Training in research methods is increasingly important for students of tourism, and this broad, accessible textbook outlines the concepts and tools essential to understanding, managing, and conducting research. Taking a practical approach throughout, this new edition provides advice on the use and cautions associated with some of the more common research designs and tools used by tourism researchers.

Fully updated throughout, it:

- covers core techniques such as questionnaire design, sample selection, and interviewing
- reviews analytical tools such as the development of scales and indices, assessment of advertising performance, benchmarking, market segmentation, case studies, and content and visual analysis.
- uses recent, real-world examples and focus boxes throughout to assess new aspects of research such as blogs, narrative analysis, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- retains the approachable, personal writing style of the previous edition.

Incorporating an increased use of handy, pedagogical features to aid learning, this new edition is an essential overview for undergraduate and postgraduate students of tourism research, as well as a useful resource for researchers, consultants, and managers.

Stephen L.J. Smith's profile page

Stephen L. J. Smith is a Professor of Tourism in the School of Hospitality, Food, and Tourism Management at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He is also Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo, Canada. His research interests include tourism statistics and economics, tourism informatics, tourism policy, and culinary tourism. He advises graduate students who are doing research in these areas and teaches research methods. He works with empirical ("quantitative"), subjective ("qualitative"), and mixed research designs. Stephen is the author of numerous articles in scholarly journals as well as several books. He is past-Chair of the Canadian Tourism Commission's Research Committee and past-Chair of the Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council's Research Committee. He is an Elected Fellow of the International Statistical institute, past-Chair of their Committee on Statistics in Travel and Tourism, an Elected Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, and a member Travel and Tourism International Research Association, and Slow Food International. Stephen consults with various local provincial, national, and international government and not-for-profit agencies.