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intervening opportunity
Destinations or attractions which are closer to
tourism-generating markets than more distant
competitive places intercept visitors, and thus
diminish their likelihood of visiting the latter
places. The closer places are regarded as being
intervening opportunities with respect to the latter
places.
See also: accessibility; distance decay; gravity
model
interview
GEOFFREY WALL, CANADA
Attempting to measure the wider aspects of tourism
is a complex process which many national, regional
and local government agencies undertake through
the use of survey methods, usually focused on
tourists completing arrival and departure cards.
While such methods provide a mechanism to know
their numbers, this is simplistic and does not offer
any detailed insights into the attitudes towards
tourism, how tourists perceives their experience of
a destination and the images and attitudes they
form.
This is a complex population to survey because
it usually involves many mobile individuals. Thus
the process of statistical measurement to ensure use
of representative survey methods becomes complicated.
However, the only method available to
adequately assess the views of tourists, decision
makers and residents in relation to tourism is the
interview. It comprises a method of communicating
with tourists or agencies/residents affected or who
may have a view on tourism. It requires an active
involvement of the researcher and respondent �the
person being interviewed) whereas participant
observation does not involve communication with
the respondent. Although questioning is more
economical than observational techniques, it ultimately
depends upon the willingness of the
respondent to cooperate and participate in the
process.
Interviews are widely used by tourism researchers
to gather data, which are then subject to
analysis and interpretation. There are a range of
different types of interviews, including personal
interviews, where an interviewer may control the
conditions in which the respondent is interviewed;
this usually consists of a two-way conversation
between a researcher and respondent. In some
contexts, where planners and agencies want to
survey the resident population about attitudes to
tourism, they may select a telephone interview
method which uses a geographical sampling
framework based on a computer-assisted telephone
interview system. Ultimately, a successful interview
is one where the interviewer can motivate the
respondent to provide the range of data that is
being sought.
Further reading
Veal, A. �1992) Research Methods for Leisure and
Tourism, Harlow: Longman.
inventory
STEPHEN PAGE, NEW ZEALAND
An inventory is a list of items held in stock. The
physical inventory refers to the actual count of all
items, while the perpetual inventory is the
continuous records of purchases of stock and issues
from it. The challenge for tourism management
is to hold enough inventory to avoid stock-outs
whilst setting stock levels to minimise the cost of
holding items. An added challenge in this industry
is the perishability of its many products.
inversion
inversion 329
PETER JONES, UK
Inversion is defined as the turning upside down or
reversal of a normal position or order. Therefore,
as participation in tourism is commonly seen as a
form of change or short-term escape from the
routine or ordinary, tourism may be broadly
viewed as a process of inversion. That is, tourism
represents, for the tourist, the temporary reversal
of the ordered and routine character of day-to-day
life of home and work into the unstructured
freedom of the vacation.