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The Role of Niche Tourism Products in Destination - Repository ...

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differences <strong>in</strong> two <strong>of</strong> the demographic variables: age group and marital status. Aga<strong>in</strong> bus<strong>in</strong>ess implications <strong>of</strong> the research were<br />

identified and f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs concern<strong>in</strong>g the emerg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>ternational student market were fed back to the WA tourism <strong>in</strong>dustry. Means<br />

derived from descriptive statistics for each <strong>of</strong> the four country sample <strong>in</strong> Paper 9 were also compared to illustrate f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />

two scenarios – festival <strong>in</strong>novation and festival failure.<br />

Qualitative research has become <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly valued as ‘th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g’ research where the research is viewed as more <strong>of</strong> a theoretical<br />

process than an activity (Bryman and Burgess, 1994). <strong>The</strong> process and value <strong>of</strong> qualitative data analysis is exposed by Neuman:<br />

A qualitative researcher analyses data by organis<strong>in</strong>g it <strong>in</strong>to categories on the basis <strong>of</strong> themes, concepts or similar features.<br />

He or she develops new concepts, formulates conceptual def<strong>in</strong>itions, and exam<strong>in</strong>e the relationship among concepts<br />

(Neuman, 2000, p.420)<br />

This is evidenced <strong>in</strong> the qualitative papers presented here (Papers1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12). Where <strong>in</strong>-depth <strong>in</strong>terviews were used<br />

as a research tool (Papers 1, 7, 11) <strong>in</strong>terviews were transcribed and analysed to f<strong>in</strong>d common themes and ideas. Content analysis<br />

is widely used <strong>in</strong> tourism research to discover how dest<strong>in</strong>ation images are formed and was used as the tool <strong>of</strong> analysis. For the<br />

content analysis <strong>of</strong> the written word the units <strong>of</strong> analysis were the <strong>in</strong>terview text (Papers 1, 7, and 11) or the promotional brochures,<br />

the theatres entries <strong>in</strong> the fr<strong>in</strong>ge festival programme and the web pages (Paper 8). <strong>The</strong>se were exam<strong>in</strong>ed and the frequency <strong>of</strong><br />

descriptor words (verbs, adjectives and adverbs) used <strong>in</strong> relation to the research questions. <strong>The</strong> researchers then codified the<br />

material and f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs were drawn from the key words. Aga<strong>in</strong> mixed methods were used, with the qualitative research f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs<br />

<strong>in</strong>fluenc<strong>in</strong>g the development <strong>of</strong> the quantitative research <strong>in</strong>strument, and f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs were dissem<strong>in</strong>ated to the w<strong>in</strong>e and tourism<br />

<strong>in</strong>dustries (Papers 1 and 11) and the theatre/festival directors and public bodies (Papers 7, 8, 12). <strong>The</strong> five festivals identified by<br />

the <strong>in</strong>terviewees <strong>in</strong> Paper 6 formed the elements <strong>of</strong> the repertory grid and <strong>in</strong> generat<strong>in</strong>g constructs the ‘triad<strong>in</strong>g’ method was used

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