Term Project
You have the opportunity to choose one of the three options for your term project (see below). These are to be completed individually (no group work required in this course, group work is strongly discouraged). Recognize that your final project will be worth 25 % of the total grade for the course! Possible projects include:
Comparative Analysis of Tourism Impacts in Communities around the World
Within this option, you have the opportunity to choose one of the three following topics among tourism industry’s impact in a country (USA, Turkey, Jamaica etc.), a series of countries (countries in the Mediterranean region, Caribbean, States located in the south eastern part of the USA etc.) or a series of US states including the SC and write a 6-8 pages professional paper for your final term project. The idea is to draw parallels, similarities or differences of associated impacts in more than one place. There are a few examples posted from the relevant literature on the Blackboard under Course Documents, as well as a detailed guide for each of the projects and how they will be graded. Recognize that your final project will be worth 25 % of the total grade for the course! Choose either one or all of the following three topics.
Option 1. Comparative Analysis of Tourism’s Environmental Impacts–ecological impacts (on balance of life and natural resources). You could even compare different communities and countries in terms of impacts.
Option 2. Comparative Analysis of Sociological and/or cultural impact of tourism on communities around the world.
Option 3. Comparative Analysis of Tourism’s economic feasibility and economic impact on different parts of the world.
To correctly do this project, you will have to read and synthesize literature on tourism’s social, cultural or environmental impacts using established social science journals. Note: if you wish you can compare all impacts at the same time, but it is not a must. If it is easier for you to talk about only one group of impacts, do so. However, you will notice when researchers talk about impacts they tend to mix them. We expect at least 8 to 12 refereed tourism papers in your references from social science tourism journals like the Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Tourism Analysis, and Journal of Sustainable Tourism. If for some reason you cannot find tourism impact studies done/published related to your site/country, still evaluate the site you have chosen in relation to the readings you have done. For example, if you cannot find a social impact study done about Germany, you may choose to read/synthesize social impact studies done elsewhere in Austria/Switzerland but draw parallels, comparisons and conclusions regarding your choice of the country. Internet papers from mills are not accepted. All papers must come from Professional Scientific Journals listed above.
• Based on my previous experience the finished document should be 6-8 pages in length, 12 point Arial Narrow font, double space, 1 inch margins all over. This may not include the cover page, reference pages or any appendices like maps and photos, but use these where necessary and directly referenced in your paper.
• Overall, the project should have a very professional look to it. You want to impress your most important client and your professor, of course! Color is nice (but not required), along with crisp, clean tables, photos, maps, and figures.
• The paper should be prepared in concordance with mainstream citation formats e.g., APA style, the American Psychological Association (APA) format (see http://www.apastyle.org), also see the manuscript guidelines for theJournal of Travel Research, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research or Tourism Analysis. The essays will be graded on the basis of 80% for content and quality of analysis, synthesis and communication, and 20% for style, grammar, spelling and punctuation.