Overview on how to Write a Tourism Research Paper

Tourism is one of the most interesting fields of study across the globe. The associated travel and coursework are quite fascinating.

Concerning coursework, to evaluate effective learning, at some point you will be required to write a tourism research paper.

This requires you to understand the different  steps for writing a research paper.

Such papers demand that you successfully demonstrate your understanding of course content, including theories, concepts, and respective bodies of knowledge.

Besides, you should as well be able to illustrate abilities in such areas as critical thinking, research, and data analysis.

Basic Rules on how to Write a Tourism Research Paper

Writing a research paper in tourism should adhere to some basic standards. Such standards are meant to ensure that you produce quality work.

Notably, these standards can be maintained by observing the below set of rules.

a) You should explore far and wide for the research topic: this is a basic requirement when writing a tourism research paper. It is meant to provide you with adequate knowledge on relevant topic areas.

Such exploration should help you identify areas where exhaustive research has been conducted and areas that are quite novel.

Besides the course materials, you should conduct a wide search in such materials as articles, books, encyclopedias, and online sources. You should use this search to generate ideas on potential research areas and topics.

b) You research should advance a particular argument: it is important to ensure that your tourism research paper supports a particular argument.

In this, you should understand that writing a research paper requires you to answer a particular research question.

You should therefore avoid developing a paper that looks more like a compilation of facts and evidence (usually the case with book or article reviews).

All the data and evidence presented in the research paper should be organized in a logical manner all geared towards a focused conclusion.

This conclusion should be answer to the research question stipulated at the beginning of the research paper. 

c) You should ensure clarity in the research question: your research paper must be guided by a particular inquiry.

Such an inquiry should focus on establishing the cause(s) of general trends/specific events or the nature of new trends.

In this, the research question should focus on answering the question “why” or “how”.

Ensuring that you answer either of these two questions is key the development of your tourism research paper argument.

Principally, the research question should not lean towards a descriptive answer. You should therefore avoid answering the queries “when” and “what” at all costs. 

d) You should build your research paper on expansive research: your tourism research paper must be founded on extensive research. This entails gathering data from a wide variety of sources.

Such sources should include 1) library books, journals, and magazines, 2) online sources like eBooks, online journals and articles, and websites, and 3) primary sources such as interviews, memoirs, and raw statistics.

You should rely on the diverse data to build a more accurate and rational argument. Additionally, where possible, you should use statistical packages to analyze statistical data.

All this data should be neatly assembled to form the basis of the entire research paper argument.

e) You should ensure that your research paper is well written: this is a critical rule when writing your tourism research paper. Per se, your arguments must flow in a clear and logical manner.

You should understand that communication is critical in all forms of professional writing.

Ensuring this requires you to articulate all your points in a simple language and coherent way.

Your writing style must remain formal from the beginning to the end. Further, evidence must be effectively adduced in your writing.

All sources used should be well cited within the research paper and in the reference list.

You are therefore required to adequately comprehend various types of paper formatting.

Structure of a Tourism Research Paper

All data collected should be methodically compiled to form a complete paper. Developing the tourism research paper arguments requires you to appropriately use each set of data in the right manner.

This is only possible if you understand the different parts of the research paper.

These parts feature significantly on how to write a tourism essay and are as discussed below.

a) Introduction: the introduction should be the first part of your tourism research paper and should provide the background for your study.

The background entails general information about the research topic.

You should illustrate why it is important to study the entailed topic. Such a background should be brief although quite detailed.

Principally, the introduction should stipulate the objective the research paper and how it will be realized. The objective should be clear and concise.

Lastly, the introduction should sum up the research paper’s thesis statement.

b) Body: this part carries the main argument(s) in your tourism research paper. It is the meat of the paper and should have numerous points advancing your thesis.

The points should be organized systematically, finishing with the strongest one.

It is important to ensure that all points are purposely constructed to answer the research question/thesis. To realize a better organization, you should start by constructing a rough draft.

The draft should encompass specific key points supported by numerous sub-points. It is essential to avoid unsubstantiated personal opinions in this part.

Importantly, all evidence must be correctly referenced.

c) Conclusion: the conclusion is the last part and should summarize all the key points in the research paper. It should merge the research paper’s argument(s) with the thesis.

As such, you should illustrate how the conducted study helped arrive at the inferences made in the research paper.