Tourism Research

IIBSoR is a key contributor to tourism research at the University of Wollongong - Australia's number one university for tourism research as determined by the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) results.

Key recent contributions include:

• Conceptual and methodological advances in market segmentation methodology for tourism
• The introduction of a novel paradigm into sustainable tourism, advocating that market forces could be harvested to achieve higher levels of environmental sustainability without sacrificing profitability of the local tourism industry
• Insights into perceptions and use of social media by travelers

Contacts

A/Prof Ulrike Gretzel
Senior Research Fellow
IIBSoR
ugretzel@uow.edu.au
+61 (0)2 4221 4823

iTouR - UOW interdisciplinary tourism research newsletter

• Issue 4, December 2012
• Issue 3, July 2012
• Issue 2, November 2011
• Issue 1, May 2011

Recent book

In February Associate Professor Ulrike Gretzel (IIBSoR) had her book, Social Media in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality (co-edited with Marianna Sigala and Evangelos Christou) published by Ashgate.    

Written by an international group of researchers widely known for their expertise in their studies of the Internet and tourism, this book addresses how social media is fundamentally changing the way travellers and tourists search, find, read and trust, as well as collaboratively produce, information about tourism suppliers and tourism destinations.

Presenting cutting-edge theory, research and case studies investigating Web 2.0 applications and tools that transform the role and behaviour of the new generation of travellers, this book also examines how tourism organisations re-engineer and implement their business models and operations, such as by using new service development, marketing, networking and knowledge management.

Example journal publications

Boksberger, P., Dolnicar, S., Laesser, Ch. & Randle, M. (2011). Self-Congruity Theory: To What Extent Does it Hold in Tourism? Journal of Travel Research, 50(4): 454–464.

Dolnicar, S., Yanamandram, V. & Cliff, K. (2012). The Contribution of Vacations to Quality of Life. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(1): 59–83.

Lee, W. and Gretzel, U. (2012). Designing Persuasive Destination Websites: A Mental Imagery Processing Perspective. Tourism Management, 33(5): 1270–1280.

Shao, J., Scarpino, M., Lee, Y. & Gretzel, U. (2011). Media-Induced Voluntourism in Yunnan, China. Tourism Review International, 15(3): 277–292.

Zach, F. & Gretzel, U. (2011). Tourist-Activated Networks: Implications for Dynamic Bundling and En Route Recommendations. Journal of Information Technology & Tourism, 13(3): 229–238.

Gretzel, U. (2011). Intelligent Systems in Tourism: A Social Science Perspective. Annals of Tourism Research. 38(3): 757-779.

Moeller, T., Dolnicar S. & Leish, F. (2011). The sustainability-profitability trade-off in tourism: can it be overcome? Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 19(2): 155-169.

Example research projects

PRoDRIVE
Aiming to advance knowledge about recreational vehicle use, drive tourism and the motivations of travellers who engage in these experience. 
PRoDRiVE is a consortium of researchers and industry members who seek to encourage internationally relevant research that contributes to both the tourism industry the academic community’s knowledge of drive tourism and recreational vehicle tourism.

Ulrike Gretzel (UoW) and Anne Hardy (University of Tasmania)

Read more about PRoDRIVE here

Reducing the Australian tourism industry's vulnerability to external shocks - identifying and understanding disaster-resilient tourists
Sara Dolnicar and Ulrike Gretzel
ARC Discovery Grant (2012–2014)

Example contract research projects

The Future of Visitor Services. Analysis of visitor queries and focus groups of digital natives for Tourism Wollongong.
Ulrike Gretzel and Nina Mistilis (2011).

Example of Higher Degree Research student projects

Kennedy-Eden, H. (2011-current). Finding balance: Understanding the effect of technology use on family vacations. Supervised by A/Prof. Ulrike Gretzel.

Recent media coverage

Digital detox: the rise of tech-free tourism - interview with A/ Prof Ulrike Gretzel, The Age, 11 March 2013

'De-teching' your holiday - interview with Associate Professor Ulrike Gretzel by 'The Two Murrays', 2UE radio, 6 Dec 2012

Study into connectivity "dead zones" - A/ Prof Ulrike Gretzel quoted, The Australian, 3 Oct 2012

Interdisciplinary Tourism Research at UOW

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