Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management - Research - Waikato Management School - University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

The Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management

The Department has excellent links with the School of Tourism Management at Beijing International Studies University (BISU) among other universities. Our Memorandum of Understanding is at the research level, and past publications include a book on Tourism in China by Professors Ryan and Gu (published by Routledge, New York, 2009) and a number of papers on issues relating to the Chinese hotel industry and tourism in China. Associate Professor lectures at BISU while Chris Ryan is a Visiting Professor at that university. Consequently, for Chinese doctoral students who wish to undertake research in China we are able to offer possible Chinese supervision as well as the supervision provided by staff at the University of Waikato Management School. In addition personal links exist with staff at Sun Yet San University, Xi抋n International Studies University, Hubei University, Nankai University, Ankang University and Huangshan University.

For the department research in China features highly on our research agenda and we would therefore welcome enquiries from Chinese students who meet the entry requirements of the University.

旅游与酒店管理系

旅游与酒店管理系与北京第二外国语大学旅游管理学院合作密切。双方的谅解备忘录注重研究层面，此前双方合作的出版物包括Ryan教授与谷教授合作编著的关于中国旅游的图书（于2009年由纽约Routledge出版社出版发行）、以及一系列与中国酒店行业和旅游行业论题相关的论文。旅游与酒店管理系的副教授在北京第二外国语大学短期任教，同时Chris Ryan教授也是该大学的客座教授。有鉴于我们双方的密切合作，对于打算攻读博士学位并计划在中国进行相关研究的中国学生，我们有可能安排中方和怀卡托大学管理学院的老师共同指导。此外，旅游管理系的教授和国内各大学的研究人员也有着密切的互动联系，这些大学包括中山大学、西安外国语大学、湖北大学、南开大学、安康学院和黄山大学。

对于旅游与酒店管理系而言，在中国进行的研究是我们研究日程上非常重视的一个环节，因此我们非常欢迎符合大学入学条件的中国学生向我们进行咨询。

Research

It would be foolish to claim to be the 'best' Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management in New Zealand, or elsewhere, but we seek to be among the best, and can, it is believed, substantiate such claims under the following headings.

Research Assessment Exercises

In New Zealand each individual lecturer is assessed on a 700 point basis - 500 points are allocated to research excellence based on a portfolio of 30 publications, with an additional 100 points allocated for 'peer esteem' and a further 100 points for 'contribution to the subject'. Of all assessed university personnel about 5% are deemed to be Grade 'A' - that is they are graded as being of 'leading international' status, and a further 20% are Grade B, that is of being 'national status'. The Department has Grade A and B staff, and in the next round we anticipate that 5 of the 8 staff will achieve these grades.

There are also other external assessments such as the Emerald Awards for research papers, and Jenny Cave, Tim Lockyer, Asad Mohsin, Charlie Panakera and Chris Ryan have all had such awards.

Where do we publish?

It is generally agreed that in tourism the leading three academic journals are Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and Journal of Travel Research. All of our staff have published in these journals, often more than once. In hospitality management the top journals are normally thought to be International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and the Cornell Quarterly. Our hospitality management staff have all published in these journals. We maintain a list of journals that are ranked in accordance with the Australian Excellent Research exercise (ERA) and are ranked among the world's top 20 universities for numbers of publications in these journals - which for 7 staff means we have one of the higher per capital records of research publication.

Technical competence

Research excellence comes on the basis of research competence, and the Department has some of the leading researchers in the field of tourism and hospitality that use both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Both Tim Lockyer and Chris Ryan have had papers published using structural equation modeling, while Tim, Chris, Jenny Cave and Asad Mohsin regularly use techniques like cluster and factor analysis. Alison McIntosh uses various forms of Grid Assessment in evaluating places of historic value.

The Department also prides itself on its qualitative research methods. Immersion in societies in ethnographic approaches to studies have characterized past work by Jenny Cave and Chris Ryan in their work with marginal groups - in Chris's case it took 7 years of research to produce 4 chapters in one book - but the book on sex tourism has made a significant contribution to gender studies in tourism. Jenny, Chris and Alison have all spent time in research pertaining to indigenous peoples that requires the creation of relationships and trust. Moreover the Department has built up excellent skills in using software to aid in the analysis of textual or conversational data, and Jenny Cave, Tim Lockyer and Chris Ryan have all had publications where TextSmart, CatPac and Atlas ti have been used as analytical tools of textual data. Indeed Jenny Cave is our leading exponent of TextSmart.

Not that we are total positivists. Anne Zahra has had work published on research methodologies and the role of the researcher as change agent. More recent work by Jenny and Chris has used Bordieus concept of habitus, as well as strong doses of post-modernistic analyses of de-differentiation and Turners theories of liminality.

International and National Linkages

Such expertise is well recognized by the New Zealand tourism industry and overseas bodies. Anne Zahra is carving a reputation among Regional Tourism Organisations for her knowledge of archival materials relating to the structures of RTOs. Tourism Coromandel, Tourism Auckland and Tourism Coromandel have commissioned research from the Department, as have the Department of Conservation, Ministry of Tourism, and the Waihi Community. We work with small and large businesses. At an international level Charlie Panakera has, for several years, worked with EU and AUS-AID projects in the Solomons and elsewhere, and sits on the Advisory Committee for the Minister of Foreign Affairs in New Zealand. Chris Ryan is currently undertaking works with Australian National Parks and has advised the APEC Tourism Ministers in 2000 and 2004. Jenny Cave is well known in Canadian Museum Services for her past work there. The Department is a member of PATA. In short, the Department has status both nationally and internationally.

Conclusion

We therefore feel confident of offering supervision and guidance to students seeking to undertake research. We would also note that several staff meet the New Zealand Government's definition of 'leading researchers' that permit us to offer supervision to overseas students for doctoral studies for the same fees as domestic students, and it is expected that in 2011 these will be approximately NZ$5,500 per annum.