Research Methods: Impact of Virtual Tourism on Tourist Footfall in UK

This report, prepared for a research methods course, investigates the influence of virtual tourism on tourist footfall in the UK. It encompasses a variety of qualitative research methods, including an interview checklist focusing on the experiences and benefits of virtual tourism, participant observation, and analysis of visitor records at the London Eye. A research diary extract details the observation process and initial findings. The report also includes a visual methodologies practical, analyzing an advertisement for Moxy Hotels to understand how visual elements impact consumer behavior. Furthermore, a coded interview transcript provides insights into VW campervan ownership, exploring motivations and experiences. The major project proposal outlines the research aims, methodology, and analysis plan for a comprehensive study on the topic. The report aims to provide a detailed analysis of the impact of virtual tourism on the tourism industry.

Research Methods for
the Service Sector

Contents
Assessment 1: Portfolio: Qualitative - Influence of virtual-tourism on footfall of tourists in UK.................3
An Interview Checklist.................................................................................................................................3
Participant Observation...............................................................................................................................3
Observation checklist..............................................................................................................................3
Research diary extract.............................................................................................................................4
Commentary............................................................................................................................................4
A Visual Methodologies Practical................................................................................................................5
Background.............................................................................................................................................5
The image................................................................................................................................................5
Analysis/Interpretation............................................................................................................................6
A Coded Interview Transcript......................................................................................................................6
Transcript key..........................................................................................................................................6
Coded Interview Transcript.....................................................................................................................7
Major Project Proposal..............................................................................................................................19
Title of the proposal...............................................................................................................................19
Introduction and Rationale....................................................................................................................19
Research Aims and Objectives..............................................................................................................20
Research Methodology..........................................................................................................................21
Research Analysis.................................................................................................................................22
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................23

Assessment 1: Portfolio: Qualitative - Influence of virtual-tourism on footfall
of tourists in UK
An Interview Checklist
Theme
(Main
Question)
(Specific Topics and
Issues)
Follow up questions
Experience  Less than 1 year
 1 year to 3 years
 3 years to 5 years
 More than 5 years
 From how many years you have
information about the virtual tourism?
Job role  Generates job
 Workshops for tour
operators
 Do you think virtual tourism generates
job within the tourism sector?
 Does implementation of virtual tourism
develops requirement of workshop or
training session for tour operators?
Benefits of
virtual
tourism for
tourism
sector
 Attracts more
number of customer
towards them
 Increases footfall for
destination
 Boosts economy of
nation
 Do you think virtual tourism provides
benefits to the national economy?
 Does virtual tourism enhances overall
footfall for the tourism destinations?
Participant Observation
Observation checklist
 To conduct observation of different tourism companies which offers facility of virtual
tourism?
 Check visitors record of London eye after introduction of virtual tourism
 To determine companies policies and rules for virtual tourism.

 To evaluate rules and regulation that is followed by tour operators while offering
virtual tourism experience to the customers.
Research diary extract
In this observation method, around 10 people would be taken into under observation
without informing them about the research. It will held for around 5 hours at the visitors zone of
London Eye as the researcher can easily have access to the desired respondents.
During the observation it has been analysed that the from the total of 10 around five people
have visited the London Eye for very first time as they have only read about in the news and
other social media options. On the other hand, around 6 people have been observed with having
the discussion about the same place in detailed manner as they were highly excited towards the
same place. These people came to visit London Eye as they have found its virtual tourism most
interesting and attractive. Whereas, the leftover two were having clear discussion on the same
place as they have heard about it from their family and friends.
Commentary
The overall observation was done on the secretive method as information about the
research has not been communicated to the participants. I have personally analysed the overall
information in the detailed manner and got to realize that maximum number of people are having
detailed knowledge about the virtual tourism and it also influences them to visit the chosen
destination London Eye.

A Visual Methodologies Practical
Background
The given picture is acknowledged to be a part of Moxy Hotel’s advertising campaign. The
main aim of making this image is advertisement of the environment and ambience at the
respective hotel. This allows people to enjoy their time at the hotel and have fun with their
friends or acquaintances. The image given above is made for targeting the younger generation of
society who intends to experience surprises and desire fun and parties all the time. The youth is
thus regarded to be prime audience of the advertisement campaign of Moxy Hotels. The given
image thus demonstrates the atmosphere which is desirable by the visitors. This increases the
footfall for the respective hospitality organisation in the long run.
The image
The given image can be divided into several tiny bits that tend to illustrate fun, partying
atmosphere, entertainment witnessed and experienced by people while they are in the premises
of Moxy Hotels. One of the tiny bits illustrate the in room concert facility which is given by the
respective hotel in order to grab the attention of large number of individuals towards the
ambience and experience that the hotel management tries to create for the visitors. Besides this,

there are many other tiny bits which illustrate indoor as well as outdoor party organized by the
hotel management, food, etc. The colour pallet that is used for the advertising campaign is bold.
This can be said on the basis of the premise that two contrast colours have been put to use in the
image, which are identified to be Black and Pink. In addition to this, the picture also
demonstrates the persons who have previously been the guests of Moxy Hotel along with the
activities they got indulged in, during their stay at the respective hotel premise. The overall
image show above carries the potential of grabbing the attention of large base of individuals so
as to augment the financial performance of the firm in the long run. The image contains some
signs which illustrate time and venue for livestream. The slogan for the image is “MOXY: it’s no
place like home” which is mainly targeting the youth and stating that the hotel is an escape from
their respective homes.
Analysis/Interpretation
The overall interpretation of the campaign suggests that Moxy Hotel is a boutique hotel
where people do not have to behave like sophisticated beings, and thus can be the way they are.
So, they can have fun with their friends or colleagues without caring about anybody. The image
tries to represent that the respective hotel allows youngsters to escape their boring and routine
lives, thus flee away to a place whereby they can be their original selves without caring about the
society, families or anyone else. The overall picturisation of the hotel has been shown beautifully
with the help of tiny bits of sneek peeks from the different sections of the hotel ranging from
rooms, livestreams, etc. Moxy tries to reach out to people by stating that it is nothing like their
homes. It is thus presented in front of the target audience as a place whereby they can enjoy
themselves and make memories to cherish for a lifetime to come. This leaves a strong impact on
the younger generation of the society and gains their attention as almost all of them want to
escape their homes and go to a place whereby they can party and live as per their terms.
A Coded Interview Transcript
Transcript key
A: VW campervan
A1 – effectiveness of VW campervan
A2 – limitations of VW campervan

B: Amanda
B1 - Judgment of Amanda for VW campervan as well as camping
C: Experiences in VW campervan
C1 – Good experiences
C2 – Experiences which are not good
Coded Interview Transcript
***********Original Transcript*******************
NOTES: Michael Archer- 45minute Interview discussing VW Campervan ownership.
Researcher (Bold) Respondent (Regular)
What attracted you to the idea of owning a VW campervan?
Michael: Well for me it was more like a holiday home, a portable camp and chill with the
family. The VW aspect was more to talk Amanda into it. My partner just for the record.
(Laughs) Basically she thought it was cool and they are cool and all of those things, but it
was more a vehicle to go on holiday in so like looking at caravans well didn’t appeal, and I
could see it as a second vehicle.
So what you’re saying is you wouldn’t have liked a different type of vehicle?
No it would have to be something that could be used as a car as well.
So not the big American retirement van?
No well the VW’s my mate had one and it’s a car and a van and its cool and exciting isn’t it. It’s
that whole thing, there’s a buzz about it. People talk about it, so that would be the initial

reason.
Does the idea come from research, or just off the top of your head to get it?
Well we went on a caravan holiday and we sat in this caravan and we thought this is cool; we
will just have barbeques and just drink beer. Just chill out George (Their son) was only 7
weeks old and everything was dead easy going and slow the pace reminded us of when we
went travelling to Asia and this was the life, but on the doorstep. Somewhere we could go
on a weekend, every weekend just to get away from the city. Then Amanda wanted
something mobile and then the VW was a compromise.
Did you give it a name?
It didn’t have a name when we got it. Our initial idea in the July 2009 and we didn’t get it for 10
months of waiting, painstaking waiting and it didn’t have a name we thought Ulysses or,
the registration was UCU34l. It was a TV program, Ulysses (Pronounced dramatically).
Most of them are girls names so we decided in the end to call it Jenny because that’s what
Forrest Gump (the movie) calls his boat.
Does that represent travelling or something?
Just liked the name.
Did giving it a name help with attachment to it?
Well they are mostly girls and it’s like naming a ship. I thought there was a slight cultural
difference of the people who got them; the Dubbers who had names were different from
those who hadn’t.
In what way?

I don’t know.
You’re allowed to say what you think?
It seems that if you really knew VW then you didn’t name it. So at first we didn’t name it, we
haven’t had anything and called it a name. Even George’s teddies, his rabbit are rabbit.
Not a sentimental old fool then? (researcher laughs)
So where you brought up with camping?
Yes well we had definitely camped, with cubs and stuff like that and school camp at the lakes
which was cool. Err then with the lads trying to get in campsites when we were 16, sleeping
in fields. Walking through fields of bulls and swampland and stuff and waking up in the
morning with this guy on his quad going get off my field and we were like oh no. We went
camping then, we went walking then. We had a break then returned to it with mates and
realised that you could just sit and eat and drink as much as you wanted and it was great,
you could just get as drunk as you wanted and that was fine. We didn’t really go camping
me and Amanda but then when we had a kid; it really seemed to make sense and still does.
That is the lifestyle that I want my family to have.
Do you think that’s more a boy thing or just general?
What with camping, I guess stereotypically yes. Like its roughing it and Amanda doesn’t want
to rough it, whereas maybe when she was younger she would of, but she’s 30. I liked
mucking in, getting wet, getting dirty whereas Amanda didn’t like that about the camping.
There will be girls that don’t enjoy it and girls who do, but as a general rule boys like
getting in a mess and most girls don’t. The idea of getting wet and sitting in a leaky tent
brings out survival instincts in me. My cousin and his wife goes camping, well glam ping
actually they put a carpet in their tent. I suppose you’re forced to make you own
entertainment in a way. You’re forced as a couple to be together, well not forced but you’re

on a campsite and it’s a relaxed ‘holiday’ atmosphere.
So do you think it’s a relaxing experience?
Relaxing?
Well it’s an idea that you go camping to relax and people do.
Yes but it’s full of tasks to get to the relaxing bit. Like relaxing is over there but you have to do
a lot to get to it. Like the whole alphabet. To get to the z. Then when you sit down it’s like
right what do I do now. So everything’s done, all you need to do is just do the dishes. But
there’s actually nothing to do. Not like at home.
Is it trying to get away from that?
Yes for me it is actually. That’s still why I would like a static caravan as well. Somewhere to
go, to chill out and get drunk (laughs)
In terms of feelings about the van, can you describe that?
Over the massive and ridiculous 10 months it took to procure the van and we even got a loan to
get it. Then when it did arrive we were like this is a mistake because we had been so long
waiting and we had to find extra money too. At first I was a bit negative about it, although
Manda was excited and I was oh I don’t know what this is going to be like. That was my
feeling all the way up to getting it, but then when I got it I did fall in love with it. Very
much fell in love with it. It only took sitting in it, driving in it and having a glass of wine in
it to think this is brilliant. This is cool you know it belonged to us and I had never owned
anything quite like it, that was worth that much. I don’t own a house I just have a mortgage.
Yeah it was mine and I fell in love with it. We would obsess about buying things for it. It
was like a person. Strange that. But it had its own character which is probably why people
name them. If a name had come to us we probably would have named it but it was like

what does it need? George our son had a lot of needs and so did it. Things you could get for
it like accessories. We bought everything, the curtains, the pans and the electrics. I thought
about it, went and looked at it on the street when I woke up in the morning. Go and just sit
in it, it’s yours you can be possessive over it.
Is ownership part of it or could you have just hired one?
No, when it’s yours you look in other peoples vans and go how practical is it, where would you
sleep all of these questions. As soon as you had your own it was like this is brilliant, I don’t
care where I am going to sleep. It was more look at this I am in my van. There’s an
excitement and something I really enjoyed.
Did this feeling stay with you for the duration of having the van?
Yeah definitely, just very attached to it.
Do you think it’s an aesthetic thing? I mean I know there’s more to it than that but....
Yes it’s the age of it, that its original, it’s got a history and it looks nice but it’s quite simple. It’s
got eyes on the front, a face. Whoever designed it thought I want to live in this I will put a
sink there, I will put the beds there etc, it’s clever and a lot of thought has gone into it. It’s
like you feel like you have got something special and whether it’s done through the
perception of it. People say they fall in love with them and that’s what happens. I suppose if
I had a Ferrari I would fall in love with that but not necessarily in the same way.
Are you in love with your car?
No. I don’t really like it. When I first got it I thought oh its okay, I have a new car. Now I
dislike it. I wouldn’t be bothered if it was nicked, albeit for financial reasons. The van
(whoa) I left it somewhere and thought I hadn’t locked the door and just panicked about it
and couldn’t think about anything else until I got back to the van and the door was locked.

Then I love my bike at the minute so maybe I am a bit like that. The campervan did stay
with me.
When you say history, do you mean cultural history or its own history?
It hadn’t any improvements really so, so it’s original so you imagine what people were like who
used to live in it and there is that whole community. You don’t go anywhere without
someone speaking about it. That makes the cycle of you enjoying it, being part of
something the reason you think it is special is because you drive along the road and kids
smile at it and people look at it and wave at you. You drive past everyone in their normal
cars and it doesn’t matter that its costing a fortune to drive or goes really slow (Laughs0
or really noisy or stinks of oil, when your sat at the lights and someone else in their car
that’s probably cost 20 grand and you just go HA!
Do you attribute the features of the van to yourself, your personality?
I think the van is the van itself and it’s just that you, like I was the driver of that van. You do
personalise them over time. But we didn’t have ours long enough. Eight ball gear stick or
whatever. Got a little fire extinguisher. We didn’t want to put flowers on it or change the
look as it was a recent resprays so it looked lush. I felt like a bus driver. It is strange but
you do feel on show when you drive them
Does it create an atmosphere for your life?
For the time you spend in them. I think that’s the appeal of them that when you in them you
relax, something changes like it’s not the only thing that that happens with. Especially if
it’s yours. It’s like you look at a fire and you think that’s beautiful it gives you a certain
feeling, or looking out into the ocean gives you a certain feeling. Like the campervan you
just chill out it’s your domain.