Partial industrialisation in tourism: Modelling Ballarat
- Authors: Barry, Brooke , Backer, Elisa
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: CAUTHE National Conference 2012; The new golden age of tourism and hospitality
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Partial Industrialisation In Tourism (PIIT) is a concept first raised by Leiper (1979), who explained that rather than being one giant industry, that tourism was partially industrialised. Businesses that are typically associated as belonging to 'the tourism industry' may find that tourists are only part of their business mix and may not strategically target tourists as a distinct segment. That is, businesses that serve tourists also serve non-tourists. As such, tourism is only partially industrialised. Despite being raised three decades ago, only a handful of researchers have explored PIIT, and only two empirical studies exist in the field. The aim of this research was to examine the degree of industrialisation in tourism of 31 businesses across four industries in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, which are typically associated as belonging to 'the tourism industry'. This study found that the level of industrialisation in tourism varied across all industry types with some retailers reporting that fewer than 1% of their customers are tourists. Even those businesses more industrialised in tourism such as accommodation and tourist attractions admitted that tourists were not their only customers. Thus, this research provides additional empirical evidence to support the theory of PIIT, and provides evidence to highlight that figures often used in industry to support tourism represent a considerable exaggeration of the situation.
Empirical testing of the theory of partial industrialisation in tourism
- Authors: Backer, Elisa , Barry, Brooke
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management Vol. 20, no. 2013 (2013), p. 43-52
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Businesses that are typically associated as belonging to ‘the tourist industry’ may find that tourists are only part of their business mix and may or may not strategically target tourists as a distinct segment. That is, businesses that serve tourists also serve non-tourists. As such, tourism is only ‘partially industrialised’. Despite being acknowledged three decades ago, only two empirical studies of tourism's partial industrialisation exist in the field. The aim of this research is to examine partial industrialisation in tourism (PIIT) in the Australian inland city of Ballarat, Victoria. This research provides additional empirical evidence to support the theory of PIIT, and provides evidence to highlight that figures often used in industry to support tourism represent a considerable exaggeration of the situation.