2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
An Exploratory Investigation of Japanese Inbound Tourism Distribution Channels
| Project/Area Number |
18K01870
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| Research Institution | Otaru University of Commerce |
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Principal Investigator |
王 力勇 小樽商科大学, 商学部, 准教授 (70772466)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
Praet Carolus 小樽商科大学, 商学部, 教授 (40292081)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
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| Keywords | Distribution channels / DMC / Inbound tour operator / Hotel / Luxury travel / Disintermediation / In-depth interview |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In FY 2019 we have managed to conduct in-depth interviews with 8 DMCs/inbound tour operators and 14 hotels as well as Ryokans mostly focusing on luxury travel in Hokkaido. Thanks to the cooperation of these interviewees, the data we have collected is much more than what we have planned before.
A part of our research findings has been published and presented at the 8th ATMC (Advances in Tourism Marketing Conference) in September 2019.
Based on a broad literature review, we find that despite the considerable volume of studies on tourism distribution channels (TDCs), nearly all of them have concentrated on the high-volume, low-price travel market. Consequently, this study seeks to contribute to the literature by focusing on the under-explored nature of the TDC in the luxury travel market via an exploratory study of in-depth interviews with outbound tour operators in this market segment.
Results suggest two distinctive features of the TDC structure in the luxury segment due to the highly personalized needs of end users: 1) outbound tour operators tend to shorten their channel by directly approaching end-user clients and suppliers, which leads to channel disintermediation within this market segment; 2) in contrast to the large tour operators in the high-volume, low-price market, tour operators in this segment tend to be small-to-medium sized and have a competitive advantage against online distribution channels and giant tour operators because of their ability to bundle tailor-made products. This prevents them from being disintermediated themselves.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
Regarding the collection of data, we have interviewed 8 DMCs/inbound tour operators and 14 hotels/Ryokans, much more than what we planned before. Currently we are working on sorting, transcriptions and analysis of our data.
On the other hand, due to the influence of Covid-19 pandemic, we have to postpone or even cancel our plan of conducting questionnaire survey. Tourism industry has been damaged heavily and many tourism companies have to close their business in a short term or permanently under the almost worldwide lockdown situation. Given that we conduct survey under an improper condition, many of those potential questionnaire repliers may either highly possibly refuse to cooperate or answer in a bias manner. Consequently, it is difficult to clarify when the business environment would be in a proper condition for us to conduct quantitative survey.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Due to the influence of Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism industry is under huge damage in 2020 and even a longer span. It also affects our research henceforward very negatively. The tourism industry after Covid-19 may change enormously and we may probably face difficulty to acquire cooperation from industry practitioners.
As the following stage, we will continue working on our data sorting, transcription and analysis and then summarizing our findings.
Furthermore, we may be forced to extend our research period one more year.
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| Causes of Carryover |
First, due to unavailability of RA, PI Wang conducted the data arrangement by himself and saved a large amount of budget on personnel expenditure and remuneration.
Second, due to the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to cancel several trips for interviews and academic conferences, which saved our travel budget.
We plan to make use of the incurring amount for arranging research data and presenting findings at more international academic conferences after the release of travel restrictions.
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