GTTP Research Award
2012 Winning Case Studies on Innovation in Tourism
2012 Case Study Winner (Brazil) - The students believe that travelers to Brazil arrive with a hazy picture of the country in their heads: a mixture of Brazil as home to the Amazon, soccer and Carnival as well as Brazil, home of slums and crowded cities. They explore using mobile phone apps to create audio tours of places that travelers visit to help them understand Brazil better.
2012 Case Study Winner (Canada) - The students review a joint marketing initiative of three communities in British Columbia's Fraser River Valley. The three communities, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Langley, had competed for visitors before deciding to join forces. "This initiative features opportunities to create your own itinerary as well as pre-made 'hand-picked' tours perfect for every demographic from a night out with the girls to a day out with the family."
2012 Case Study Winner (China) - The students examine the "Impression Series," a series of highly theatrical outdoor entertainment productions in seven regions of China designed to capture the essence of their locations. The events use outdoor stages ranging from a lake to mountains as their backdrops. One venue is two miles long and fully illuminated. "Impression" tells its stories using high tech visual special effects as well as people, folk songs, dances and costumes.
2012 Case Study Winner (Hong Kong) - The students want to expand the typical Hong Kong tourist experience. They propose a tour program ranging from visiting a "wet market" to visiting a low income housing development, and activities like preparing local snacks or using and abacus. They recommend employing knowledgeable retired people as docents along the tour route, and developing an app that will detail the ingredients of local foods.
2012 Case Study Winner (Hungary) - Sárvár Health and Wellness Spa began operating in 2002 and has attracted many new visitors to the town. One reason for the continuing importance of the Spa to the city's economy is the Spa's approach to adding activities for visitors, including adding an adjacent Adventure Park. The team members had summer jobs at the spa and bring their on-the-job insights to their research project.
2012 Case Study Winner (Ireland) - The team examines what Paddywagon, an Irish tour bus company, does to distinguish itself from the competition. The company, the team notes, shrewdly offers different kinds of visitor ways to experience the kind of Ireland they are looking for. The company, established in Dublin in 1997 by three friends, also uses pricing and a wide variety of tour products to market itself not only to tourists but also local residents.
2012 Case Study Winner (Jamaica) - The two students believe innovation is important to the Jamaican tourist industry if it wishes to continue to attract visitors. They look at what Jamaica overall offers its visitors today and at how Sandals Resorts International continues to reinvent itself and what methods the company uses to do so, including changes to the guest activities it offers, room service, and customer service.
2012 Case Study Winner (Kenya) - Kenya relies on its scenery and abundant and varied wildlife to attract visitors. The students believe Kenyan tourism would benefit by expanding opportunities for home stays so visitors can experience Kenyan cultures more directly. They examine the positives and negatives of home stays in the Masai and Luo communities and suggest how to improve and expand the home stay experience.
2012 Case Study Winner (Russia) - The team believes that Moscow is ready for and innovative boutique hotel, and they have a historic building in mind to rescue for the role, as well as a proposal for history-based room and food themes, starting with a cave room and ending with "the bedroom of the future." The study comes complete with surveys and a SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis.
2012 Case Study Winner (South Africa) - The students want to create jobs in their district. They suggest offering tours of a closed gold mine and visits to a Tswana village; rehabilitating a riverside recreation area next door to the mine, and adding a wild game farm and conference center. The combination of new activities and facilities should create a new destination for visitors, and jobs.
2012 Case Study Winner (United Kingdom) - "People with disabilities have the same needs as other tourists, including the need to feel in control of their travel experience," report the students. Based on their research at two London hotels and a fast-food restaurant, the students have recommendations about training staff in order to improve that travel experience. They also have plans to help make their recommendations a reality.
