An analysis of trends in Ph.D. research in tourism

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an analysis of the research interests of Ph.D. students in the field of tourism. This type of assessment is important as it provides an indication of the research directions, health and diversity of the field. Examining the research interests of Ph.D. students arguably provided a window through which the current research foci of academic interest in tourism and potential future of research in the field can be viewed. The data set on which this paper is based was gathered from 1047 Ph.D. students who joined Trinet between mid-March 2007 and mid-July 2015. The data set was analysed using an abbreviated version of thematic analysis. The four mega-trends identified among the research interests of the Ph.D. students were: marketing, tourist behaviour, destination management, and sustainability. In concluding, the paper calls for academic research gatekeepers to maintain a balance between tourism ‘management’ and tourism ‘studies’ to ensure the vitality of the research field.

KEYWORDS:

• Ph.D. students
• research interests
• Trinet

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Neil Carr is an Associate Professor at the University of Otago and the Editor of Annals of Leisure Research. His research focuses on understanding behaviour within tourism and leisure experiences; with a particular emphasis on children and families, sex, and animals. His recent publications include Dogs in the leisure experience.

Stu Hayes is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Tourism, University of Otago. His doctoral research focuses on investigating the widely purported ‘liberal’ nature of contemporary postgraduate tourism education, with a particular emphasis on notions such as global citizenship and critical thinking and there relevance to value-led curriculum design and student outcomes.

Notes

1. March 2007 to June 2009 (194 students joined); July 2009 to June 2011 (265 students joined); July 2011–June 2013 (297 students joined); July 2013–June 2015 (288 students joined). It should be remembered that the data when a student joined Trinet do not necessarily correspond to when they began their doctoral studies.