Using Partial Least Squares to Measure Tourism Students’ Satisfaction with Work-Integrated Learning

Work-integrated learning placement experience can either validate or contradict students’ expectations regarding the industry, job roles and interests, expectations of industry employers, and personal fit with the profession. Determining students’ satisfaction with the placement experience will provide valuable insight to academic institutions. This chapter will explore the preplacement expectations and postplacement perceptions of tourism students and propose a conceptual model for the tourism student’s satisfaction with work-integrated learning. Data were collected using a survey of third-year tourism students. A conceptual model was proposed and analyzed using SmartPLS. The analysis indicated that postplacement perceptions have a significant influence on the satisfaction of WIL. The conceptual model showed an R2 value of 0.427, indicating a substantial impact on satisfaction with WIL

A baseline study of the gaps in work-integrated Tourism learning: student expectations and perceptions.

Work-integrated learning (WIL) has been widely used as an educational component in Universities of Technology (UoTs). With a work-based module becoming compulsory in higher education in South Africa, there is limited research in the academic literature on the gaps between students’ expectations and perceptions of tourism WIL placements. The purpose of this study was to determine the gaps between the expectations and perceptions of tourism students with regard to their WIL placements. Third year tourism students at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) completed expectation surveys prior to obtaining placement and perception surveys after completing their WIL placements. The analysis will be used to reveal trends and patterns in responses through statistical analyses, which will be a useful baseline for further studies as well as initiating debate on the interpretation and use of the data to inform follow-up action. The study concludes that preparation for WIL placement needs to be improved in order to minimize the gaps. Although the study is based on research in South Africa, it is argued that suggestions and discussions of selected placement issues may be potentially applicable to tourism placements in other countries

Tourism students’ experience of work-integrated learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of tourism students’ work integrated learning (WIL). The study involved an analysis of tourism students’ that completed the six-month WIL placement between December 2016 and July 2017, from the Department of Tourism Management at the Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa. The study investigated students’ perceptions with regard to WIL placement, hosting organisation and academic institution support. Tourism students’ completed the perception questionnaire at the end of their six-month placement period at a hosting organisation. The data presents the demographic profile of students’, the mean and standard deviation of perception variables of WIL placement, hosting organisation and academic institution support as well as Mann-Whitney and Kruskal Wallis analyses, which are generally used to test for variance between distinct groups. The results indicate that students have a positive overall impression of WIL, but that support from both the hosting organisation and from the academic institution were lacking. The implications for students are potential drop-outs prior to WIL completion, insufficient industry experience and potential career changes

A concessionaire model for food and beverage operations in South African National Parks

Thesis (PhD (Tourism Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013In recent years, protected areas have come under pressure due to the budget cuts of government. As a result, national parks have had to devise strategies by means of which they are able to generate additional revenue, in order to remain competitive. Such a strategy is the introduction of public-private partnerships, which allows the private sector to operate certain lodging facilities, restaurants and shops within parks. SANParks introduced their commercialization strategy in 2000 and overall it has been a success. However, despite earning much needed revenue; there are many complaints from tourists regarding the food and beverage concessions. Research regarding travel food consumption is in its infancy and is lacking in social science research. The importance of travel dining cannot be understated as it constitutes approximately 25% of tourist expenditure and as such contributes to the economic receipts of a destination. The importance of understanding the wants and needs of tourists with reference to food and beverage will enable destinations to realise the full economic potential of the tourism experience. It has been postulated that food consumption no longer forms part of the ‘supporting’ experience but is in fact a ‘peak’ tourist experience and as such can impair the total tourist experience if tourists are not satisfied with food and beverage consumption at a destination. SANParks does not offer a wide variety of food and beverage facilities and it is of utmost importance that the facilities that are available, cater to the requirements of tourists. The purpose of this study was to construct a model for concessionaire food and beverage operations at SANParks. This was done by targeting tourists who visit SANParks and inquiring as to their preferences with regard to restaurants and shop facilities. The questionnaire for the study was posted on SANParks’ website for a period of three weeks and consisted of four sections, namely a demographic section, a section related to food service brands, a section regarding restaurants and the last section regarding shop facilities. The data was analysed to provide information needed to construct a model for concessionaire food and beverage operations in SANParks. Data provided a demographic profile of tourists to SANParks, factors analysis provided restaurant and take-away factors, ANOVA and t-tests allowed comparisons of factors with demographics and lastly structural equation modelling which provided goodness of fit indices for the proposed model.Doctora

A cultural profile of tourists to a jazz festival in South Africa

Tourism has experiencd growing internationalisation and much closer attention is now paid to the cultural characteristics of tourists and visitors and the influence thereof on the tourism industry. Culture affects travel motivation and behaviour and a better understanding of the cultural composition of tourists will enable the tourism industry to better satisfy tourist expectations. Understanding target markets from a demographic, geographic and psychographic perspective has been done in many research studies. However an attempt to define and understand the cultural characteristics of target markets and the effect of these characteristics is essential for the success and sustainable growth of the tourism industry in South Africa. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to determine a cultural profile of visitors to a jazz festival in South Africa. An exploratory survey of visitors was conducted by means of a structured questionnaire, which was completed by 127 respondents at a Jazz Festival held in Vanderbijlpark. The statistical analysis entailed descriptive statistics and more specifically a factor analysis as well as inferential statistics and more specifically Spearman’s correlations, t-tests and one-way ANOVA’s. The factor analysis with varimax rotation was performed on values (8 items), rules of behaviour (17 items), and perceptions of tourism service workers (25 items). The results revealed a demographic profile of visitors and identified specific cultural characteristics. Correlations were revealed between the identified factors and age as well as length of stay

SCIE Guide 43: Improving access to social care for adults with autism

This practice enquiry, which ran from December 2009 to July 2010, was the third strand of a SCIE project sponsored by the Department of Health (DH), in order to inform and support their strategy for adults with ASC. The key question that led to the practice enquiry was: How far [do] current services and strategies support or hinder people with ASC to live independently and to what extent [do] current processes exclude people with ASC by denying social care support to enable them to access services and mainstream provision? (Commissioning Brief, September 2009) The evaluation sought to: invite and consider a range of views about the provision of services to support independent living for adults with ASC, from people with ASC receiving services, those who have had difficulty accessing support, their carers and other stakeholders identify views on issues of access to assessment processes identify views on what assessments achieve for people with ASC and their carers and on provision of service identify the policy and practice challenges which may affect access to support and experience of provision of services identify areas of 'good practice' as perceived by people who use services and carers and other stakeholders in access to and experience of provision of services provide recommendations that may inform future good practice in the provision of services for adults with ASC

Consultation of Carers for the College of Social Work

This report forms part of a national consultation of social workers, service users, carers and other stakeholders, aimed at informing the creation of the College of Social Work. Four methods of consultation took place, using similar sets of questions so that data could be compiled and compared: regional live consultation events, an online questionnaire, a postal questionnaire and a web-radio live consultation over three evenings. The project worked closely with the Princess Royal Trust for Carers (PRTC) to inform the development of the survey tools and assist in the recruitment of carers into all aspects of the consultation

Cancer Patients' Self-Reported Attitudes About the Internet

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of cancer patients are using the Internet, but little is known about their attitudes toward online health care. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this substudy was to analyze cancer patients' attitudes toward online health care. METHODS: This was a substudy of 41 persons with cancer who used the Internet for health care information and support and who completed the Attitudes Toward Online Health Care (ATOHC) survey. RESULTS: The majority of study participants were married, held graduate degrees, and had high incomes. Using a five-point Likert scale, means for the five dimensions of the ATOHC survey were as follows: community and news 3.22 (SD = 1.01), outcomes 3.20 (SD = 1.08), trusted information and advice 2.73 (SD = 0.66), self-efficacy in evaluating information and intention 3.46 (SD = 0.65), and disclosure 3.15 (SD = 1.06). The average response fell between “About half the time” and “Usually.” Favorite websites for content were Medscape and WebMD, while favorite sites for support were WebMD and Mediconsult. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents were generally eager to obtain and offer cancer information and support online, but they were skeptical of unknown sources. They were comfortable both giving and receiving information and support. Respondents were interested in the experiences of other patients and benefited by their direct and indirect interactions with them. Respondents felt that they coped better with their illness and experienced less uncertainty and anxiety as a result of their online experiences. They reported a certain level of trust, primarily for established reputable sources of information, and they were confident in their ability to evaluate the information, including research reports. In addition, cancer patients displayed a healthy skepticism when presented with the option of divulging their personal health information; however, they were willing to provide personal details if, as a result, a website provided them with individualized information