Welcome to this survey about marine research tourism
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* This survey is estimated to take approximately fourty to sixty minutes.
Topics to be covered include:
1. A definition for marine research tourism
2. Supply and demand for marine research tourism in Australia
3. Benefits, issues, opportunities and constraints for marine research tourism
4. Potential products for marine research tourism
For additional information on the PhD project, please read this href="http://www.marine-research-tourism.com/Docs/Information sheet.doc" target='_blank'>PhD research project information sheet.
Your survey responses will be used to develop future scenarios for marine research tourism across Australia.
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. You can advance to the next question or withdraw from the survey at any time. Please read the informed consent form and inform us of any confidentiality or other ethical issues if necessary.
Your survey responses will be strictly confidential, survey participation is anonymous and survey results will only be reported in aggregate.
To begin the survey, click on the Continue button below.
If the survey questions are on a purple background please try another web browser
If you have questions about the survey or the research, contact Peter Wood on 07 4042 1372 or [email protected], or Dr. Heather Zeppel on 07 4042 1446 or href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected].
If you have questions about the ethical conduct of this survey, contact Peter Wood or the James Cook University Ethics Officer, Tina Langford on 07 4781 4342 or size=2 face=Arial>[email protected].
Postal address is James Cook University, P.O. Box 6811, Cairns Mail Centre, Cairns, Queensland, Australia . 4870. |
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1. Would you briefly, tell us about your occupation?
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Would you describe yourself as a? (Please select one)
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Defining marine research tourism
For your information
Marine research tourism is defined as a form of marine ecotourism that provides an opportunity for paying tourists and/or volunteers to participate in marine research activity (adapted from Benson, 2005). Features of a marine research tourism venture are:
1. Marine research is an important part of the attraction
2. There are researchers who are engaged in official marine research pursuits
3. There is an official research centre that supports research activity
4. The tourist is actively involved in the marine research experience
5. There is research supervision for any tourist marine research activity
Criteria for this definition include:
1) Delineating marine research tourism from other forms of tourism such as educational tourism, volunteer tourism and wildlife tourism
2) Marine research tourism should be beneficial to marine research
3) The quality of research from marine research tourism is quality assured
4) The tourist is focused on marine research activity that occurs in the vicinity
Some implications of this definition include:
1) Active tourism involvement can range from observation of marine research activity to full participation in advanced marine research activity
2) Provided the marine research is qualified, the supervision of marine research tourists can be minimal
3) A marine research tourism venture does not have to always involve coastal or marine based field work
4) A marine research tourism venture can involve land based marine research laboratories and aquaria
Please note, for this research, a marine research tourism venture should last for one or more days, be advertised publicly, take paying tourists or volunteers, and operate on a commercial basis.
References
Benson, A. (2005). Research tourism: Professional travel for useful discoveries. In M. Novelli (Ed.), Niche tourism: Contemporary issues, trends and cases. (pp. 133-144). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
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2. Have you or your organisation been involved with any of the following marine research tourism organisations? (Please select those that apply)
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4. From your point of view, how likely are the following types of tourists to be interested in marine research tourism? (Please select those that apply)
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6. In your view, where would prospective marine research tourists come from? (Please select those that apply)
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8. From your experience, what sort of marine research programs would be suitable for marine research tourism? (Please select those that apply)
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10. In your view, how useful is marine research interpretation to produce a quality experience for the marine research tourist? (Please select one)
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11. In your view, how useful is photography and videography as a method for involving the marine research tourist within the marine research experience? (Please select one)
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12. It has been proposed that volunteer tourists can be helpful to marine research programs.
In your view, how helpful can the involvement of suitably trained volunteer tourists be to marine research programs? (Please select one)
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13. In your view, how difficult can it be for a marine researcher who is undertaking marine research to directly supervise a volunteer tourist? (Please select one)
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14. Are you aware of the following marine research services that could support marine research tourism ventures?
(Please tick those that apply)
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15. Feel free to skip the following question if you do not feel qualified to answer
Given 2 days of appropriate training, training personnel, training methods, equipment and other necessary resources.
In your belief, can volunteer tourists without prior experience, satisfactorily assist with the following activities (Please select those that apply)
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19. In your view, who benefits from marine research tourism? (Please select those that apply)
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23. Do you believe that marine research programs on marine research tourism tours should always be pertinent to Government marine research or management priorities? (Please select one)
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24. In your view, what types of popular marine research would appeal to marine research tourists? (Please select those that apply)
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26. It is possible that marine research tourism ventures can involve popular marine science that does not always address current Government marine research or management priorities.
For example, at a certain location, marine research tourism programs may focus on charismatic dolphin, whale or turtle populations whereby a Government's marine research priorities may be water pollution and the sustainability of local dugong populations.
In your view, is this an occurrence that could possibly restrict any Government involvement in marine research tourism? (Please select one option)
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27. Often, the quality of marine research programs is indicated by related academic publications and conference presentations.
In your view, how important are academic publications and conference presentations to a marine research tourism venture? (Please select one)
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28. A major segment of Australia's marine research program is Government funded.
In your view, could increased academic publications or conference presentations from marine research tourism ventures be an incentive for Governments to be further involved in marine research tourism ventures? (Please select one)
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29. In your view, how important is the involvement of Government marine management agencies in marine research tourism across Australia?
(Please select those that apply)
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30. In your view, how important is the involvement of Government marine research agencies in marine research tourism across Australia?
(Please select those that apply)
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32. In a number of cases, a marine research tourism experience has been shown to appeal to everyday marine tourists.
In your view, how likely can the commercial viability of existing marine tourism operators be improved by introducing one or more marine research tourism experiences? (Please select one)
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34. It has been proposed that marine research tourism in Australia can be used to distinguish the Australian marine tourism product from competing marine research tourism products overseas.
Do you think that developing marine research tourism across Australia can be used to effectively compete with overseas marine tourism attractions?
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35. Marine research tourism is described as a possible way to successfully diversify marine tourism in Australia.
Do you think that marine research tourism is a tourism product that can be used to successfully diversify marine tourism in Australia? (Please select one)
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36. In your view, how influential is a World Heritage, national park or reserve area as an attraction for prospective marine research tourists to that area? (Please select one)
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37. In your view, what are the constraints for expanding marine research tourism across Australia? (Please select those that apply)
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39. In your view, what issues concern you most about expanding marine research tourism across Australia? (Please select those that apply)?
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41. In your view, how important are the following factors to any development of marine research tourism across Australia?
(Please select those that apply)
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43.
It is proposed that a successful marine research tourism venture should satisfy the needs of the marine researcher, the marine manager, the marine tour operator, and the marine tourist.
Please indicate how much you agree with this statement? (Please select one)
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44. A marine research tourism guide role is envisioned to be a paid role that ensures that the many needs of marine researchers, managers, tour operators and tourists are met?
In your view, is there an opportunity for a marine research tourism guide role within a marine research tourism venture? (Please select one)
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45. In many cases, marine research tourism ventures require a skilled and educated tourist.
Such skills include; the identification of species and habitats, survey and monitoring techniques, data recording, scientific diving, boat handling and safety, and computer skills.
In these cases, do you think that there is a potential commercial opportunity to train and educate prospective marine research tourists? (Please select one)
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46. In your view, what are the driving forces behind marine research tourism? (Please select those that apply)
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| Australian indigenous people | | | | Conservation NGO groups | | | | Marine education societies | | |
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| Please give example here | | | | Please give example here | | | | Please give example here | | |
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52. Given your knowledge, the information you have provided for this survey and the other information on the marine research tourism web site
Do you have a view that marine research tourism could be notably expanded across Australia? (Please select one)
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53. Can you give us your view about the adopted definition for marine research tourism.
Marine research tourism is a form of marine ecotourism that provides an opportunity for paying tourists and/or volunteers to participate in marine research activity (adapted from Benson, 2005). Features of a marine research tourism venture are:
1. Marine research is an important part of the attraction
2. There are researchers who are engaged in official marine research pursuits
3. There is an official research centre that supports research activity
4. The tourist is actively involved in the marine research experience
5. There is research supervision for any tourist marine research activity
Criteria for this definition include:
1) Delineating marine research tourism from other forms of tourism such as educational tourism, volunteer tourism and wildlife tourism
2) Marine research tourism should be beneficial to marine research
3) The quality of research from marine research tourism is quality assured
4) The tourist is focused on marine research activity that occurs in the vicinity
Some implications of this definition include:
1) Active tourism involvement can range from observation of marine research activity to full participation in advanced marine research activity
2) Provided the marine research is qualified, the supervision of marine research tourists can be minimal
3) A marine research tourism venture does not have to always involve coastal or marine based field work
4) A marine research tourism venture can involve land based marine research laboratories and aquaria
Please note, for this research, a marine research tourism venture should last for one or more days, be advertised publicly, take paying tourists or volunteers, and operate on a commercial basis.
References
Benson, A. (2005). Research tourism: Professional travel for useful discoveries. In M. Novelli (Ed.), Niche tourism: Contemporary issues, trends and cases. (pp. 133-144). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
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Do you agree with this definition of marine research tourism?
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56. Last question:
Would you be interested in follow up discussions to determine future scenarios for marine research tourism across Australia?
If so please e-mail Peter at [email protected]
Thank you for completing this survey.
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