Secondary Data Analysis in Leisure
and Tourism Research
Chapter 4
1
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter you will be able to:
• appreciate the differences between primary and
secondary data
• understand the difference between secondary
data collection and analysis
• identify some of the major sources of leisure and
tourism data
• assess the advantages and limitations of
conducting secondary data analysis
• provide an evaluation of secondary data analysis
2
What is secondary data analysis?
• The phrase refers to the analysis of information
collected for a purpose other than that of the
researcher, in this sense the researcher becomes the
secondary user of the data.
• We can contrast this with primary data, which is
original data generated by new research using
techniques such as surveys, interviews or
observations.
• Most research will include an element of secondary
data collection to discover what work has already
been carried out on a particular subject.
3
What is secondary data analysis?
• This is a necessary first step in any research
design.
• This is an important point we should always
consult secondary sources of information
before we start collecting primary data
• A great deal of time, effort and money can
therefore be saved if you are aware of available
data.
• So, secondary data collection should always
come before primary data collection
4
What is secondary data analysis?
• The word 'analysis' in the title is the key one.
• When carrying out this type of research, we
are not just collecting information and
reproducing it in similar or identical form; we
are re-working the data to address our main
research objectives.
• Secondary data analysis is 'any further
analysis of an existing dataset which presents
interpretations, conclusions, or knowledge.
5
What is secondary data analysis?
• This method usually refers to the analysis of
quantitative data (official statistics) generated
usually by surveys or a process of registration,
although time - budget data can also be used.
• The term secondary analysis can, however,
also be applied to the analysis of diaries,
letters, reports, television and radio
broadcasts etc.
6
The potential of secondary data analysis
Some suggestions for possible research projects
using secondary data analysis in order to increase
our awareness of the potential of this approach;
1. We can use secondary data analysis to examine
trends over time.
• For example, we may wish to examine visitor
numbers at seaside resorts since the 2. World
War in Europe..
• Using this data we could also predict future
trends by using some of the statistical
forecasting techniques.
7
The potential of secondary data analysis
• Similarly, the leisure researcher might wish to
look at trends in participation in particular
sports to examine whether there has been a
shift from team sports to individual pursuits.
2. We can use secondary data analysis to
undertake before and after studies looking
at the impacts of a particular piece of
legislation, or of a new policy, or of a specific
event.
8
The potential of secondary data analysis
• For example, what has been the impact of the
departure tax on flights? What impact did a
particular terrorist outrage have on tourism in
that area?
3. We can explore relationships through the use
of secondary data analysis.
• For example, is there a relationship between
social class and patterns of tourist activity?
• Alternatively, we could test the hypotheses that
the type and intensity of leisure activity vary
according to gender, age and socio - economic
grouping.
9
The potential of secondary data analysis
4. We can 'map' areas of the Country using
secondary data.
• For example, you could look at areas of
'honey pot' tourism activity; or
• membership lists could be used to map
membership patterns as part of a marketing
campaign for a health and fitness studio
10
The potential of secondary data analysis
5. Using census data, the manager of a leisure
facility could undertake a catchment area
study, and also investigate penetration rates
to see what proportion of target market
segments is being attracted to the facility.
6. A feasibility study for a new leisure facility
could be undertaken by combining census
data with participation rate data from a
national survey
11
The potential of secondary data analysis
7. We can make international comparisons
through secondary data analysis. For
example, you could compare levels and
trends in second-break tourism in Turkey with
those in Greece.
8. We can look at the use of time-budget
research to explore how people classify and
use their leisure time, and therefore track
changes in the use of time over a certain
period.
12
Secondary data for leisure and tourism
(xxxx)
• We live in the information age.
• Information never goes away, it just gets
added to, and at an exponential rate.
• The amount of information out there, if only
we knew where it all was and had the time
and money to access it all, is frighteningly
large.
• We cannot possibly become familiar with all
available sources of information.
13
Secondary data for leisure and tourism
• Our task is to familiarize ourselves with the most
important and accessible sources of data.
• Most of the available data is quantitative in nature
i.e. details of tourist numbers, tourist nights, tourist
expenditure and leisure participation rates.
• Sources of such data include international bodies,
central and local government, non-governmental
organisations and commercial organisations.
• These are discussed below;
14
International tourism data
• International bodies put together data
from central government organisations
and national statistical services.
• Arguably the 2 most important sources
for tourism are the World Tourism
Organization and Eurostat.
15
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
• Based in Madrid, the WTO's main publication is the
Yearbook of Tourism Statistics.
• Data is provided by region (e.g. Central America) and by
country, and includes arrivals at frontiers or in
accommodation establishments, mode of transport,
accommodation capacity (i.e. rooms and bed-spaces) and
tourism receipts and expenditure.
• The data is provided over a period of several years, and so
trends can be observed.
• The data is also available by the country of origin of the
visitor.
http://www.e-unwto.org/toc/unwtotfb/current
16
Eurostat
• Eurostat is The Statistical Office of the European
Communities and produces data not just on European
Union countries but also on members of the European
Economic Area (EU).
• Its publication Tourism in Europe includes both supplyside data and data on tourism demand.
• On the supply side the data covers tourist
accommodation, restaurants, cafes and bars, travel
agencies and other tourist-related activities.
• The data on tourism demand looks at holiday patterns
and the main tourism generating countries, and at
inbound tourism.
17
Eurostat
• Country reports are then provided for all European
Union and European Free Trade Association member
states.
• Each country report has three main sections:
1. General Situation and Key Indicators: Development
and Impact of Tourism
2. Tourism Supply
3. Tourism Demand
• Much of the data is broken down by region within
countries and began in 1980.
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Tourism_statistics
18
Government statistics on tourism
• Government, at both national and local level,
provides a range of tourism statistics.
• Statistics collected by the state and its
agencies are usually referred to as 'official
statistics'.
• Some examples from the tourism sector are
set out in Table 4.1 and are discussed below.
19
Table 4.1: Sources of National Statistical data on tourism
20
Commercial sources of tourism data
• Given the economic importance of tourism
globally, commercial provision of tourism
data is more important, and more extensive,
than in many other areas of research.
• Companies require and generate, data on
areas such as market trends, tourist
satisfactions, employment and expenditure
on tourism.
21
Commercial sources of tourism data
• Commercial sources of tourism data fall
into two broad categories
1. Data that can be purchased from
commercial research organizations , and
2. Data generated by tourism companies
themselves as part of their normal
operating procedures.
• Both are discussed below.
22
Commercial sources of tourism data
• Euromonitor specialize in international consumer
market analysis, and part of their port folio
includes travel and tourism.
http://www.euromonitor.com/search?txtSearch=tourism+market+rese
arch
• Their reports are based on a combination of
primary and secondary data.
• Travel and Tourism Intelligence (TTI) is the
former travel and tourism division of the
Economist Intelligence Unit
http://search.eiu.com/default.aspx?sText=tourism forecasts
http://www.eiu.com/home.aspx
23
Commercial sources of tourism data
• As well as the commercial research
companies, tourism organizations
generate a mountain of information as
part of their normal operating
procedures.
• This includes things like visitor numbers,
occupancy rates, employment records,
satisfaction survey data.
24
Commercial sources of tourism data
• One source of information on commercial
organizations that is readily available is the
company annual report.
• These provide a wealth of information,
particularly financial statistics, and most of
the major leisure and tourism companies will
be happy to send you a copy.
• The financial pages of the broadsheet
newspapers are similarly rich in financial data.
25
International leisure data
• The data generated covers visitor numbers
and patterns, the age, gender, employment
status and socio-economic grouping of trail
users, attitudes, accommodation used,
transport taken and expenditure.
• As a standard methodology is used,
comparisons between National Trails are
possible.
26
Commercial sources of leisure data
• Euromonitor also produce a range of reports
that would be of interest to the leisure
researcher.
• Topics have included an analysis of the
international markets for leisure goods such as
television and video, alcoholic and soft drinks,
clothing, caravans and camping equipment,
gardening, consumer catering and consumer
lifestyles.
27
Using the Internet as a source of secondary data
• The amount of information available on the
Internet is growing at a phenomenal rate, and
there is no doubt that it is becoming a very
important resource for researchers as more and
more organizations make information available in
this way.
• In 1989 there were just 130,000 host computers
connected to the Internet.
• This figure had risen to 6,600,000 in 1995, and was
an incredible 29,600,000 in 1998.
• The volume of Internet traffic is doubling every
100 days
28
Using the Internet as a source of secondary data
•
•
•
•
We have some tips for using the Internet.
First of all, surfing the Internet can waste a great
deal of time.
The paradox is that the more sources of
information that exist, the harder it becomes to
find the information.
We need to develop search strategies that
minimise the amount of wasted time and effort.
We need to know what it is we are looking for
before we start.
29
The advantages of secondary data analysis
• It forces the researcher to think more closely
about the theoretical aims and substantive
issues of the study rather than the practical
and methodological problems of collecting
new data.
• It shifts the focus from individual data subjects
to a broader analysis of social conditions and
change.
30
The advantages of secondary data analysis
• It allows us to merge data from various
sources in order to provide larger and more
useable data sets, taking care of course to
ensure that the data are compatible e.g.
consistent definitions are used.
• Different individual data sets can also be used
to test the same hypothesis thus establishing
reliability if the same results are achieved.
31
The advantages of secondary data analysis
• This analysis also appeals for many practical
reasons, not the least of which is the fact that
it requires less time and effort to collect the
data, making it much cheaper than most
primary data collection.
• Freed from the time and effort involved in
financing and obtaining primary data, the
secondary data analyst can devote more of
both to analysis and interpretation.
32
The advantages of secondary data analysis
• It also offers a more flexible approach in that,
subject to any deadlines, it can usually be
carried out as and when it suits the
researcher, and over long time periods.
• Having said that, secondary data analysis is
also useful if quick results are needed and
there is insufficient time to plan and conduct
primary research.
33
The advantages of secondary data analysis
• Another attraction is that much of the data
covers long time periods, thus allowing us to
examine trends over time.
• Time can thus be used as a variable in the
research.
• The generation of time-series data is by
definition a costly and time-consuming
exercise taking it beyond the resources of
most researchers.
34
The advantages of secondary data analysis
• Secondary data analysis can also be used as
a means of comparison against information
collected by other methods, and it also
allows researchers from different disciplines
to bring fresh perspectives to a topic.
• Finally, official statistics 'may be the only
source of data on the topic in question‘.
35
Problems and issues in undertaking
secondary data analysis (xxx)
• Most of the problems associated with using
leisure and tourism data arise from the fact
that they have been collected for a
particular purpose, usually an
administrative one, and may not therefore
be 'neutral' or in a form that the researcher
would ideally like them to be.
36
Problems and issues
• Government departments, tourism
companies and tourism organizations have a
vested interest in showing the economic
importance of tourism, for example, whereas
environmental pressure groups may be
more concerned with highlighting the
negative impacts associated with tourism
development.
37
Problems and issues
• Specific issues concerning the use of
secondary data are discussed under
three broad headings:
1. Problems of definition and reference
periods
2. Collection methods
3. The form and reporting of secondary
data
38
Problems of definition and reference periods
• Different organizations may still be using
different definitions of tourism or related
concepts.
• Comparisons between data sets thus become
full of difficulties.
• For example, the International Passenger
Survey defines a 'visit' as a stay of 0 - 365
nights, whereas the United Kingdom Tourism
Survey defines a 'visit' as a stay of 1 - 60 days.
39
Problems of definition and reference periods
• Most definitions of tourism require a person
to be away from their normal place of
residence for at least one night.
• For example, the WTO and the United Nations
Statistical Commission define tourism as 'The
activities of persons travelling to and staying
in places outside their usual environment for
not more than one consecutive year for
leisure, business and other purposes'
40
Problems of definition and reference periods
• The problem of different 'reference periods'
can arise when attempting to compare leisure
data sets.
• Clearly, the greater the reference period the
higher the participation rates will appear.
• Having a one-year reference period has the
advantage of tackling seasonality, but the
disadvantage of requiring accurate recall over
a long period of time.
41
Problems of definition and reference periods
• Some surveys, include short time periods (4
weeks) and lengthy ones (12 months) within
which participation is recorded.
• The issue of changing definitions is important
in leisure and tourism research, and a
relatively minor change can radically alter
how we view things.
42
Data collection methods
• Considering day-trippers, there are also a series
of logistical problems concerned with the
collection of tourism data, which casts further
doubt on their accuracy.
• For example, given the difficulties of recording
cross-border traffic flows on busy routes, many
countries record only accommodation arrivals,
but here too we have problems as it is often
only hotel information that is recorded.
43
Data collection methods
• In other words, people visiting friends and
relatives, people staying in second homes,
holiday cottages or timeshare
accommodation, and people camping or
staying in bed and breakfast accommodation
may not find their way into the tourism
figures.
• For some countries, given the nature of their
accommodation supply, this can create a far
from accurate picture of tourism activity.
44
Data collection methods
• Tourism statistics are thus collected in a
variety of ways around the globe.
• In some countries it is a legal requirement for
accommodation businesses to collect data, in
other countries statistics are generated by
border-crossings either through a process of
registration or by a sample survey.
• The data collection methods may then change
over time, again making comparisons difficult.
45
The form and reporting of secondary data
• Another problem is that much of the tourism
information may only be available at the
national level, whereas the researcher may
require data at the regional or local level.
• Following on from this, the aggregation of data
may lead to an important loss of detail.
• There can be considerable delay between the
research being conducted and the statistics
being made available.
46
Evaluating secondary data
• The quality of tourism data is variable, and we
should appreciate from what has been said so
far that there is a potential problem of validity
with much of the data we are likely to use.
• Tourism and economic statistics are
not measure very accurately what they are
aiming to measure, whether frontier arrivals,
accommodation arrivals, nights spent, receipts
or expenditures.
47
Evaluating secondary data
• Three main factors are unsatisfactory data
collection methods; a) poor sample design or
small samples b) producing unacceptably high
levels of sampling error and c) a failure to follow
agreed data collection procedures.
• Reliability, as we have already seen, can also be an
issue.
• Data generated from official surveys comes from
rigorously adhered to methods and is thus a
reliable source.
48
Evaluating secondary data
• The professionalism of organisations is well
known, and so we can have confidence in the
reliability of the data they generate.
• This last point is important as it reminds us
that not all official statistics are generated
from social surveys, many are collected by a
process of registration i.e. form filling.
• Unreliable data can arise if forms are not
completed, or are not completed properly, or
if they are collated and analysed incorrectly.
49
Conclusion
• This chapter has drawn the distinction between
primary and secondary data, and has focused on the
analysis of secondary data using examples of
published research.
• Major sources of quantitative leisure and tourism
data have been discussed, and students of leisure
and tourism are strongly advised to follow up these
sources in order to see what is available.
• Secondary data analysis has been evaluated
throughout this chapter, and the advantages, issues
and problems have been discussed in some detail.
50
Student Activity
1. Visit UNWTO web site and collect data about any
specific country’s tourism statistics on annual
base, and compare with different countries in
terms of their relative shares at international
level.
2. Visit the web page of Turkish Culture and Tourism
Ministry, and collect data about incoming to and
outgoing visitors from Turkey. Compare the
numbers by nationalities and visit purposes when
available.
51
End of Chapter Slides
52