An investigation of the use of Internet influencing on the young users' behaviour in Bournemouth on entering or stopping searching travel information at the traditional tourist or visitor information centres in UK

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, it would give me great pleasure to show my gratitude to my professor, for his propositions, remarks, understanding and patience. It would also be an honour to express gratitude to my parents, my mother, my father, my sister and my brother for their endless support in my life and allowing me to make all my decisions. I would also like to take the opportunity to show appreciation to my co-workers for their expert cooperation on every occasion. I would also like to be grateful to the Department, managers of the university, instructors and students who have supported me throughout this research.

DECLARATION

I declare that the content presented in this thesis/dissertation is, in my understanding and opinion, original and has not been presented for scholarly assessment in the past, either completely or partly, for an academic degree at this educational institution or elsewhere. I would also like to admit that I have studied and understood the principles, prerequisites, processes and guidelines of the University regarding the higher academic degree research award and to my dissertation. I would also like to declare that I have abided by the University's principles, prerequisites, processes and guidelines.

ABSTRACT

The information and communication technology has been around for many decades. However, in the past decade changes in the information and communication technology have accelerated rapidly. Tourist Information Centres are a crucial link between the tourists and their destination, not much research has been conducted regarding the operational efficiency of TICs except for the occasional customer satisfaction surveys and strategies for building the network. The development of new and innovative information and communication technologies has significantly improved the access of visitors to the information about their destination. The main reason for conducting this research is to understand the young users' behaviour in Bournemouth on searching the travel information at traditional tourist or visitor information centres in UK and the influence of Internet affecting their entering or stopping at the TICs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1Research Background1

1.2Research Purpose6

1.3Research Objectives7

1.4Rationale for the Study7

1.5Research Method Adopted8

1.6Structure of the Thesis10

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW12

2.1Marketing in Tourism12

2.1.1Destination, tourism service and experiences12

2.1.1.1Intangibility14

2.1.1.2Seasonality15

2.1.1.3Variability15

2.1.1.4Inseparability16

2.1.1.5Perishability17

2.1.1.6Lack of ownership18

2.1.2Tourists and travel information18

2.1.2.1Tourism information exchange model19

2.1.2.2Tourists' characteristics21

2.1.2.3Travel Information channel21

2.2The role of TICs in Tourism Marketing26

2.2.1Functions and facilities of TICs28

2.2.2Advantages of Tourist Information Centres (TICs)33

2.3The role of Internet in Tourism Marketing36

2.3.1Advantages of the Internet as a Marketing tool39

2.4Consumer behaviour40

2.4.1Consumer decision-making process43

2.4.2Tourist Information search50

2.3.2.1External information search51

2.3.2.2Internal information search52

2.5Fundamental factors influencing tourist behaviour on selecting travel information searching channel53

2.5.1Up-to-date information54

2.5.2Information reliability54

2.5.3Convenience55

2.5.4Cost of use56

2.5.5Different types of information56

2.5.6Accessibility56

2.6Factors influencing tourist behaviour on selecting travel information searching channel57

2.6.1Cultural factors61

2.6.2Social factors63

2.6.3Personal factors65

2.6.4Psychological factors68

2.7Demographic Approach74

2.7.1Generation Y and their characteristics74

2.7.2Generation Y and their information search behaviour75

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY77

3.1Research Objectives77

3.2The Nature of Research78

3.3Research Design79

3.4Data Collection Methods80

3.5Research Methods81

3.6Research Approaches82

3.7Sampling Design83

3.8Questionnaire Design85

3.8.1Questionnaire85

3.8.2The details of the questionnaire87

3.8.3Validity and reliability of data87

3.9Pilot study89

3.10Data analysis90

3.11Research Ethics91

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND ...