Tourism in Saudi Arabia - Research Proposal Example

Qualitative Research Methodology Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Tourism in Saudi Arabia Abstract: Tourism is an activity where individuals travel and stay in some place away from their usual place of residence for a particular period of time, either for leisure, business or any other purpose. The tourism industry is involved in the socio-economic activities that are either directly or indirectly associated with the provision of services to the tourists. Saudi Arabia has got valleys, mountains and the Red sea beaches that are of attraction but the problem is it attracts only a few tourists. Most of the tourist attraction sites are hard to access making tourism an unfavorable activity in the country. Tourism in Saudi Arabia is currently business and religious related. Due to this, there are various restrictions on who should enter the country. In 2000, the Saudi government did approve visas to be used by tourists hence allowing further travel into the country. This has even enabled travel companies to conduct tours in groups. Despite the approval by the government, some parts of the country are still inaccessible and barriers to tourism are still in existence. The supreme commission for tourism has moved to eliminate such barriers by doing the following; it has proposed that hotels should be rated, development of roadside rest sites, licensing tourist companies and agencies, funding hotels in the rural areas and encouraging museum and archeological visitors. The supreme commission for tourism has also come up with plans to expand education chances for the individuals who are interested in the hotel and hospitality industries. Barriers to tourism in Saudi Arabia: Tourists from international countries do not feel welcomed in the country because of the limitations that are imposed on them. The country has a potential market for international tourists but, it has remained under-developed because of the limitations. The international tourists do not easily obtain visas because of the requirement that they should first have a Saudi sponsor before being allowed to undertake the process. This means that a lot of paper work is required which consumes a lot of time. There are several restrictions on the side of women tourists who are always anxious about what to wear. They feel unwelcome and intimidated by the restrictions, and they may opt to visit other countries other than Saudi Arabia. Benefits of having international tourists in the country: It aids in the boosting of the economy It helps in the improvement of service quality and also infrastructure It increases awareness of both the environment and nature conservation It helps in the establishment of an efficient public transportation system It helps the Saudi Arabia people to reconnect with their roots and also help in the increment of national pride It aids in the spread of cultural awareness among the Saudi people It enables the creation of new job opportunities in the country which will help in the generation of revenues in the country. It gives the country a more open image that is more accommodating to the world at large and more receptive to the international tourists. Research strategies: Interviews The study will be limited to the tourism agencies and the tourists who are present in the country. The information or data will be collected through the use of interviews. The types of interviews to be use in the study are the structured, the semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. Interviews involve meeting face-to-face with the respondents or using the online interviews. The matters of concern when conducting interviews include: Accuracy- the information obtained should be clear and easily understood by those who were not involved in the process. The information should be recorded in the exact manner presented by the interviewee. Completeness- the interview should be recorded and transcribed in the same way as presented by the interviewee. Confidentiality- the respondent should be aware of the purpose of the interview and information obtained should not be disclosed without permission from the interviewee. Bias- the process should be free from bias, that is, the interviewer should not add or assume anything that was not directly stated by the respondent. The materials required for the interview process to take place include: Writing materials- note paper, pen Video tape recorder, tape recorder Interview questions to be used Structured interviews: These are interviews that have a structure. It contains a predetermined set of questions that will be of use in the process. The process at which questions are asked may be random or in order but all-in-all the entire set of questions have to be asked. Each respondent is provided with similar questions; this ensures that all respondents are given the opportunity to make a response to each of the questions. This kind of interview enables the interviewer to obtain all the necessary information they require. The tourist agencies and the tourists in the country were involved in a question answering session where they revealed the hindrances and obstacles in the industry. Semi-structured interviews These are interviews that are preceded by unstructured interviews. The precedence allows the interviewer to obtain an understanding of the topic in question and hence have the ability to develop relevant questions. It is suitable for situations where the interviewer has only one chance to interview a subject. Both structured and semi-structured interviews can be used in the same study. The early stages of a project may be wide and exploratory. Once definite issues have been categorized the researcher can then use more focused interviews. Focus groups This is a research strategy that uses a group format. They are useful when conducting exploratory studies. They can be utilized on their own or with other qualitative methods to fulfill a variety of purposes (Vaughn et al., 1996, p. 13). They provide a new dimension to data collection because they emphasize on the interaction that exists in the group setting. Their purpose is to provide a broad and deep qualitative understanding. They are suitable when one wish to solicit views, opinions and perceptions not compromise. They are also useful when probing the intensity of a theme. As for this research, the tourists are grouped so that they can air their concerns about the tourism state in the Saudi country. The tourist agencies are also engaged in the process for their contribution in the topic of interest. There are several advantages of focus groups: A wide range of information is obtained from the group interaction since a topic is discussed in detail. One statement of information from a respondent can lead to a chain of reactions from the other participants The group provides a sense of security leading to openness and detailed information The participant responses are more genuine and spontaneous because they are not forced to answer every question (Vaughn et al., 1996, p. 14). Interview preparation: Preparation of the interview involves a number of steps. -The researcher should first choose a site free from any distraction so that the interview will be conducted in a peaceful manner. This will give both the interviewer and interviewee humble time to freely express their thoughts and opinions. -The interviewer should explain the intention behind the interview. The respondent should be made aware of the reason why the interview is being conducted and the reason why their region was chosen for study. -The confidentiality issue should also be addressed. The terms of privacy should be considered to ensure that the lives of the subjects involved are not risked for the disclosure of certain information considering that the country is a Muslim country and they have various restrictions.. -The researcher should provide the respondent with the format to be followed when conducting the interview, so that they are made aware of things to expect. -The interviewer should also try and explain the amount of time that the interview will take. This will enable the interviewer to allocate enough time for the interview to avoid any rushed process. -The interviewer should also provide their contact information. This will be important for the interviewee in the case that they need some clarification of an issue. It will also help the interviewer to contact the respondent incase some more additional information is required. -The researcher should give the participants a chance to express their feelings. This will ensure that any doubts that the interviewee may have are cleared, and their confidence obtained for maximum information exposure. -The interviewer should record the data obtained. This means that the researcher should be prepared and armed with tools and methods necessary for the recording of information. The methods may include note taking, video recording and so on. Epistemologies are concerned with knowledge issues and the attainment of knowledge by individuals. Summary of Epistemological positions (King & Horrocks, 2009, p. 20). Epistemological positions Realist Contextual Constructionist World assumptions There is an access to the outside world where processes and relationships that exist are revealed. Here the issue is understanding the experiences that people undergo in their lives. The experiences for the tourists include discrimination, surveillance and restriction issues. Social interaction enables the revelation of the different versions of event happenings. The conversations with the tourists and agencies will help in the attainment of different versions of the issues experienced. Knowledge produced Aim is to obtain and produce data that is objective, reliable and representative of the whole population from which the interview is drawn Here, the cultural and historical meanings are revealed which adds to the completeness of the process Knowledge is obtained through the conversations that take place between the researcher and the interviewee. The interaction will provide an insight into the issues that cause the obstacles in the tourism sector. Researcher’s role The aim of the researcher is to avoid bias while remaining objective The researcher needs to be subjective. They are involved in the generation and analysis of data The researcher should be reflexive and aware of the language to be used in the process Interpretivist and positivist theories: These are social theories that are used to interpret and also explain the social, historical, cultural and psychological processes. As for interpretivist, the knowledge of how the tourism barriers have affected the tourism sector in Saudi Arabia needs to be understood. The appropriate method of data generation is semi-structured interviews. Here, the respondents are given a chance to present their experiences and understandings. The positivist rationale aims to provide information based on facts stating the causes and effects of such barriers. They assume a significant certainty that is independent of experience. The reality or certainty is only known by the epistemologies. Grounded theory: This is a theory that is mostly used in qualitative researches. It works in reverse in that the first step is collection of data using a wide range of data collection techniques. Key points are made distinct through the use of codes that are obtained from the text. The codes are then assembled into related concepts so that they are made practical. Categories are formed from the concepts which are then used in the generation of the theory. The main aim of this theory is the formulation of hypothesis based on abstract ideas. Another aim is to determine the respondent’s major concerns and the continued resolution of the concerns. Grounded theory is measured on grounds of workability, modifiability, relevance and fit. Interview questions: The sequence at which the questions should be asked includes: -The interviewee should be involved in the process from an early stage -The interview should first ask about factual matters before diverting -The researcher should concentrate more on the fact-based questionnaire -The researcher should focus more on the present rather than the past. -The interview should in the end allow the respondent to offer any additional information and also give their own opinions. There are different types of topics that should be considered when generating the questions to be asked. They include; knowledge necessary for the attainment of facts concerning the topic of interest, opinions which is what the respondent is thinking about the topic, background information such as education or age, behavior which details the activity being carried out by the respondent and feelings of the individual. There are different types of interview questions: -Introductory questions are those that are asked for the purpose of orientation. This is where all the involved parties get to communicate for the very first time. -Follow-up questions are those geared at obtaining an answer to the most important question. The questions are in direct mode and significant words are emphasized. -Probing questions are those that are asked when an individual has not understood a response from the respondent. They are useful when answers are unclear or when additional information is required. This type of questions are not previously planned and they are geared at provide more detail about a subject. -Specifying questions are questions asked in order to obtain more information about a certain aspect of the answer provided by the respondent. They are useful when the respondent has only provided general answers. -Direct questions are the direct and on point questions. These are questions that are mostly used in the larger part of the interview process. -Indirect questions are projective questions. The interviewer should exercise care so that answers provided are correctly interpreted according to the situation of interest. -Structuring questions are questions used to structure the interview process. The researcher should make sure that all the areas that are important to the study are covered during the process. The irrelevant part of the answers should be omitted to avoid ambiguity. -Silence is also very important in the interview process. This gives the respondent a chance to do a reflection on whatever they have discussed with the researcher. This enables provision of more additional and relevant information. -Interpreting questions involves clarification of the answers obtained. Interpretation of answers may require rephrasing or allowing the respondent to clarify it. Analysis of interview data: Coding and analysis of information and data starts as soon as the collection of data begins and it continues up to the final stage of write up. Transcribing the interview: This is the first step in the analysis of data. Some interviews have to be taped so that the researcher can obtain accurate information. The transcription process consumes a lot of time but it is an important step. It enables the interviewer to format the data gathered into a form that is both understandable and usable. It also enables the interviewer to get more familiar with the information obtained through the repetition of the data. In this way, summarizing the findings becomes easy because the researcher can either pause or rewind the recorded data. Analyzing data is divided into two; analysis focused on meaning and analysis focused on language. Analysis focused on meaning involves the reduction and expansion of text. Reduction of text includes coding and condensation. The data should be coded into meaningful groups which enables the organization of large quantities of text. The data should be arranged in some order before reading through it. The researcher should then read through the responses obtained and label related data. The interviewer should write short notes while putting emphasis on the ideas, vocabularies and relationships observed. The researcher will also try to do elimination, combination and sub division of the identified categories. Expansion of text involves interpretation of the answers provided so that they are understandable and have a meaning. The interviewer can expand the answers provided using the knowledge previously acquired before the interview was commenced. Analysis focused on language is in three forms; conversation analysis, discourse analysis and narrative analysis. Conversation analysis depicts the flow at which the interaction took place. Discourse analysis produces knowledge and significance in concrete perspectives. It creates a system in the many ways of talking so that visible perspectives are made which in turn result in production of historical meaning of a situation. Narrative analysis is where the degree to which the answers provided reflects the background information of the respondent is recognized. Writing up the findings: After the content has been analyzed, the responses should be combined in terms of their range and nature. This is the last stage where the findings are laid down in form of a report. The examples obtained should provided room for illustrations to be drawn. Generate appendices that will enable the reader to easily locate the information they are searching for. Reliability of the information can also be achieved by having another person’s perspective. If working as a team, it is important that the data is examined by other group members. This way, the results are collectively discussed and any inconsistencies are highlighted and discussed so that they can be resolved. Conclusion: Qualitative research requires a lot of effort from the researchers since they have to do a lot of explorations. There is an increased interest in qualitative research. The decision whether to use a qualitative research methodology or not should be subject to careful consideration. This is so because of the nature of the interviews where they are time consuming. Although it may be time consuming, the process can provide rich information that may not be possible to obtain when other methods are used. The researchers have a great responsibility to their audience as a whole. There are no measured tests for the importance in qualitative researches hence the researcher should correctly provide an interpretation of the findings. The researcher should therefore have an understanding of the research method. Tourism in Saudi Arabia is facing many obstacles and barriers. The international tourists are warded off by strict regulations, unattractive images and rules that are discouraging. The Saudi commission for tourism should first concentrate on allowing visitors into the country. The commission has stated that their sole role is to promote their country as a tourism destination. References King, N. & Horrocks, C. (2009). Interviews in qualitative research. New York, NY: SAGE Publications Ltd. Vaughn, S., Schumm, J. & Sinagub, J. (1996). Focus group interviews in education and psychology. New York, NY: SAGE Read More