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1 RESEARCH PROPOSAL - INTRODUCTION Table of Contents INTRODUCTION......................................................... 2 BACKGROUND........................................................... 3 Problem Statement.................................................... 4 Purpose.............................................................. 5 Significance......................................................... 6 Nature of study...................................................... 7 Hypothesis........................................................... 7 Conceptual or theoretical framework..................................8 Definition........................................................... 9 Assumption.......................................................... 10 Scope, limitation and delimitation..................................11 Summary............................................................. 11

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RESEARCH PROPOSAL - INTRODUCTION

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................2

BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................................................3

Problem Statement.....................................................................................................................................4

Purpose.......................................................................................................................................................5

Significance..................................................................................................................................................6

Nature of study............................................................................................................................................7

Hypothesis...................................................................................................................................................7

Conceptual or theoretical framework.........................................................................................................8

Definition.....................................................................................................................................................9

Assumption................................................................................................................................................10

Scope, limitation and delimitation.............................................................................................................11

Summary...................................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction

Proposed title to the Research :

Opportunities for Rural Tourism Development and Role of Community Attitudes in Revival

of Rural Tourism in Taranaki.

It is worth noting that the gaining power of rural tourism in the economical sector has clearly

made rural tourism emerging as a booming industry all over the world. To maintain the flow,

it is necessary for the research to identify the relationship between the rural market and the

tourism sector also understanding the line of interface where they actually meet.

The various tools used by rural areas that attract tourists not only in New Zealand but all over

the world are food festivals, recreational activities ,farm activities, , and product power which

majorly contribute to it.

The main purpose of this research is to identify the opportunities for the development of rural

areas making tourism a tool and to investigate how the host communities impact on the rural

environment of Taranaki. The following proposal gives an insight to the relevance of the

research , the purpose of the topic , the assumptions made , the variables used and the

significance as well as the nature of the study. It also covers the methodology about how the

research is planned to be conducted and what questions would be helpful in getting the

information needed to answer the problem statement so as to satisfy the objectives. The

definitions and objectives further throw light on the research topic.

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Background

No one can deny that the whole world has stepped into a new era because of rapid changes

and socioeconomic transformations over the last two decades. Rural areas which used to be

seen as isolated places have already been got involved into the socioeconomic transformation

process and strongly influenced by it. Although it is clear that the changes of social cultural

and economic patterns have advanced these so called peripheral areas of the world, the bad

sides of it are leading to other problems which mainly include productive forces exodus and

unbalance in the demographics then drop of the farm revenue.

Based on the situation mentioned above, the action which rural areas have to take is to

diverse their economic base to meet the needs of the changing economic and social culture

structure. As we all know, the tourism is promising and flexible industry that allows any

other industries to engage in it, at the same time, national and local governments support and

promote tourism to revitalize the rural areas, in this case, the potentials of rural tourism

should be maximized to offer the fresh and authentic experience to the “new” but experienced

tourists. In addition, what we cannot ignore is the uniqueness of the countryside, it offers

tourists a relatively quiet environment to escape from the real world, which other mass

destinations cannot do.

For New Zealand, the tourism industry has boomed. The economy, society and environment

have benefited hugely from the development of traditional tourism – coastal and mountain

resorts. However, given to the consumption of recourses and environment problems, the

traditional ones have been threatened, while rural tourism encourages to use nature-based

recourse and tend to be more eco-friendly, hence it could be more likely to attract modern

tourists.

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Rural tourism is currently promoted by the New Zealand government to sustain the local

economy thereby enhance the employment. Although the tourism in rural areas is seen as a

new role playing in the supply of tourism industry, we have to recognize that it does refresh

the people’s points of view towards these areas and attract more attention from tourists from

all around the world. The local of this research is a peripheral area of New Zealand, called

New Plymouth. It is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North

Island of New Zealand. (TARANAKI - NEW PLYMOUTH, n.d.)

Problem Statement

There is a great scope of the study of rural tourism even when it is in its infancy stage

in the region of Taranaki. The basic problem is the under developed areas in the Taranaki

regions and the problems faced by the people who live there. To have a clear idea why the

area is underdeveloped and can the development occur with the promotion and awareness of

Rural Tourism? Is there an opportunity to minimise the problems faced by the local people

with the rise in the number of visitors to the farms and changing perceptions of visitors and

the host communities towards each other? Is it the lack of resources with the host

communities or the lack of awareness among the people who own the farms, those who form

the environment and those who visit with of government?

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Purpose

The research has the following objectives:

To identify and find a solution to the challenges faced by that rural tourism in

Taranaki.

To study the socio-economic contribution of tourism to the rural areas.

To identify the perceptions of the host communities about the development of

tourism in the rural areas they live in as well as the experience of tourists

during farm stays.

To examine the extent to which rural tourism contributes to the economy of

Taranaki.

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To identify and evaluate the demand for rural tourism in Taranaki.

To identify and evaluate if the supply meets the demand for rural tourism in

Taranaki.

Significance of the Study

The study plays an important role not only in finding out the reasons behind the lack

of development of rural areas but also in knowing the problems faced by the host

communities as well as the tourists who visit the farmlands. The whole idea revolves

around three significant areas affected greatly by the rural tourism and the interaction

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of the host communities with the tourists which are social aspects, economic aspects

and the environmental aspects.

The intention of the findings and results of this project after the research is to

make their use in the local and the regional authorities in order to know and identify

the current rural tourism development. It is also intended that the research would help

to get a clear idea about the perceptions of both the visitors and the host communities

and their interdependence on each other and what exactly are the problems faced by

both the sides during the whole exchange of experiences during the visit in Taranaki.

The correction of the development of the rural tourism activities in this area is the

main purpose and scope of the findings.

Nature of Study

Data collection

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In order to attain the objectives, both secondary and primary data will be gathered. By

secondary data, back ground information will be formatted which is needed for both the

researcher to prepare the project and the reader to understand more thoroughly the outcome

of survey. Primary data will be gathered in two methods one of them is questionnaire survey

and second one is interview of the people who provide accommodation services to the

customers and local authority members.

Sample design

It’s hard to acquire information from the entire population of an area. To fulfil the

requirement of study, a random probability sample out of total population will be selected.

The size of the sample that will not be more than 500 and not less than 30 is more appropriate

and because of these type of limitations , a sample of 100 questionnaires will be designed to

get information from the people of new Plymouth. Sample of population includes who are

providing accommodation and local authorities representatives.

The Questionnaire survey

According to the Cohen (1989), survey report is an instrument that is used to understand the

problem and to find appropriate solutions. For this research close ended questions are

designed to get response of customers. These questions help to narrow down the enquiry

field. It is also convenient for respondents to respond and for researchers to aggregate easily

and rapidly.

Interview survey

Interview technique helps to gather data from the respondents face to face. Choice of

interview style is depend on the researcher’s knowledge. Different age ,gender and sex are

involved to get response .

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Hypothesis or Research Questions

We need to find out what is it that is the real problem when it comes to the number of tourists visiting the Taranaki area to participate farm activities. For this research we would like to stress that Taranaki is attracting tourists to visit farms. In recent years, more and more types of events, food and wine festivals in rural areas are being organized by not only farm owners but the local government as well. Based on this fact, we believe that rural tourism in Taranaki has potentials to attract more tourists to visit and get the natural and raw experience.

This research is conducted to evaluate the significance of the rural tourism and how to apply and manage the whole tourism procedures to satisfy the tourists, specifically speaking, we would like to reveal what the motivations behind the potential tourists of rural tourists and what we should do to make use of these motivations to stimuli the tourism in rural areas. Quantitative method will be used to collect data for the research. First, face to face interview will be used to collect information from interviewees. The main focus of the interview is about the perception from people related in supply chain of rural tourism, such as owners of farm with rural tourism business. And also, the quantitative method will be used in collecting data as well. The information will be collected from designed questionnaires. After gathering the data, the data will be analyzed and it will help to discover real status of rural tourism in Taranaki.

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Conceptual or Theoretical Framework

Rural tourism first arose in some European countries like England, Germany and Austria a

century before. And it became one of popular form of tourism in all European countries, New

Zealand, Australia, North American and some Asian countries like China and Philippines

(Goessling & Mattsson, 2002).

In the past discussions of rural tourism, it indicated that demand of rural tourism in above-

mentioned areas will still trend to growth and there will be more opportunities to develop

rural tourism. The conclusions and recommendations from these discussions could help the

industry to develop rural tourism in a proper way. For example, in Gartner’s research (2004),

he pointed out that in order to develop rural tourism, it should be considered about new

approaches of product development and marketing. (Gartner, W. C. (2004).

In our research, our perception is to find out the potential impacts to develop rural tourism.

For instance, what rural tourism affects economy, environment and social-culture in New

Zealand, especially in Taranaki. And trying to find out whether these impacts are the

potential reasons to develop rural tourism in this region or not. The most important issue in

our research is to define the exact potential target market and demand of rural tourism in

Taranaki.

Some of the activities we can experience in the farms as a visitor in the Taranaki region

include “watching and helping cows being milked in the milking shed, feeding out hay to

cows or sheep during winter or dry seasons, rounding up sheep (collecting sheep using sheep

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dog), watching sheep shearing, feeding calves in Spring, Touching the animals and enjoy

taking your photo with the friendly farm animals.” (Activities you can experience on the

Farm, 2005)

Definitions

“Any form of tourism that showcases the rural life, art, culture and

heritage at rural locations, thereby benefiting the local community

economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the

tourists and the locals for a more enriching tourism experience can be

termed as rural tourism. Rural tourism is essentially an activity which

takes place in the countryside. It is multi-faceted and may entail

farm/agricultural tourism, cultural tourism, nature tourism, adventure

tourism, and eco-tourism. As against conventional tourism, rural tourism

has certain typical characteristics like; it is experience oriented, the

locations are sparsely populated, it is predominantly in natural

environment, it meshes with seasonality and local events and is based on

preservation of culture, heritage and traditions.” (Scheme of Rural

Tourism, 2007)

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In other words rural tourism refers to “holiday and leisure activities carried

out in the countryside” (Rural Tourism, 2011)

Assumptions

The following assumptions are made with reference to the research topic and the

objectives of the research:

Taranaki is a area with many underdeveloped rural areas and there is

lot of scope for its development.

The host communities of Taranaki are aware of Rural Tourism and

they support tourist activities.

The people of Taranaki are aware of the benefits. Rural Tourism and

face many problems and need government support to increase tourist

activities and attract tourists both from domestic and international

background.

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The international tourists are not aware of rural tourism and those who

experience staying in farms, face many problems because of lack of

proper support given by the New Zealand Government.

The tourists may not visit in every season and there being many

attractive destinations, the rural tourism can suffer in Taranaki.

<<Scope & Limitations

SCOPE

The study aims to develop the rural areas of Taranaki by identifying the problems

faced by the government, host communities and the visitors with the help of

objectives for this proposed research and using ‘rural tourism’ as a tool . The

development shall directly be dependent on the rural tourism and it would affect the

social, economic as well as environmental of the rural areas as under:

Rural tourism can be the mean for conserving and revitalizing the natural,

cultural and historical resources of a rural region.

It promises and supports ideas for village renewal and clean countryside

costs of rural tourism.

It develops a in the host communities for the place they live in.

It brings different people together providing therefore opportunities for

cultural exchange.

Through the development of cultural and entertainment activities brings

people of the community closer and creates a team spirit.

It supports the safeguarding and enhancing of local cultural identities.

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Rural tourism strengthens the economy as foreign currency is added.

It increases job opportunities, the family and community income.

It helps to diversify and therefore stabilize the local economy.

It increases the investments and therefore creates business opportunities both

within and outside the industry.

It provides the opportunity for innovation and creativity.

It strengthens and supports the existing businesses and services.

The number of tourists arrivals, the structure of the host economy, the type of tourism

activity, the difference in socio-cultural characteristics between the hosts and the

tourists, and the fragility of the local environment.

>>

LIMITATIONS

The following are the limitations of this research:

There is a limitation of time as well as resources such as money and hence we are

unable to conduct the research on a large scale.

There shall be a limit to the tourists who visit and shall be interviewed.

Some of the host communities may not like to answer our research question and may

not be supportive during the interview.

The tourists that visit the farms to experience are not much and come in particular

season as per assumption.

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Summary

The proposal clearly indicates that rural tourism has increasingly been used as a strategy to

develop the well being of rural areas both socially and economically. Rural Tourism

surrounds a vast range of activities, attractions which are both natural and manmade, facilities

and amenities, transportation, marketing and information systems. Rural tourism remains

highly scattered with reference to the structure and environment it operates in, the activities it

involves and the markets. From main points of Gartner (2004) and Beeton (2004), it is clear

that the rural tourism is still in a developing stage worldwide. In this research, we want to

find out potential developments for rural tourism in Taranaki which is based on its economic,

social and environmental impacts. At the same time, the community attitudes will also be an

important part of this research because rural tourism is a social-engaged event and whether it

is successful or not depends on the support from the society.

In the literature review, it is planned to search more previous research about development of

rural tourism in New Zealand and worldwide. Compared with these previous researches, it is

believed that the typical characteristics of Taranaki will be found out and be main potential

impacts to develop rural tourism. Beeton, S. (2004)