Topic: Inns: Never Out of Style

Topic: Inns: Never Out of Style 

 

Premise:  Tourists all over the world is now looking for more affordable and quality-driven mode of staying on their favorite vacation spots. Particularly, the United Kingdom tourism industry has witnessed the blossoming of the Small and Medium Enterprises in the inn business as an alternative and possibly a substitute for luxurious and expensive hotels. Since all sources (www.hospitality.net, www.staruk.org, etc.) agree that the bulk of the UK hospitality or tourism industry is run by SMEs, this paper will look into the unique charm and business viability of inns, guesthouses and B & B's.  The paper will also try to investigate if these establishments are the people's way (or tactic) of "de-luxurizing" the travel industry, which has become increasingly commercialized. Further, the researcher will make a research-based calculation on the probability of the prospering of the inn industry against the hotels in UK.

 

Section 1

 

1.1 Aim/objectives

 

The purpose of the survey is to monitor trends in the visitor attraction sector throughout UK and improve the understanding of the dynamics of the sector by monitoring monthly bed and room occupancy for hotels, guesthouses and private houses (including farmhouses) offering bed and breakfast to visitors. Moreover, this data will be used as the unit of analysis in evaluating the viability and the progress of the inn industry. Consequently, the persistence and possibly the substitution effect that the inn industry offers over hotels will be evaluated vis a vis the perceived financial practicality of tourists in the UK. This study will be beneficial to the tourism industry and prospective inn investors in determining the current and future trends in UK. Further, this research seeks to demonstrate the relevance of the inn business in providing an alternative to tourists who are need of a more affordable guesthouse for their vacations.

 

1.2 Research Questions

 

1.2.a     What are the trends in the visitor attraction sector in terms of their      choice on where to stay and the factors that they consider in their choice?

 

1.2.b    Using a comparative analysis of data among inns and hotels, how important are prices and rates of hotels and inns vis a vis the number of visitors?

 

1.2.c.     What is the role of SME's in promoting UK's attraction industry?

 

1.2.d.   How potent are inns and guesthouses in providing an alternative choice for visitors?  

 

      1.2.e      Will inns replace the role of hotels in the UK tourism industry?

 

 

Section 2

 

2.1 Concepts

 

            The United Kingdom Tourism Survey (UKTS) is a national consumer measuring the volume and value of tourism trips taken by residents of the United Kingdom.  The English Tourism Council, Visit Scotland, the Wales Tourist Board and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board jointly sponsor it.  It began in 1989 and replaced the pervious survey, the British Tourism Survey Monthly (BTSM)

 

2.2 Theories

 

            In order to analyze the dynamic interaction of the inn establishments and the impact of economic and social in its activities and vice versa, the three-domain approach will be utilized. The three-domain approach includes the social, private and commercial domain.   This approach best describes the definition of hospitality industry and hospitality management against constricting factors such as the economic and cultural environment. Further, the inn business will be analyzed in lieu of its competitive nature over the luxurious and more expensive hotels. This interplay will give the paper a more dynamic presentation of the inn business.

 

2.3 Models

 

            In order to come up with an adequate measuring tool, models utilizing survey and interviews will be used. The survey part will determine the monthly bed and room occupancy for hotels, guesthouses and private houses (including farmhouses) offering bed and breakfast to visitors. Moreover, the preferences and perceptions of visitors will be clarified on their choice between hotels and inns and their reasons for choosing one over the other. The interview will include authorities in the tourism industry, visitors and the inn managements. This will verify the reasons for SMEs in establishing the inn businesses and will give an access to the researcher as to the current trend in their businesses and their prospects for the future.

 

Section 3

 

3.1 Methods of data collection

This chapter will discuss the method of research to be used, the respondents of the study, the sampling technique, the instrument to be used, the validation of the instrument, the administration of the of the instrument and the statistical treatment of the data that will be gathered.

 

Research Design

This study will use the descriptive approach.  This descriptive type of research will utilize interview, observation and questionnaires in the study: gather information about the present existing condition.  The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of a particular phenomena.

 

Primary Source of Data

            A random sampling will be conducted on the establishments that will be recruited for the survey. They will be asked to complete a set of questionnaire/data for each month, giving details of their nightly occupancy.  The data returned is processed and analyzed to produce monthly occupancy rates for the whole area and for specific categories of type, size, location etc.  The UK coordinator uses the national and regional rates in the calculation of UK rates. The survey will be carried out by means of a self-completion questionnaire sent to all known attractions meeting the definition of a visitor attraction.  Each tourist board is responsible for the survey in their own country. Moreover, interviews both on the personnel of the inns and hotels and the visitors will be conducted.

The respondents will grade each statement in the survey-questionnaire using a Likert scale with a five-response scale wherein respondents will be given five response choices. The equivalent weights for the answers will be:

Range                                                            Interpretation

      4.50 – 5.00                                        Always

3.50 – 4.00                                        Very Often

2.50 – 3.49                                        Often

1.50 – 2.49                                        Sometimes 

0.00 – 1.49                                        Not at all

 

 

Secondary Source of Data

Secondary source of data will come from tourism and business journals, theses and previous studies of the trend in the tourism industry specifically the hotels, inns and guesthouses; and make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material.  Afterwards, the researcher will summarize all the information, make a conclusion based on the null hypotheses posited and provide insightful recommendations on the dealing with the inn business in the UK.

 

 

3.2 Population

 

A random sampling will be conducted on respondents aged 18 and above on all the selected establishments that will be surveyed. Approximately 150 respondents (inns) will be part of the study. The researcher will exclude the ten respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument.  The researcher will also tally, score and tabulate all the relevant data in the survey questionnaire.

 

 

3.3 Sampling techniques

 

            Stratified random sample and face-to-face in-home interviews using the Electoral Register as a sampling frame will be used. A cluster sampling will also be used: the first part will consist of the inn management and personnel; the second cluster will be composed of the authorized experts in the tourism industry and; the third cluster will be consist of tourists.

For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a survey questionnaire and after approval, the survey will be given to ten tourists in UK.  After the survey questionnaire will be answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument.  The researcher will again examine the content of the survey questionnaire to find out the reliability of the instrument. 

The researcher will be assisted by the SPSS in coming up with the statistical analysis for this study.

 

3.4 Sample size

 

            The sample size of an exclusive ad hoc study is based on 50,000 interviews with adults per year

 

 

Bibliography

 

i.  Journal article – first reference

 

UK Tourism Facts 2002. United Kingdom Tourism Survey. Survey of Visits to Visitor 

    Attractions; United Kingdom Occupancy Survey. 27 January 2003; 10 December

       2002.

 

ii. Journal article – subsequent reference

 

Jowell, Tessa. The New Lead Body for Tourism.  31 October 2002. p. 8

 

Slattery, Paul. Finding the Hospitality Industry. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and  

    Tourism Education.  Vol. I no.1 pp. 2-6. 2002 Edition.

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