wild: Species Recovery, island restoration and nature-based tourism in New Zealand, in Tourism Review International, Special Issue: Zoos, Aquaria and Tourism, Vol. 11. No. 3, pp. 197-204.
  • Shelton, E., Tucker, H, and Zhang, J. (2017) 'A Political Ecology of the Yellow-Eyed Penguin in Southern New Zealand: A Conceptual and Theoretical Approach, in I. Lima (ed.) Wildlife Tourism, Springer Publishing

China / Chinese tourism research

This programme of research is aimed at exploring key issues pertaining both to the Chinese outbound tourist market and to domestic tourism within China. Importantly, the research includes critical reflection on how we conceptualise 'Chineseness' within this field. Whilst the Chinese outbound tourist market has been one of the fastest-growing international markets for destinations around the world, research to date on this market remains limited in scope and depth. This research programme aims to address this gap by responding to recent calls for more 'emic' approaches, plus the use of interpretative qualitative methodologies, in China/Chinese tourism research. Funding has been received in 2017 to undertake research into the on-tour experiences of Chinese package tourists in New Zealand.

  • Dr. Jundan Zhang (University of Umea, Sweden).
  • Professor B. Wu (Peking University, China)
  • Professor A. Morrison (Purdue University, USA)
  • Jingru Zhang (University of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Tucker, H. and Zhang, Jundan. (2016) On Western-Centrism and “Chineseness” in Tourism Studies, Annals of Tourism Research, 61, 250-252.
  • Zhang, Jingru, Tucker, H., Morrison, A. M., & Wu, B. (2017). Becoming a backpacker in China: A grounded theory approach to identity construction of backpackers. Annals of Tourism Research, 64, 114-125.
  • Zhang, Jingru, Morrison, A. M., & Tucker, H. (2017). "Am I a Backpacker? Factors Indicating the Social Identity of Chinese Backpackers", Journal of Travel Research.

Performance of the Real

This programme of research is a multidisciplinary project that investigates why representations and performances of the real are particularly compelling. At its core is the study of how performance represents, critiques, enacts and constructs "the real"? Based at the University of Otago, this research programme is a funded research theme which hosts various conferences and symposia related to the “Performance of the Real” theme, including events on: Ritual and Cultural Performance; Performing Precarity: Refugee Representation, Determination and Discourse; Performance and Performativity of Violence.

  • Dr S. Little (University of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Dr. R. Overell (University of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Dr. J. Cattermole (University of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Dr. C. Ergler (University of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Ms. H. Halba (University of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Dr. C. Wakes (University of New South Wales, Australia)
  • Dr. S. Suliman (Griffith University, Australia)

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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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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;

  • Carrying out a comprehensive research background on any proposed topic on tourism
  • Generating unique topics for college & undergraduate students and other scholars pursuing tourism
  • Offering professional guidance on preparing for the entire tourism project writing.

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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The impact of a global crisis on areas and topics of tourism research.

tourism research project topics

1. Introduction

2. methodology, 3. content analysis results: leading themes, 3.1. government crisis management, 3.1.1. government crisis management: before the crisis, 3.1.2. government crisis management: in crisis, 3.1.3. government crisis management: after the crisis, 3.2. tourist perception and decision-making, 3.3. travel service provider, 3.4. new normal, 3.5. tourism research, 3.6. inequality, 4. descriptive statistical analysis results, 4.1. distribution by study area, 4.2. distribution by methodology, 4.3. distribution by theory.

  • First place: Government crisis management theme (27.59% of the total literature), and “government financial support” is the leading perspective of this theme (50% of the theme).
  • Second place: Tourist perception and decision-making themes (21.84% of the total literature), and “tourists’ perception and decision-making“ is the leading perspective of this theme (61.11% of the theme).
  • Third place: Travel service providers (19.54% of the total literature), and “fulfill corporate social responsibility” is the leading perspective of this theme (47.06% of the theme).
  • Fourth place: New normal (13.79% of the total literature), and 50% of scholars have a positive attitude towards the future of tourism.
  • Fifth place: Tourism research (12.64% of the total literature), and “the importance of tourism research and education” is the leading perspective of this theme (45.45% of the theme).
  • Sixth place: Inequality (11.49% of the total literature), and “community inequality in tourism” is the leading perspective of this them (40% of the theme).

5. Discussion

5.1. what are the challenges we face, 5.1.1. social sustainability challenges, 5.1.2. environmental sustainability challenges, 5.1.3. economical sustainability challenges, 5.2. what are we hoping, 5.3. what will be the turning point, 6. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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InclusionExclusion
Published in English languagePublished in other languages
Papers contain identified keywordsPapers focused on any industry rather than the intersection of COVID-19 and tourism
Peer review paperOther type of paper like business news.
PublisherJournalNumber of Articles
MDPISustainability15
Total15
WileyBusiness Strategy and Development1
International Journal of Tourism Research1
Total2
ElsevierInternational Journal of Hospitality Management6
Annals of Tourism Research4
Tourism Management Perspectives4
Journal of Destination Marketing & Management3
Tourism Management2
Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education2
Journal of Business Research1
Total32
Taylor and FrancisTourism Geographies22
Current Issues in Tourism7
Journal of Sustainable Tourism4
Tourism Recreation Research2
Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research1
Development Southern Africa1
Journal of Sport & Tourism1
Total38
MeasuresExampleSource
Tourism policy planningFormulate tourism development policies[ ]
MeasuresExampleSource
Financial supportInsurance and subsidy programs for employees; support the survival of the hotel and airline industry[ , , , , , ]
Play the function of the informal sectorCooperation between the informal sector and government departments; provide microfinance; provide bank insurance[ , ]
Prioritize actionsQuick response to the tourism industry in crisis[ , ]
Formulate public policyProhibit or restrict the arrival of giant cruise ships and promote the development of small cruise ships; issue policies to support the aviation and hotel industry; government supervision of policy implementation[ , , ]
MeasuresExampleSource
Support domestic and regional tourismAdopt tax reduction measures for domestic tourism; provide digital coupons to support tourism; reduce dependence on long-distance tourists and support regional and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) tourism[ , , ]
Restore market confidenceUse big data to investigate the perception of tourists; ensure the safety of destination travel[ , , ]
Carry out intergovernmental cooperationEstablish common standards and sanitation agreements between governments, and set up international safe tourism border areas[ , ]
Redefine community-based tourismRedefine and reposition the tourism industry according to the rights and interests of local people; ensure the participation of indigenous people and protect their right to know; incorporate indigenous values into national tourism policy planning[ , ]
Conduct recovery marketingPromote tourists on the safety of the destination; promote the image of the destination through social media[ ]
AngleExampleSource
Tourists’ current attitudes and perceptions of travel under COVID-19Tourists’ willingness to return to the destination and willingness to pay; tourists’ trust in the destination; tourists’ attitude, risk perception, and crisis awareness[ , , , , ]
The change in the values of tourists from COVID-19Mindfulness; attitudes of tourists to hosts; social responsibility and civic values; understanding of sustainability; attitudes to sustainable products and destinations[ , ]
StrategyExampleSource
Build trust and commitmentBuild trust and commitment with agents, tourists, and other stakeholders[ ]
Employee trainingThrough multi-skill training for employees, employees are able to participate in multiple job roles[ ]
StrategyExampleSource
Obtain government supportSeek support from government and non-government departments and actively communicate with them[ , ]
Fulfill corporate social responsibilityInsist on not increasing prices during the crisis; protect the interests of customers (promptly terminate the travel contract; full refunds; protect the legitimate interests of tourists); ease the pressure on employees and ensure their happiness[ , , , ]
Cooperation, learning, and knowledge sharingCooperation within and between corporate departments; cooperation with other stakeholders such as government, suppliers, and educational institutions, information sharing, and joint management[ , ]
Business management and innovationEnterprise business diversification; product, service, and management innovation; market segmentation[ , ]
Financial managementFlexible financial management arrangements; multi-asset portfolio to diversify risks[ , ]
StrategyExampleSource
Analyze the marketImprove big data analysis and evidence-based decision-making skills; conduct customer surveys to understand the market[ , ]
Establish sanitation measures and punishment methodsEnsure the health and safety of employees and consumers; set penalties for violations of health and safety[ ]
Marketing, forecasting, and sales planUtilize social media for marketing; flexibly adjust hotel sales plans; predict and evaluate risks[ , , ]
AttitudeArgumentSource
Positive [ , , , ]
Neutral [ , , , ]
Negative [ , ]
PerspectiveArgumentSource
The importance of tourism research and education [ , , , , , ]
Adhere to the principles of impartiality and criticality in COVID-19 and tourism researchResearchers should abandon selfish ideas, critically change people’s views on tourism, and do fair research.[ , , , ]
Set the priority of tourism researchOther crises cannot be ignored, such as Antarctic scientific expeditions and oil spills on cruise ships.[ , ]
PerspectiveExamples of ArgumentsSource
Developing countries vs. developed countries [ , , ]
Inequality within the countryColonialism and inter-ethnic inequality that still exists.[ ]
Inequality in the nature of tourismFor a long time, tourism has been capitalist, which is the opposite of non-capitalist tourism.[ , ]
Community inequality in tourism [ , , , ]
TheorySource
Resilience[ , ]
Regenerative economy[ , , ]
Neo-liberalism[ , , ]
Liquidity justice[ ]
Political ecology[ ]
Geopolitics[ ]
Path dependence and path creation[ ]
ThemeProportion of Total Literature (n = 87)PerspectiveProportion of Literature on the Theme
Government crisis management27.59%Before the crisisTourism policy planning4.17%
In crisisFinancial support50%
Functions of the informal sector12.5%
Prioritize actions8.33%
Formulate public policy16.67%
After the crisisSupport domestic and regional tourism12.5%
Restore market confidence20.83%
Carry out intergovernmental cooperation12.5%
Redefine community-based tourism12.5%
Conduct recovery marketing4.17%
Tourists’ perception and decision-making21.84%Tourists’ current attitudes and perceptions of travel under COVID-1961.11%
The change in the values of tourists from COVID-1938.89%
Travel service providers 19.54%Before the crisisBuild trust and commitment5.88%
Employee training5.88%
In crisisObtain government support11.76%
Fulfill corporate social responsibility47.06%
Cooperation, learning, and knowledge sharing29.41%
Business management and innovation11.76%
Financial management11.76%
After the crisisAnalyze the market11.76%
Establish sanitation measures and punishment methods5.88%
Marketing, forecasting, and sales plan17.65%
New normal13.79%Positive attitude50%%
Neutral attitude33.33%
Negative attitude16.67%%
Tourism research 12.64%The importance of tourism research and education45.45%
Adherence to the principles of impartiality and criticality in COVID-19 and tourism research36.36%
Set the priority of tourism research18.18%
Inequality11.49%Community inequality in tourism40%
Inequality between developing and developed countries30%
Inequality in the nature of tourism20%
Inequality of tourism development within the country10%
ChallengeSource
Tourism usually focuses on individuals and innovation rather than collective and public transactions.[ ]
What kind of revolution should be carried out to prevent the fragility of the tourism industry?[ ]
Not every tourist is interested in change and seeks for change.[ ]
Preparing for a crisis is difficult and costly, and at what cost should the new system be maintained and converted?[ ]
How can travel change others?[ ]
Who is the collective? Who are we?[ ]
How can change be embedded in the crisis?[ ]
Are stakeholders in the tourism industry really willing to change or is it a false promise?[ ]
How to develop a robust index to calibrate the success of human’s onerous policy.[ ]
What about other ongoing crises on the planet?[ ]
PerspectiveStatementSource
Non-capitalist exchange or incomplete capitalist exchangeCOVID-19 provides opportunities for non-capitalist exchanges or incomplete capitalist exchanges in the tourism industry.[ , ]
Conscious citizenConsumers, travelers, entrepreneurs, and leaders call for changes in the tourism industry.[ ]
New way of travelThe rise of a travel method that allows fewer entrants but generates more benefits.[ ]
Host-guest relationshipHosts and guests who go hand in hand in adversity will cultivate a good relationship.[ ]
Corporate social responsibilityCompanies will actively assume their social responsibilities.[ ]
Self-improvement of business and governmentCompanies and governments will learn from COVID-19 and make self-improvements (increasing resilience and creativity) to improve their long-term viability.[ , ]
Widespread use of ICTPopularization of digital and intelligent tourism products[ ]
The well-being of tourists and community residentsWhile limiting economic and social development and unsustainable behaviors in the tourism industry, the focus on a better life actually promotes growth in other areas, such as social and environmental well-being and meaningful interpersonal relationships.[ ]
Relations between countriesGovernments will realize the importance of knowledge exchange, cooperation, and joint crisis management[ ]
Tourism supply chainA tight and more sustainable global tourism supply chain.[ ]
MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Share and Cite

Persson-Fischer, U.; Liu, S. The Impact of a Global Crisis on Areas and Topics of Tourism Research. Sustainability 2021 , 13 , 906. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020906

Persson-Fischer U, Liu S. The Impact of a Global Crisis on Areas and Topics of Tourism Research. Sustainability . 2021; 13(2):906. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020906

Persson-Fischer, Ulrika, and Shuangqi Liu. 2021. "The Impact of a Global Crisis on Areas and Topics of Tourism Research" Sustainability 13, no. 2: 906. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020906

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Destination readiness: Preparing for the tourist flows of tomorrow

Tourism can help build a more connected, more vibrant world. But as tourism grows rapidly, the most visited destinations are experiencing more concentrated flows (Exhibit 1). Recent satellite data suggests that 80 percent of travelers visit just 10 percent of the world’s tourist destinations. The number of travelers and the frequency of their trips are only set to increase.

A large flow of tourists, if not carefully channeled, can encumber infrastructure, harm natural and cultural attractions, and frustrate locals and visitors alike. Today’s tech-enabled travel landscape can exacerbate this issue: one eye-catching photo on a social media network can make a little-known attraction go viral.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Caroline Tufft , Margaux Constantin , Matteo Pacca , and Ryan Mann , with Ivan Gladstone and Jasperina de Vries, representing views from McKinsey’s Travel, Logistics & Infrastructure Practice.

Against this backdrop, now is the time for tourism stakeholders to combine their thinking and resources to look for better ways to handle the visitor flows of today—while properly preparing themselves for the visitor flows of tomorrow. We offer a diagnostic that destinations can use to spot early-warning signs about tourism concentration, followed by suggestions for funding mechanisms and strategies to help maximize the benefits of tourism while minimizing its negative impacts.

Carrying capacity and its impact on destination readiness

Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of visitors that a destination can accommodate without causing harm to its physical, economic, and sociocultural environment or compromising the quality of visitors’ experiences. To effectively manage carrying capacity, destinations must first understand their specific limits—then actively work to stay within them.

When a destination exceeds its carrying capacity, the negative effects of tourism may begin to outweigh the benefits (Exhibit 2). Shutting down tourism isn’t always feasible or sustainable. Instead, destinations should focus on increasing their carrying capacity to enable more growth. By adopting early-detection mechanisms and attentively managing carrying capacity, destinations can strike a balance between welcoming visitors and preserving natural and cultural assets and quality of life for residents.

In 2017, leveraging the growing availability of data about travelers, McKinsey, in collaboration with the World Travel & Tourism Council, developed a diagnostic tool  to help spot early-warning signals that a destination is under stress from tourism. 1 “ Coping with success: Managing overcrowding in tourism destinations ,” McKinsey, December 14, 2017. This year, we have updated this tool to address the evolving nature of the challenge and the accessibility of more nuanced and precise data (see sidebar “Methodology for assessing destination readiness”).

Methodology for assessing destination readiness

Utilizing information from vendors, publicly available databases, and press searches, we measured airline traffic, accommodation booking activity, and traveler sentiment. 1 Diio Mi; International Air Transport Association; Mabrian Technologies; Oxford Economics; Tripadvisor; UN World Tourism Organization; World Travel & Tourism Council. We also incorporated analysis of data sets obtained from travel-focused groups such as the UN World Tourism Organization and the World Travel & Tourism Council.

Our intent was to identify metrics that indicate the potential effects of concentrated tourism. We examined metrics affecting the following six categories:

  • Local economy: measuring the potential risk of dependence on tourism based on the speed of tourism growth over the past five years and tourism’s contribution to direct employment and GDP.
  • Local community: measuring the concentration of tourism in city centers based on inbound arrivals, nights stayed, and tourism accommodations per square kilometer.
  • Tourist experience: measuring overall tourist sentiment based on reviews of top 20 attractions and guest satisfaction regarding accommodations.
  • Infrastructure: measuring potential overloading risks caused by tourism based on the seasonal intensity and geographic concentration of visitor arrivals.
  • Nature and the environment: measuring risks to nature based on carbon emissions generated by travel and sustainability commitments pledged by local hotels.
  • Culture and heritage: measuring potential threats to cultural sites based on the concentration of visitors at these sites.

Starting with a list of 65 major, representative cities, we’ve separated locations into quintiles indicating levels of potential risk and negative impact stemming from tourism flows (Exhibit 3). While this data is focused on metropolitan areas, the approach can be replicated for all sorts of popular destinations—from beach towns to mountain villages to religious sites.

Destinations can be grouped into the four following archetypes, based on whether they are struggling with visitor flow and whether they have developed tools to manage it:

  • Seasonally overloaded destinations pair high visitor concentrations with limited tourist-flow-management capabilities. These cities may have room to expand their visitor management tool kits to enhance the experiences of both locals and tourists. Representative examples include Cancún, Dubrovnik, and Marrakech.
  • Increasingly stressed destinations currently receive limited numbers of visitors but exhibit signs of stressed infrastructure resulting from limited tourism flow management. These cities could both boost their visitor numbers and improve their visitor infrastructure. Representative examples include Los Angeles, Manila, and Mumbai.
  • Actively managed destinations receive high concentrations of visitors and have developed robust visitor management flows in response. Continuous monitoring and innovation could help these cities continue to adequately manage carrying capacity. Representative examples include Amsterdam, Bangkok, and Dubai.
  • Balanced-capacity destinations receive relatively fewer visitors but have already implemented sophisticated tourism-flow-management systems. These cities can focus on boosting their visitor numbers while actively monitoring the impact of this growth. Representative examples include Abu Dhabi, Lima, and Singapore.

Seasonally overloaded: Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is an intensely seasonal destination, with roughly 20 times more inbound airline seats made available for sale during its peak season (July and August) than during low season (January and February). The density of vacation rentals can reach about 90 postings per square kilometer in summer. The city is a popular stop for Mediterranean cruises, and its small, history-laden center can experience concentrated tourist footfalls when a ship is in port.

Dubrovnik falls in the top quintile of risk in four of our six categories, although it has begun taking significant steps to combat overcrowding. The city recently banned new private-rental permits in its historic Old Town neighborhood to counter rising rent costs for locals, 1 Sanjana Shenoy, “Croatia: Historic city Dubrovnik bans new rental permits to curb overtourism & help locals,” Curly Tales, March 15, 2024. and it’s also reorganizing cruise schedules to better stagger visitor flows.

Increasingly stressed: Mumbai

Mumbai is well positioned to capitalize on booming Indian tourism, but the city could benefit from building out its visitor-management-flow systems. Mumbai has the lowest tourism density relative to its population of all cities in our data set, yet visitors report some of the same concerns seen in more popular tourism hot spots, including long waits for entrance to attractions and a plethora of guides and vendors competing for attention. Road traffic is a major detriment to the visitor experience, with tourists in 2023 experiencing an average travel time of 20 minutes to cover ten kilometers.

The city has ambitious plans to reduce congestion with new metro and highway systems that could benefit both locals and tourists. It might have additional room to increase carrying capacity by addressing current visitor pain points—for example, by installing modernized metal detectors to smooth entry into major attractions or by creating centralized guide booths at attractions to help visitors find licensed guides.

Actively managed: Amsterdam

Given Amsterdam’s small geographic footprint, its extreme concentration of visitors puts significant pressure on local infrastructure—affecting the daily experiences of both tourists and residents. It has tried to actively manage tourism through measures such as its recently announced moratorium on hotel development 1 Charlotte Van Campenhout, “Amsterdam bans new hotels in fight against mass tourism,” Reuters, April 17, 2024. and a ban on public smoking of cannabis in its red-light district. 2 “Amsterdam to ban cannabis outdoors in red-light district,” Reuters, February 10, 2023. It has also used marketing to promote less-well-known areas in an effort to channel some visitors away from the most crowded neighborhoods. Amsterdam uses data gleaned from social media and behavior tracked on its tourist-friendly city card to analyze tourist flows and spot areas under stress.

Balanced capacity: Singapore

Renowned for an automated metro train line, futuristic downtown core, and cutting-edge innovation, Singapore has the infrastructure, resources, and practices in place to grow and support larger tourism flows. It currently ranks 56th out of the 65 cities we analyzed in terms of inbound visits per square kilometer.

Singapore’s limited land mass does tend to concentrate visitor flows at top attractions, which could create threats to cultural sites and negatively affect the experiences of both visitors and locals. Recent development projects have expanded the depth and breadth of tourist offerings, creating new attractions that could help increase the city’s carrying capacity and keep it primed for future growth.

Funding destination readiness

Once the need for destination readiness has been identified, questions turn to funding. Destinations should carefully consider which sources and mechanisms to use to generate the revenue needed to address the impacts of tourism—and ensure that the burdens don’t fall disproportionately.

Devise permit systems for individual attractions

Requiring visitors to obtain a paid permit before viewing an attraction can generate revenue while simultaneously helping to manage capacity. Permitting systems are most effective in places where demand frequently exceeds capacity and, if left unchecked, could risk causing harm to ecologically or culturally sensitive locales. Galapagos National Park in Ecuador, for instance, uses a strict permitting system with entrance fees that are applied directly toward preservation efforts.

A potential downside of permit requirements is the financial barrier for tourists who have less ability to pay. Many destinations have instituted lotteries that govern the opportunity to purchase an affordable permit, though this also reduces the funding generated by this strategy. It’s worth noting that there can be limits to the effectiveness of permitting systems: Mount Everest’s sky-high fees haven’t reduced demand from climbers.

Capitalize on major, one-off events

The city of Vancouver was able to use the planning process for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games as a catalyst to unlock government funding for long-desired infrastructure development—including road and train projects that had been stalled for more than a decade. While there’s risk that any given future mega-event won’t lead to sustained tourism demand, it can lead to lasting infrastructure improvements that benefit locals 2 Nelson Bennett, “Path to 2010 Olympics built from asphalt, steel,” Vancouver Is Awesome , February 11, 2020. for years to come.

Explore public–private partnerships

Destinations can pursue public–private partnerships to accelerate development and spread out risk. Common examples of this approach include cofunded or cobuilt event centers or museums. Exclusive concessions established and granted by destinations can provide revenue-generating opportunities to operators or leaseholders in exchange for financial returns and other commitments, such as pledges to sustainably develop and maintain a location or to support local education, infrastructure, and healthcare.

Ensure proceeds from tourism are invested where they are needed

Cities shouldn’t underestimate the strain on waste, water, and road infrastructure that tourism can create. In places where visitors significantly exceed local populations, tourism tax revenue can be budgeted into core municipal expenses, such as road maintenance and waste management, so that repairing wear and tear caused by visitors doesn’t fall entirely on locals. Tourism taxes and entry fees can be redistributed to local communities or used for preservation or restoration projects.

Managing capacity and mitigating negative impacts from growing tourist flows

After risks and funding sources have been identified, there are several promising strategies that the tourism ecosystem can employ to prepare for growing tourist volumes. They are most effective when coordinated across a broad set of stakeholders, including city governments, destination management organizations, hospitality companies, experience providers, transportation authorities, and airlines:

  • Build and equip a tourism-ready workforce.
  • Use data to manage and forecast visitor flows.
  • Be deliberate about which tourist segments to attract.
  • Distribute visitor footfall over space.
  • Distribute visitor footfall over time.
  • Be prepared for sudden, unexpected fluctuations.
  • Preserve cultural and natural heritage.

Build and equip a tourism-ready workforce

Preparing a tourism workforce goes well beyond making sure that staff at a reception desk are polite. Tourism stakeholders should strive to ensure sufficient labor supply by fostering interest in the tourism sector, training entry-level workers in soft skills, and providing ample opportunities for career advancement. Training can be a collaborative effort by the public and private sectors.

Africa’s not-for-profit Female Guide program partners with leading safari providers to sponsor, train, and employ African women who are interested in conducting safari tours. 3 Sandra MacGregor, “I went on a safari in Botswana with a female guide—here’s why it made all the difference,” Travel + Leisure , December 23, 2023. The alcoholic-beverage company Diageo hosts training for hospitality students near Da Nang, a tourism hot spot in Vietnam, covering bar knowledge, teamwork, and customer service skills.

Regulating and credentialing locals who are part of informal tourism economies can help raise service standards and create more positive tourist experiences. For example, Singapore’s efforts to legalize and license street vending resulted in UNESCO recognition of its street hawker culture. 4 “Hawker culture in Singapore,” National Heritage Board, accessed May 2024.

Use data to manage visitor flows

Destinations can build and continuously improve holistic data monitoring and forecasting systems. Data can be gathered from governments (visa tracking), businesses (accommodation bookings and event ticket purchases), social media platforms (user behavior), and other sources. Crowd monitoring tools can provide real-time data about the location of mobile phones to help forecast and manage visitor flows.

Some destinations provide value in exchange for data. For instance, the I amsterdam City Card offers tourists access and discounts to attractions while tracking where the card is used (see sidebar “How Amsterdam handles its tourist flows”).

How Amsterdam handles its tourist flows

Geerte Udo was CEO of Amsterdam & Partners until earlier this year, when she stepped down after 17 years. Amsterdam & Partners is a public–private foundation that focuses, in part, on managing tourism in the Amsterdam metropolitan area. McKinsey spoke with Udo about Amsterdam’s efforts to handle its large tourist flows. The following is an edited version of the conversation.

McKinsey: How does Amsterdam balance the positive aspects of tourism with some of the challenges that hosting large numbers of visitors can create?

Headshot of Geerte Udo

Geerte Udo: We’re very lucky in that we have a beautiful city that sells itself. People want to come here. And the visitor economy has a lot of benefits. It creates jobs, it pays taxes, and 30 percent of our public transport is financed by visitors. Our residents love the cultural infrastructure we have here, and we couldn’t support it by ourselves. We love the diversity and quality of our restaurants and bars, which are also supported by visitors. We need our visitors because they raise the quality of life for our residents.

But there are elements of the visitor economy that can harm the quality of life in the city. We’re seeing more and more visitors because the general income of people across the world is rising, and everybody wants to travel. Like other European cities that are old harbor cities with narrow streets, we have moments where we deal with overcrowding. This is mostly in the old city center, on a few narrow streets, at certain days and times. But the public space there isn’t well organized and can’t handle the number of people who want to go there.

Another issue we have is nuisance. Our city has a reputation: if you want to have a party, come to Amsterdam. It can be very annoying for residents in certain neighborhoods when visitors come to party from Thursday through Sunday evening. It makes it hard for people to live there.

There’s also an issue with managing the amount of waste in the city. Because we have more guests, there’s more waste in the street. And there’s a separate issue with private, short-term rental properties, which can sometimes crowd out housing that’s built for residents.

McKinsey: Are you able to gather data and use it to get insights that can help you handle tourist flows?

Geerte Udo: We have a lot of sources of data. At a European level, we share data with 110 European cities to see what the latest traveler trends are. We can learn from one another and understand, for instance, if a trend is only happening in the northern part of Europe or also in the southern part. More locally, we have a national data center that can tell us how many people visit the city, how long they stay, which countries they come from, their ages, and other factual information.

Our organization also does its own research on visitor behavior. For instance, we sell an I amsterdam City Card. It gives visitors free access to public transport, museums, and various attractions. We sell about 150,000 to 200,000 cards a year, and because people need to check in with our card at the locations, we can see their movement patterns. Over time, we’re able to anticipate when and where people will go. For instance, many people visit museums in the morning and then go on a canal boat ride in the afternoon. We can advise first-time visitors to reverse that order because they’re likely to have better, less crowded experiences that way.

But nudging people only works if you can connect to their needs. We wouldn’t tell a first-time visitor to venture out to a neighborhood that’s not well-known—we understand that if they’re here for the first time, they really want to see the highlights. Whereas if you’re here for the third time, and we know what you’ve been doing and a little bit about your preferences, we can guide you to other neighborhoods and areas we think you’ll enjoy.

We know from data that there’s a trend in behavior where, after 2.4 days, people are often ready to explore beyond the city. This number is similar in other cities, as well. After 2.4 days, people start to ask, “Can you show me where I can get some fresh air for a half day?” And we can then offer them guidance on visiting beaches, windmills, and so forth.

McKinsey: What are some mitigation strategies that you’ve tried or considered?

Geerte Udo: One thing we’ve put effort into is branding and marketing concepts. If people come to our city thinking that everything is in the canal district, it’s hard to guide them to other areas. So we’ve tried to build our image into much more than the canal district, expanding interest into other areas that all have different identities and different flavors.

There have been years of discussions about gating certain areas and charging fees to enter them. That might help generate revenue that the city can spend on cleaning streets and improving the subways, which would be beneficial for the tourism industry. But in my opinion, charging fees or raising tourist taxes won’t reduce visitor numbers at all.

We’ve spent a lot of time with city hall looking into the best ways to organize public spaces. For a long time, urban planning didn’t even take visitors into account when thinking about how to arrange public space. To truly manage visitor flows, there needs to be a bigger-picture, integrated approach to how a city is organized.

None of this will reduce the number of travelers because travel is growing so fast. But we can guide visitors to disperse them across time and space, minimize overcrowding, and put less pressure on the old city center. I think guiding and spreading tourism really can work if we manage to match supply and demand.

Comments and opinions expressed by interviewees are their own and do not represent or reflect the opinions, policies, or positions of McKinsey & Company or have its endorsement.

Be deliberate about which tourist segments to attract

Different tourists arrive with different kinds of baggage—literally and metaphorically. Destinations can be strategic in identifying the types of tourism they want to encourage. Some destinations might welcome (and be able to handle) party crowds, while others might be more interested in attracting families or older travelers. Destinations should work to understand the demographics, preferences, and behaviors of their target customers before tailoring offerings and communications that will appeal to them.

Bhutan requires a sustainable development fee of $100 per day from visitors. This requirement serves to limit the number of visitors and their impact on the small nation while simultaneously creating a sense of exclusivity that spurs increased interest from international travelers.

Distribute visitor footfall over space

Nudging tourists to visit less trafficked areas can help ease congestion at the most famous and popular attractions. This can work at a neighborhood level: pop-up experiences and off-the-beaten-path tours hosted by local guides can entice tourists to explore farther afield. It can also work on a wider geographic scale: TikTok’s “destination dupe” trend surfaces less expensive, less crowded locales that offer many of the same experiences as more crowded destinations (for instance, Taipei instead of Seoul).

Marketing campaigns can frame a destination as a place where visitors chart their own paths. The “I amsterdam” campaign, for example, encourages tourists to create their own personalized versions of the city. AI-powered tools can help craft bespoke itineraries based on visitors’ preferences and interests, matching travelers with unexpected neighborhoods, accommodations, and restaurants that will appeal to their individual tastes.

Developing accommodations and attractions in less dense areas by repurposing assets can also help distribute footfall. Istanbul helped facilitate the restoration of a 1930s tobacco factory and warehouse that became a hotel. The Maboneng Precinct in Johannesburg was a run-down cluster of warehouses before being repurposed to create art galleries, restaurants, and retail spaces.

Distribute visitor footfall over time

Seasonal concentration of tourist activities can cause inefficient use of infrastructure and overload destinations’ ecological, social, and cultural systems. Forty-three percent of travelers already choose to travel off-season to avoid overcrowding. 5 “How to travel: a look at sustainable travel habits,” Booking.com, October 3, 2023. Stakeholders can take steps to encourage even more shifting of visits to off-peak periods. Iceland, for instance, has heavily promoted winter visits to see the Northern Lights, drawing on collaboration across the entire tourism ecosystem—from tour operators developing ice cave excursions to airlines promoting reduced winter airfares.

Distributing visitors across hours is another powerful strategy. The Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in Hawaii has timed reservations, which smooth visitor numbers across the day and enable a better experience for all. The Petra archaeological site in Jordan has taken a different approach: by creating an evening light and sound show, this popular attraction has expanded the breadth of attractive visitation times.

Because domestic travel represents the bulk of trips, governments might be able to help distribute visitors by carefully managing holiday schedules. For example, the French government has split school holidays so that different regions are on break at different times, which helps mitigate overcrowding during ski season.

Be prepared for sudden, unexpected fluctuations

A viral social media post can send travelers flocking to a destination that might not be prepared for the influx. One beautiful block in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood earned the nickname “selfie street” when visitors—having seen other tourists’ picturesque selfies on social media—flooded it with phones in hand. Footfall data shows that Dumbo saw an 86 percent increase in visits from 2022 to 2023.

In some instances, this type of behavior can cause significant harm. Access to the secluded Burney Falls waterfall in Northern California was shut down this year in part because of trail damage caused by heavy visitor flows. Data shows that interest in this photogenic spot took off on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, with peak season in 2023 seeing three to four times as many weekly visitors as in 2019.

Destinations should keep tabs on social media activity and cultural trends that pertain to them. They might consider developing playbooks in advance with planned procedures for handling viral surges. Local tourism stakeholders can attempt to anticipate this type of sudden interest and actively channel it in ways that will mitigate negative impacts. It’s important to be mindful that virality can have different levels of staying power—ranging from a brief phenomenon to an enduring trend.

Preserve cultural and natural heritage

Destinations need to weigh considerations of both accessibility and preservation as they manage tourists’ engagement with natural and cultural attractions. One option is to designate culturally or ecologically significant land and then engage locals in finding ways to strike this balance. Legally protecting lands is a long-standing conservation practice, and governments have increasingly turned to Indigenous populations to better understand cultural sensitivities around specific sites. For example, Indigenous Tourism Alberta partners with Indigenous groups to offer tourists authentic experiences—such as fishing, jewelry making, and hiking—while minimizing negative impacts on nature and culture.

Although tourists often prefer to roam freely around natural sites, limiting access—either geographically or temporally—can be critical to preservation. Creating specific pathways (with showcases for educational material along the way) can allow guests to safely and efficiently walk through a site without causing damage or disturbing wildlife habitats. Sometimes a digital substitute can be an effective solution: Digital Giza lets tourists experience a re-creation of the Egyptian tombs without needing to actually enter them.

Sensitive areas can be closed for predetermined time periods to allow for rejuvenation and sustainable development. And naturally seasonal sites can take advantage of off-peak downtime to fully close and refresh attractions. For example, the Inca Trail in Peru shuts for one month every year during the rainy season to allow nature to recuperate from heavy footfall on the trail. Ideally, these downtimes should be established preventatively and communicated to tourists well in advance, but in some instances, they may need to be prescribed on short notice to prevent imminent damage or rectify harm already done.

As global travel continues to grow, it’s crucial for stakeholders in the tourism ecosystem to be ready for the challenges that could arrive alongside increased visitor flows. By understanding the risks and opportunities, implementing funding strategies, and collaborating across sectors, popular destinations can take steps to preserve their cultural, economic, and environmental assets.

Caroline Tufft is a senior partner in McKinsey’s London office, Margaux Constantin is a partner in the Dubai office, Matteo Pacca is a senior partner in the Paris office, Ryan Mann is a partner in the Chicago office, Ivan Gladstone is an associate partner in the Riyadh office, and Jasperina de Vries is an associate partner in the Amsterdam office.

The authors wish to thank Abdulhadi Alghamdi, Alessandra Powell, Alex Dichter, Cedric Tsai, Diane Vu, Elisa Wallwitz, Lily Miller, Maggie Coffey, Nadya Snezhkova, Nick Meronyk, Paulina Baum, Peimin Suo, Rebecca Stone, Sarah Fellay, Sarah Sahel, Sophia Wang, Steffen Fuchs, Steffen Köpke, Steve Saxon, and Urs Binggeli for their contributions to this article. The authors also wish to thank Mabrian for providing data.

This article was edited by Seth Stevenson, a senior editor in the New York office.

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    Against this backdrop, now is the time for tourism stakeholders to combine their thinking and resources to look for better ways to handle the visitor flows of today—while properly preparing themselves for the visitor flows of tomorrow. We offer a diagnostic that destinations can use to spot early-warning signs about tourism concentration ...

  23. 64 questions with answers in TOURISM RESEARCH

    Relevant answer. Mohd Hafiz Hanafiah. May 7, 2023. Answer. Hello Maksim. This is a challenging task because there is no definitive method to establish the exact count of researchers working in the ...

  24. Internet & Technology

    Americans' Views of Technology Companies. Most Americans are wary of social media's role in politics and its overall impact on the country, and these concerns are ticking up among Democrats. Still, Republicans stand out on several measures, with a majority believing major technology companies are biased toward liberals. short readsApr 3, 2024.