NBS Masters Diss Proposal Form -template 2020 2 2 1 PDF

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DISSERTATION PROPOSAL...

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The Newcastle Business School

Masters Dissertation Proposal

Student ID Student’s Name Programme Pathways Title of Research Proposal

1 Researchable Topic Area Background The twenty-first-century consumer has strong hopes for the item or brand they are purchasing and the experience they would have when doing so. When it applies to hotels, consumers still demand friendly, professional, and reliable service and the advancement of modern technologies, which increases their aspirations. The consumer is sovereign of this business, and the industry's goal is to make its customers satisfied. Customers demand more reliable service than ever before, and since consumer behaviour is increasingly shifting, companies must remain on top of customer demands. Customers no longer anticipate the essentials, such as decent productivity and improved price. Clients want hotels to consider their desires and aspirations in these new days, with so much attention all around them and the growth of the internet and social media visibility. The convenient and stable spaces, timely delivery, and, most noticeably, the human connection are what consumers recall these days. This research project will provide different methods suitable for addressing the fluctuating customer expectations in the tourism industry. Problem statement The tourism industry is currently undergoing a phase of significant expansion. The status quo is not suitable anymore, particularly in F&B constructs bland threemeals-a-day restaurant is gone, as shown by the massive increase in independents and the formation of soft brands in recent years. The hospitality industry is today undergoing a phase of significant expansion. Business travel hit an all-time high of $1.2 trillion in 2015, with steady momentum expected to continue into 2017— though rivalry for those dollars has been intense, with new brands as well as hospitality and food-and-beverage innovations evolving, as well as an environment that rewards ingenuity and imagination (Kotler, Bowen, Makens, & Baloglu, 2017). Although macroeconomic trends could still play a role in deciding how the market can develop in the coming months and years, this is a business heavily dependent on customer tastes and perceptions, which might and do evolve. Although it does not seem to be a game-changing revelation to suggest that good hoteliers, as well as tourism industry operators, will prosper by addressing the requirements of their consumer base, the importance of knowing as well as adapting to guest and diner desires and preferences continues to increase (Cabiddu, Lui, & Piccoli, 2013). The

tourism industry is particularly vulnerable to changing opinions as a rising differentiator as well as a driver of the conceptual element that is so critical for a tourism property these days. Brands who are mindful of and sensitive to these preferences—and, as a result, customer expectations—will notice that they are preparing themselves for sustainability in a fragmented and aggressive market. The following research questions will be addressed: 

How can the Tourism Sector Best Address the Constantly

Changing Expectations of the Customers? 2 Objectives for the research The research's long-term goal is to establish how Tourism Sector can best address the constantly-changing expectations of the customers. Customer expectations in the tourism industry are defined herein, including authenticity, personal experience, and one-in-a-while experience. The study aims to offer a systematic overview of the literature and ways to address the customer expectations in the tourism industry and establish how the evolving needs of customers in the tourism industry can be addressed. The thesis has the following sub-objectives in particular: 1. To understand the importance of authenticity in the tourism industry 2. To describe how experience impacts the customer in the tourism industry 3. To review the concept of customer satisfaction The results of this study will be helpful to the companies in the tourism industry. Customers do not abandon products that satisfy any of their requirements. The company will guarantee that the product and services meet the customers' desires by predicting their requirements before requesting a new feature, service, or solution from the company.

3 Literature Review Service quality Recent research on travel service quality is attempting to identify the variables that influence consumers' perceptions of service quality and model the discrepancies between consumer preferences and actual service experience. Al-Ababneh (2013) says that there is a need for further study into the travel services industry better to comprehend the various aspects of travel service efficiency. Researchers need to contemplate a set of known measurements and integrate them for testing purposes.

New and up-to-date tourism facilities and programs are considered to be both more appealing and satisfying to visitors. The results of Al-Ababneh (2013) indicated that service quality had a direct effect on tourist experience across the board, including destination connectivity, destination services, as well as destination attractions. The rate, speed, and ease of public transportation across the tourist spot are all factors in location efficiency. Accommodations, hotels, cafés, and transit services are also part of the destination amenities category, which likewise covers other visitor attractions, including gift shops and souvenir shops, as well as services like information and tourist security. Tourists may be enticed to visit a location based on its attractions and climate, mainly if it is situated in a gorgeous location. According to Lai, Hitchcock, Yang, and Lu (2018), tourists were reasonably pleased with Munich's public transit, and tourists' expectations were more autonomous of most influences. This research explores satisfaction levels with public transit in depth. Participants were expected to rate their satisfaction level with various facets of service. Timeliness, consistency, network connectivity, service frequency, simplicity of the timetable, connectivity of train stations as well as bus stops, availability of the buses, safety aboard, ease-of-use, details, sanitation of the transport means, room of the automobile, seat availability, staff service, as well as convenience when waiting for a bus were all service considerations. Comparably, BrUwEr (2013) undertook analysis in New Zealand, interviewing 20 visitors and utilising five main themes derived from transportation problems and their effect on tourism. There were several gateways and locations and goods, distribution and marketing, termination, speed limits, and ecological consequences. Second, several researchers assessed customer loyalty in hotel service efficiency using the analytic hierarchy (AHP). For instance, Stranjancevic and Bulatovic (2015) used a consumer satisfaction survey to assess hotel service. Questionnaire to gather perspectives on four main parameters in hotel service efficiency. On the other hand, Al-Ababneh (2013) found that factors such as affordability of lodging, location, and their elements have a significant impact on tourist satisfaction and the growth of tourist destinations in an area where tourists return.

Authenticity Among the most critical and most challenging—shifts in customer expectation that hoteliers and F&B practitioners must contend with is an admiration for authenticity. A significant segment of the dilemma is that authenticity remains an ambiguous term by definition: the more a commodity or event attempts to be genuine, the less authentic it sounds. According to Terziyska and Rislki (2012), customers in the food and beverage industry, particularly the compelling and significant Millennial generation, view authenticity via two opposing lenses. On the one hand, there is the previously stated increasing passion for independent brands and unique F&B ideas that use a high percentage of locally grown and organic ingredients. Offbeat brands and F&B services engage with customers in a manner that sounds natural and effective, from craft beer and innovative drinks to personalized menus as well as creative and exclusive places and locations. Pattuglia and Mingione (2017) highlight that millennials, on the other hand, see authenticity in more than simply small brands or autonomous providers: they likewise see it in several of the world's most popular and well-known items. Millennials prefer CocaCola as well as Starbucks because of their versatility and durability, not because of their freedom. A brand name that is straightforward, solid, and irrefutable to customers will evoke a feeling of legitimacy that is simply as valuable as a craft brewery or a local farm-to-table diner. F&B operators must have this appeal to authenticity in mind when they create menus and marketing strategies and aim to create unique products, cultures, and interactions. Personal experience Personalization has been a top market concern in 2017, from menus and interactions to decorations and aesthetics. Personalization and an immersive and entertaining ecosystem remain one of the most effective methods to give visitors and restaurants the impression that they are being handled whereas still cultivating an unmistakable sensation of location. Most F&B operators, to their advantage, are being more innovative and mindful on how to do precisely that by integrating small interactions and personalized features into their restaurants, menus, as well as service profiles (Buhalis & Amaranggana, 2015). Most of it builds an atmosphere that encourages social interaction by using the vitality and stimulation of a room where people are socialising and engaging. Extra versatile menus, tableside cocktail mixture

or preparing food, and D0-it-yourself options like mobile stations or dessert buffets are among the other techniques. Tableside experiences by the chef are another method to offer personal advice and interaction. To prepare, diners feel welcomed and linked to the cuisine and the institution in a manner that they have not felt before. Although the hospitality business is improving its ability to capture and use visitor data to have a personalized and easy experience, it lags behind pioneers in retail and other sectors in this field. F&B operators must think about using social media and a new set of interactive platforms to provide customized and tailored content and messaging and engage directly with customers (Volchek, Law, Buhalis, & Song, 2020). One of the most effective methods to keep visitors connected—and coming back—is to reinforce that element of personalization and personalized interaction both inside and outside the hotel, lounge, or restaurant. Although macroeconomic trends can still serve a part in determining how the market might evolve in the months and years ahead, this is a sector that is being heavily reliant on customer tastes and perceptions, which may and do change through time. Although it does not appear to be a game-changing revelation to say that good hotelier, as well as F&B managers, will prosper by satisfying the demands of their consumer base, the importance of identifying and responding to a visitor as well as diner tastes and desires go on to increase (Volchek, 2019). F&B is particularly vulnerable to changing opinions as an increasing point of differentiation and a driver of the conceptual element critical for a restaurant asset these times. Brands who are mindful of and sensitive to these likes and dislikes; as a result, customer expectations —will notice that they are preparing themselves for sustainability in a crowded and dynamic market. Today, three of the most prominent and essential consumer trends in the tourism space are a growing preference for authenticity, a desire for more personalization, and unique, one-of-a-kind experiences across the board. 4 Details of your research Research methodology A qualitative analysis methodology would be used to conduct the study. This approach attempts to be analytical and analytic while looking for the why of its subject. Qualitative analysis is used to obtain insights into people's beliefs, habits,

belief structures, interests, motives, goals, history, or lifestyles. This takes into account what people think, their experience, and their understanding. This project aims to investigate the rational mind (Byrd, 2020). It is all about understanding what people say, require, and want, as well as tapping into emotional motors. Previous events are related to the study of substantive human behavior. This takes into account what people think, their experience, and their understanding. This project aims to investigate the rational mind. It's all about understanding what people say, require, and want, as well as tapping into emotional motors. Previous events are related to the study of substantive human behavior. It is claimed that qualitative analysis does not yield truths, facts, or data-based outcomes. It lends itself to being performed in a sequence of precisely described and differentiated measures. This is not to say that it shouldn't be done in a methodical, well-planned manner. Byrd (2020) considers qualitative science to be alive and changing, with new perspectives and concepts emerging at any moment. Descriptive analysis is thought to be the product of a thorough previous understanding of marketing factors. Questions must be structured to capture particular types of knowledge, such as product results, market share, or competitive intelligence, to be fruitful for this form of analysis. Under a qualitative analysis approach, the report will use a case study research design. A qualitative analytical methodology will be the suitable method because it is thought to be the best way to obtain detailed results. The study's participants will be chosen using snowball and convenient screening techniques. Tourists visiting tourism attractions and consumers staying in lodges will be chosen using convenient sampling. A convenience sample remains one that the researcher can access merely because it is accessible (Etikan, Musa, & Alkassim, 2016). The study will collect data from both international and domestic visitors using a non-probability sampling technique in light of the above. Since there will be no survey frame of all the visitors and consumers who attend the tourist attraction areas, the convenience sampling approach will be satisfactory. The study will collect data from both international and domestic visitors using a non-probability sampling technique in light of the above. Since there will be no survey framework of all the visitors and consumers who attend the tourist attraction areas, the convenience sampling approach will be satisfactory. Snowball sampling methods will also be used to pick the owners or administrators of hospitality and tourism businesses. Snowball sampling is a method in

which a study selects a particular number of individuals who are essential to the study questions and then asks them to recommend other people who have had similar experiences or have similar characteristics (Etikan et al., 2016). These individuals would then recommend others, and so forth. As a result, researchers will utilise snowball sampling, and hospitality and tourism business owners will recommend people to ask. As a result, a snowball sampling method will be used, in which the chairman of the Hotel and Catering Association (HCAS) will be chosen first and will then appoint other participants. To achieve saturation point, a sample size of 46 will be used. There was no proper list of hospitality and tourism businesses, clients, or tourists at the Regional Tourism Administrator's office. As a result, it will be impossible to draw a random sample because the demographic from which it will be taken is unknown. After applying ethical concerns and achieving theoretical saturation, which is clearly described as data fulfillment, a stage where no new evidence can be derived from additional data, a sum of 46 respondents will be surveyed. In qualitative studies, the saturation point defines the sample size because enough evidence will be obtained for a quantitative study. Even so, there are no set sizes or tests that may be utilised to assess how much data is needed to achieve saturation. Data Collection The lodge executives, tourism enterprise executives, overnight consumers in lodges, and tourists visiting tourist attractions will be polled for preliminary results. Via surveys, the researchers will gather information from overnight travelers, guests, and providers in the hospitality and tourism industries. An interview guide will be used to interview the 46 applicants. Supervisors of hospitality as well as tourism companies will be interviewed utilising a common interview guide. In contrast, visitors and overnight visits in resorts were likewise interviewed utilising a specific interview guide, although both visitors and overnight guests have similar characteristics. Data analysis Since you have invested time and resources in gathering the results, it is critical to analyze them. It is an important move because one does not want to be left in the dark after putting in too much work. There are no hard and fast guidelines for interpreting qualitative data; recognizing the two primary qualitative data techniques is the first step. To analyse the data gathered, a deductive method would be used. The deductive approach entails interpreting qualitative data using a fixed structure devised

by the researcher. The questions should be used as a reference for interpreting the data by the researcher. This tool is fast and convenient, and it can be utilised when a researcher has a clear understanding of what kind of responses he or she would get from the sample population. 5 Research ethics When doing research studies, there are a variety of ethical standards to consider. These ethical guidelines emphasize the necessity to (a) do good (referred to as beneficence) as well as (b) do not harm their heart. This means that the researcher should: seek informed consent from prospective study participants; minimize the possibility of damage to participants; maintain their security and dignity; as well as prevent misleading practices, (e) Allow participants to withdraw from the study at any time. The dissertation study aims not to do good but likewise to prevent damage (that is, non-malfeasance) (Ryen, 2016). Although research ethics standards vary by country, these are the fundamental concepts of research ethics. This is significant not just for ethical purposes, as well as for practical reasons because failing to obey those simple rules could result in the study being (a) criticized, possibly resulting in a lower grade, and (b) denied by the supervisor or Ethics Committee, wasting time and money. 6

Conclusions

Customers demand more reliable service than ever before, and since consumer behaviour is increasingly shifting, companies must remain on top of customer demands. Customers no longer anticipate the essentials, such as decent productivity and improved price. This research project will provide different methods suitable for addressing the fluctuating customer expectations in the tourism industry. The research proposal will answer the question How can the Tourism Sector Best Address the Constantly Changing Expectations of the Customers? The research objectives for the research are to understand the importance of authenticity in the tourism industry, describe how experience impacts customer in the tourism industry, and review customer satisfaction. The results of this study will be helpful to the companies in the tourism industry. Customers do not abandon products that satisfy any of their requirements. The company will guarantee that the product and services meet the customers' desires by predicting their requirements before requesting a new feature, service, or solution from the company.

7 Timetable for your research:

Month April May June July August

Dissertation Activity (parts) Review of literature Choosing the sample Data collection Data analysis Discussion and completion

8 Reference List...