ESRC Bursary - The STORMING Initiative

The increasing importance and profile of sport tourism as a valuable field of research has been recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ERSC) in the United Kingdom, with the awarding of grant funding for a major international sport tourism project entitled ‘The STORMING Initiative’ - The Sport Tourism Opportunities for Research, Mobility and International Networking Group. The project, coordinated by Richard Shipway, a leading researcher in the field of sport tourism from Bournemouth University, is offering fifteen travel and conference bursaries for UK-based early career researchers to each attend one of three international sport tourism networking events. I have been awarded one of such bursaries and will be heading off down under to attend CAUTHE2010, the annual conference of the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education. The conference takes place in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, between the 8th and 11th February. By attending the conference I hope to further develop research opportunities across existing and emerging international sport tourism networks with a view to contribute to further develop sport tourism research.

My research project is entitled “A logistic regression model for analyzing the determinants of golf tourists’ satisfaction”. Tourist satisfaction is a part of tourist behaviour that impacts on the competitiveness of golf tourism destinations and includes loyalty, word of mouth and complaint behaviour. The general contention is that satisfaction is a necessary condition for loyalty and positive word of mouth, and to avoid tourist complaints. Therefore, golf tourism destinations need to pay particular attention to not only how satisfied golf tourists are but also what factors determine their satisfaction. This research aims to contribute to the growing body of knowledge in this field by examining golf tourists’ satisfaction. This aim will be met through achieving three objectives: (1) to investigate the determinants of golf tourists’ satisfaction; (2) to critically evaluate the use of logistic regression in the context of golf tourists’ satisfaction; and (3) to examine the extent to which country of origin influences golf tourists’ satisfaction. A survey of golf tourists visiting Lisbon (Portugal) is used as a basis for achieving the objectives of this research.

BU Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning

On the 15th December I received my award for an outstanding contribution to student learning. The Bournemouth University Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning recognises and celebrates staff whose activities have made a significant contribution to the quality of student learning in a specified area over a sustained period. My award was on "Innovative Assessment Practices: Client-Based Assessment and Waypoint".

My application for the BU Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning was underpinnined in two assessment experiences. One of such experiences is the design of the Leisure/Event Innovation coursework, which is underpinned in the 'client-based assessment' concept. I have been working on improving this coursework for a number of years and much has been achieved. The coursework challenges and engages the students, while at the same provides them the opportunity to learn and practice important skills to their future professional success. The second experience involves using waypoint to provide student feedback. Waypoint is a software that provides organised, detailed and personalised feedback to students. BU’s corporate plan places emphasis on the student experience as a key performance indicator. Employing waypoint makes an important contribution to student experience by improving the quality of the feedback.

Visão Supplement on Post-Graduate Studies

I have finally managed to get a copy of Visão's Supplement on Post-Graduate Study in Portugal (Published in September), which features a report about how we use technology to support the learning and teaching process at BU. It also mentions some of the ways I use it in my own teaching practice, including the use of blogs and bank of comments software. The title of the report is 'A look at the future' and runs over two pages. Visão is the most read newsweek magazine in Portugal.