21 January 2005
Media Statement

Tourism scholarships awarded

In a tourism industry first, seven prestigious Tourism Research Scholarships have been awarded to postgraduate researchers throughout New Zealand.

Tourism Minister Mark Burton said ”I am delighted to announce the inaugural tourism research scholarship recipients. They are high calibre masters level students whose applications were strongly supported by the tourism industry and their respective university departments”.

“It is also my pleasure to welcome Visa International as a partner with the Ministry of Tourism in the tourism scholarships programme. Visa International’s support has allowed the programme to be extended and has underscored the prestige of the scholarship programme”.

The aim of the scholarships is to encourage a research culture in New Zealand tourism, particularly research that is applicable and accessible to the tourism industry. The recipients’ research is strongly linked to the industry in their respective areas and each recipient will be working closely with the tourism industry to undertake their research projects. The scholarships are worth $15,000 each to the successful recipients.

The inaugural recipients are:

- Clara Leung from the University of Auckland will be researching the application of location based information and communication technology services in the tourism industry. This is an exciting emerging field with obvious potential for the tourism sector.

- Fiona MacDonald from the University of Otago will be investigating the nature and extent of strategic planning undertaken by small to medium sized New Zealand tourism businesses with a view to assisting these businesses to undertake more effective planning.

- David Purdie, also from the University of Otago will study the effectiveness and impact of visitor education practices utilised by New Zealand ecotourism businesses. David’s research will seek to highlight effective visitor education practices for the industry.

- James Whittome, from the University of Auckland, will take an in-depth look at co-branding, in particular, measuring the value of positioning tourism brands alongside each other within marketing campaigns.

- Chengcheng Zhao from the Auckland University of Technology is focussing on the different perceptions and experiences of Chinese visitors who come to New Zealand from the North of China in comparison with those from the South.

- Mark Walter, from Victoria University, will undertake research to develop guidelines for minimising the ecological impact of commercial sea kayaking operations in New Zealand.

- Gregory Willson is focussing his research on the Hawkes Bay region where he’ll be measuring the value tourists place on historic places. Gregory is from the University of Waikato.

“These are high quality recipients carrying out interesting and relevant research. I congratulate them all and I look forward to seeing the fruits of their labour in the coming year.” Mark Burton said.

ENDS

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