Tourism Research Paper: 20+ Topics and Ideas to Dedicate Your Paper To

Topics and ideas
Posted on March 13, 2019

Nowadays, tourism appears to be one of the most developing sciences to research and study. Over the last decades, the industry of travel and tourism has evolved significantly, increasing its pace of common development year by year. What is more, it shows promise for the growth in the nearest future as well, providing the existing professional and career domains within the discipline with considerable potential. Therefore, today, tourism includes travel for business, travel for pleasure, touring and its theoretical and practical principles, and business related to tourists, their attracting and entertaining. Besides, tourism has a straightforward relation to the business of developing and operating various tours and tourist routes, including both local and international areas. Thus, you may find a great number of tourism research paper topics and ideas to conduct research.

To find a captivating topic and develop it into an informative and valuable tourism research paper, you may read related research papers and other literary works, look through specialized journals, and visit libraries. If there are some instructions for choosing a tourism research paper topic provided by the professor, it is necessary to follow them strictly. Besides, some professors provide their students with a list of topics to choose from. In this way, you should read this list attentively and pick up the most captivating topic to research.

Pro tip

Topics and Ideas for Tourism Research Paper: Where to Search for Them?

  • Studying Friendliness in the Tourist Area

If your area of interest concerns hospitality research, it is better to go beyond the frames of tourism.  Hospitality, friendliness, and attitude toward traveling significantly vary among different nationalities. Academic data could be helpful too, but search for more credible insights in some pieces of content created by the country of interest. For instance, instead of searching for traveling bloggers on YouTube, try unrelated content. Watch some videos on the social sciences in the area, and see whether there is great diversity among the population or significant segregation issues. 

  • Local Tourism

For local tourism, the best option is to go on the streets and locals about their favorite places. However, if you have no such possibility, try the location filters on social media. For sure, it may be uncomfortable to write to strangers asking for some help. However, they are the only credible sources that may help much better than any Google articles about the “top ten places to see in the X city”. For example, you may write something along the lines of: 

Hi! I am (your name), and I do research on tourism in the X area. I applied the location filter on Instagram and saw your post with the close geolocation. I do not intend to do any harm, only to learn more about this place. Could you please tell me whether there were any problems with traveling there? Have you met any interesting local craft masters or non-Google search places to visit?

  • Academic Resources

The student searching for topics about tourism should first define the volume of interest. You would go to different resources depending on whether the topic concerns local or global tourism. For global tourism, you can search for databases of official peer-reviewed academic journals. For instance, here is the collection of the ones with open access to the materials. For academic research on any topic, the most recommended are typical resources, such as Google Academy, the search by the file type (adding the “PDF” keyword to the prompt), or Sci-Hub. You may start with a “tourism” request, sort the results by the year, and see what research topics were the most valid in recent years. For instance, since 2019, recent topics included robotics, food, and ethical tourism.

Examples of Topics for Tourism Research Paper

1. Theoretical and Methodological Signs of Progress in Social Media and Their Influence on Tourism

Nowadays, social media has a significant influence on international society. A great variety of applications and related programs appeared in recent years and revolutionized the ways of conducting tourism business as more and more people choose a destination point online, grounding on the information provided by different people on social media platforms. Besides, people can interact online, creating large groups and travel together, following the routes of the professional travelers provided on different internet resources. In this way, trip reports, posts on traveling, or personal reviews have a considerable influence on tourism in general. Thus, it is possible to state that social media plays an important role in the development of theoretical and methodological processes in different spheres related to domestic and international tourism that also include tourism behavior and interaction between local and international markets. The research on the point may be based on a range of previous research papers, recent studies, and related statistical facts.

2. Horse Tourism in the USA

A great variety of recreational activities includes communication with animals and horses in particular. Thus, communication with horses helps people to improve their emotional well-being and obtain a new positive experience of outdoor recreation. Therefore, horse tourism is one of the developing spheres that include the management of tourists, various host activities, and development of local farms. In addition, you may research related tourist businesses on the territory of the country and their economic and social influence on the local communities.

3. Entrepreneurship and Its Development in a Sphere of Tourism

Because entrepreneurship is associated with significant opportunities, innovations, and recognition, the topic of businesses behavior patterns in tourism provides a lot of captivating facts and figures to research and evaluate. Today, entrepreneurship in tourism has a straightforward relation to social issues and their solutions, introducing important innovations, and opening new economic perspectives to different regions. As a result, you may ground your research on entrepreneurship behavioral patterns in tourism and other spheres and evaluate the influence of the entrepreneurship on the development of local communities, providing the audience with the supportive facts and pieces of evidence.

4. Wildlife Activities in Tourism

Wildlife activities become more and more popular among tourists from all around the globe. People like to be in touch with the natural environment and discover new beautiful places. What is interesting, the most popular of these activities are fishing and hunting. Because these activities tend to develop, they provide considerable ground for the tourism research paper. To conduct good research, you may use statistical facts, discuss popular wildlife activities and programs, and evaluate their influence on tourism in the region.

5. Nordic Tourism and Its Distinctive Features

Nordic tourism is a special category of tourism popular among people who love nature and are not afraid of extreme weather conditions. Nordic tourism is completely different from tourism in luxurious hotels, providing people with the opportunity to focus more on the active rest. Thus, in this research paper, you may discuss and evaluate similarities and unique features of Nordic tourism to tourism in Europe or Asia and provide analogies with the development of tourism in other countries, which are popular among tourists.

6. Heritage Tourism in Europe

In this research paper, you may evaluate the development of heritage tourism in different European countries. For sure, it is important to discuss the most attractive places for heritage tourism in these countries and evaluate the impact of this type of tourism on the economic and social spheres within these territories. The aim of this paper may be to keep the focus on the aesthetic dimension of heritage tourism and discover some potential links between aesthetical and contribution aspects of the particular historical places.

7. The Development of Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable tourism has been developing at a fast pace, attracting more and more tourists to participate in it. Responsible consideration represented by related tourism companies towards the natural environment meets the demand for ecological tourism, allowing people to evaluate challenges caused by significant climate changes. Therefore, in this research paper, you may discuss demand perspectives on sustainable tourism and provide a theoretical and practical evaluation of its contributions to the local and international communities.

8. Wilderness Tourism and Its Influence on the Economy of Different Regions

Wild territories attract a great variety of tourists and help to develop domestic tourism in many regions. Because the flow of tourist has a considerable influence on the development of the economy of these regions, this topic is great for a tourism research paper. By conducting this research, you may focus on the sustainability of this type of tourism, management of the wild territories, and the influence of the wilderness tourism on the development of particular regions.

9. Competitive Features in Tourism

In this research paper, you may discuss the main trends of the competitiveness in tourism and evaluate the related issues. Today, tourism companies introduce more and more new approaches to attract clients from all over the world, develop new routes, and decrease travel costs to the lowest possible level. Therefore, the main competitive features are a connection with agents, optimization of the websites and related blogs, and considerable investments in advertisements and video marketing. The information for this research paper may be found in specialized books and journal articles.

In this research paper, you may discuss the rapid growth of private health communities, medical tourism in Asian countries, world standards of care and hospitality, and their influence on the development on the health tourism in general. Besides, it is important to discuss the rapid growth and development of the latest medical technologies and their influence on the development of health tourism in particular countries.

Because Asian countries are famous for their nature and different attractions, they are still popular among tourists from all over the world. In this way, you may research economic opportunities of different Asian regions and their relation to the flow of tourists and evaluate future expansion in travels. All the necessary information may be found in specialized economic and tourism journals and books.

12. Quality of Hotels as the Most Decisive Factor in Attracting Tourists in the United Kingdom

In this paper, you may discuss the quality of hotels as one of the most influential factors on the development of tourism in different regions of the UK. To conduct this research, it is necessary to collect the related information for the last several years, evaluate it thoroughly, and make a conclusion supported with facts and figures taken from official reports and specialized articles.

13. Environmental Factors That Influence Tourist Decisions

This topic requires the researcher to discuss such environmental factors that influence tourist decisions as natural resources, natural environment, settings for relaxations and sports activities, and general and supportive infrastructures. In addition, it is important to evaluate such factors as social environment and tourism services, and facilities as they appear to be decisive for a significant number of tourists from different countries.

14. Ecotourism and Its Advantages to the Local Businesses

Ecotourism has been developed rapidly for recent years. Because of the rapid growth, it provides significant economic opportunities to the local businesses, in this way, attracting investments, increasing the flow of tourists, and providing people with jobs. In addition, ecotourism allows local businesses to develop their production of eco products and improve supportive infrastructure. A lot of information on ecotourism and related topics may be found in special official reports and the official site of the particular communities.

15. Black or Dark Tourism and Its Impact on the Local Economy

Black or dark tourism is a kind of tourism that involves visiting different places of significant tragedies and deaths. One of the greatest examples is the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, Poenari Castle in Romania, and the Catacombs of Paris. Because many people visit these places annually, the local economy obtains a range of benefits from this type of tourism. Therefore, in order to conduct research, you may research official statistics, official reports, and articles in specialized journals.

16. Black or Dark Tourism as the Issue of Ethical Correctness

Black or dark tourism is one of the most significant issues of ethical correctness as it promotes people to visit different places of significant tragedies and deaths. Therefore, this issue may become a great topic for the tourism research paper as it allows discovering the advantages and disadvantages of this type of tourism and evaluating its ethical correctness.

17. Terrorism and Its Effects on the Tourism Industry

Terrorism has a considerable impact on the development of particular regions as terrorist attacks prevent tourists from visiting different popular places. Usually, people prefer not to risk and visit some other place or even some other country not to risk their lives and obtain only positive emotions from the trip. In this way, you may research regions where terrorism has had a negative influence on the development of the tourism industry, like Pakistan or Turkey, and make valuable conclusions on the point supported with statistical facts.

18. Brand Awareness as the Decisive Factor in the Hotel Industry

The brand concept is a decisive factor in the development of the hotel industry. Therefore, you may research the concept of different successful brands in the industry, define their competitive features, and evaluate the influence of brand awareness on tourists. All the required information may be found in related books and articles on the hotel industry and its development.

19. Educational Tourism and Its Development in European Countries

Educational tourism remains to be popular among students, school graduates, and their parents. Because the European system of education is well developed, and it provides high-quality knowledge, educational tourism is developed among the largest educational centers in Europe. In order to research the point, you may evaluate some statistical data, use information provided in specialized journals, and refer to books on educational tourism in Europe.

20. Tsunamis and Their Influence on the Tourism Industry in Malaysia

Tsunamis have a significant influence on the tourism industry in Malaysia as they decrease the flow of tourists, tend to ruin supportive infrastructure, and decrease economic development within the country. The research paper on the point may be grounded on the official reviews of tsunamis in Malaysia, official reports provided by the government of the country, related articles published in specialized journals, and a number of previous research on the point.

21. The Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism

The most evident influence of the epidemic on traveling is that many employees entirely switched to the remote work scheme. The research topic about tourism may discuss the new term of workation. People want a new environment but still have free access to comfortable tables and chairs, wi-fi, and a few freshening drinks to work with. Such areas are more common in hotels and coworking, but the strategy could help increase tourist attractiveness in small cities and villages. This direction of thought may also evolve into tourism and hospitality research. Remote work assumes a lack of human connection, so tourists strive not for architecture sometimes but for human friendliness. 

22. Adjusting the Tourism Guides for Individual Requests

The examples above show that the field of tourism is well-developed for different social groups or people`s interests. However, the modern world is the era of individuals, self-exploring, and solo lifestyles. Generation Z and millennials value personal approaches and customized options, so the research in tourism may explore such variations. For instance, the customer of a tourism agency may be an introvert who would like to meet fewer people both in preparation and while traveling. However, this person has mixed tastes and would love to try living in a tent but with some benefits of civilization. The research may study whether it is possible operationally and beneficial for business. 

23. Space tourism

For sure, among other tourism research paper topics, this one is the most exotic. Not many people could afford or would even think of such extraordinary entertainment. However, discussions on this possibility in tourism have already started. The most wealthy volunteers will probably enter space on cruise journeys in the next fifty to ninety years. Tourism management topics in that regard may explore these voyages’ safety, cost, and possibilities. 

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In processing the information, consider how modern technology may improve the person’s experience or the article’s information. For instance, what if food tourism could combine the delivery service with a restaurant menu? Some people like cooking but may want to explore the local cuisine on the trip. Write about the possibility for restaurants to give out the recipes of their dishes, along with required products, delivered to the tourists’ apartments.

Conclusion

Today, tourism is subdivided into large international and domestic branches, in this way, having a considerable impact on the development of the economy in different regions. Therefore, it provides a vast range of challenging and interesting topics and ideas to discuss and evaluate. You should remember that the topic should be narrow to ensure you can develop it properly, provide the reading audience with all the related information, and make comprehensive conclusions of the point. Besides, it is necessary for a student to ground research on reliable sources and use facts and pieces of evidence as support materials. Moreover, the paper should be written according to the instructions of the professor and contain citations of the materials used. As a result, conducting research for the tourism research paper allows learning a lot of captivating information about tourism in different countries, discover different types of tourism, witness its sufficient economic and social influence on the local and international communities, and use related facts and figures found in reliable sources. Finally, writing a tourism research paper allows you to understand the industry and its domestic and international branches better and learn basic principles of work with tourists, best approaches to manage historical places, and considerable differences in conducting tourism business in Europe, Asia, Africa, and other continents.

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