"Because of the seasonal and cyclical nature of tourism, the sector is characterised by a high incidence of seasonal, part-time and casual employment"

ESSAY WORKSHOP Task Analysis

ESSAY OVERVIEW

• 1,000 words

• Thursday, 18th of April by 6pm (to be submitted via Turnitin on Moodle)

• It must contain an introduction, a main body (i.e. argument) and a conclusion.

• Minimum of 8 references – at least 6 academic

• Assistance with writing this essay will be provided throughout the semester.

ESSAY OVERVIEW

“When strong seasonal variations are part of the normal annual tourism cycle of a destination, a large amount of economic and social disruption can occur if appropriate compensating measures are not taken by tourism managers”

(Weaver and Lawton, 2014, p. 241).

• Using a destination of your choice, discuss this statement and research the strategies that could be used to manage the seasonal variations.

• Students should initially read Chapter 8 of Weaver and Lawton on the ‘Economic Impacts of Tourism’ and should consider this quote in the context of that chapter.

• Refer to a variety of sources such as books and journal articles .Then, in the form of an essay, discuss the above statement.

3

DEFINITION OF SEASONALITY

‘a temporal imbalance in the phenomenon of tourism,

which may be expressed in terms of dimensions of

such elements as numbers of visitors, expenditure

of visitors, traffic on highways and other forms of

transport, employment and admission to attractions’

Butler (1994, p. 332)

VARIABLES WHICH AFFECT SEASONALITY

● Weather: climatic variations and seasonal changes, leading to a greater tendency for people to take holidays during the summer, although smaller peaks are also seen in winter (e.g. sport enthusiasts, such as skiers).

● Human decision factors: institutionalized holidays, such as for schools and salaried workers

● Social pressure and trends: teenagers going to the Gold Coast during Schoolies, students taking a gap year to backpack.

● Sports seasons: e.g. fishing competitions, Football, Cricket, Tennis

● Inertia and tradition: some individuals take holidays at specific times because that is when they

have always taken their holidays.

Source: Butler (2000) cited in G. Lohmann and A. Panosso Netto 2017. Tourism Theory (G. Lohmann and A. Panosso Netto)

ACADEMIC WRITING FUNDAMENTALS

What am I looking for in your essay?

1. How well did you respond to the task,

2. Your ability to understand the issues & formulate an informed conclusion,

3. Correct essay structure,

4. Correct grammar, spelling, formatting,

5. Your ability to source & correctly use, appropriate academic resources,

6. Your ability to apply correct academic referencing conventions.

COMMON WAYS OF LOSING MARKS…

• Failure to address the research question

• Failure to provide a clear introduction and conclusion

• Discussion of points that are not relevant to the topic

• Failure to provide a substantial argument

• Too many direct quotes, not enough paraphrasing

• Poor referencing…

How can you improve your academic writing?

What does a good essay have?

ESSAY WRITING: THE BASICS

What does a good essay need?

• An academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence.

• An academic essay should present or discuss a specific question or task via a set of closely

related points by reasoning and evidence.

• It should have a statement (to address the question) and an argument.

• An academic essay should include relevant examples,

supporting evidence and information from academic texts and credible sources.

POSSIBLE STEPS (IN NO STRICT ORDER)

GETTING STARTED

Begin early

• You can't write a successful essay unless you give yourself enough time to read, research,

think and write. Don't procrastinate or leave it until the last minute; start as early as possible.

Define the question and analyse the task

• Writing down everything you know about a topic won't make a good academic essay.

Analysing, then answering the essay's question or task is central.

• Be sure that you understand exactly what the question requires you to do.

ESSAY ACTIVITY THURSDAY 12.30PM

• https://padlet.com/jess_derham/essaybrainstorm1

ESSAY ACTIVITY FRIDAY 11.30AM

• https://padlet.com/jess_derham/essaybrainstorm2

RESEARCHING THE TOPIC

A feature of most academic writing is that it draws on the work of other writers and researchers.

Therefore, reading and researching are vital to essay writing. Researching provides the knowledge

and evidence that allows you to develop a thesis and argument to answer the essay question.

• Always read with a purpose. Ask yourself:

• What do I already know about the topic? Start with what you know. If a topic is unfamiliar, do some

introductory reading.

• What do I need to read to be able to answer the essay question?

• Is this material useful and relevant to my essay/ argument?

ACADEMIC SOURCES

Some quality Tourism/Hospitality journals:

• Annals of Tourism Research

• Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing

• Journal of Travel Research

• Journal of Sustainable Tourism

• Tourism Management

• Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Education

• Hotel: The National Magazine of the Australian Hotels Association

• Journal of Vacation Marketing

• Pacific Tourism Review

• Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research

• Tourism Analysis

• Tourism Culture and Communication

• International Journal of Tourism Studies Journal of Tourism Research

ORGANISING YOUR IDEAS

Begin organising your research and ideas into

an answer.

After you’ve researched and your ideas are more developed, decide on a

possible answer to the question (in terms of the

research you have done)

Decide on the information you will use to

answer the question

Look through your notes and choose examples to

provide evidence to support your answer

Decide which points you will discuss, and in which

order

Write all this down in point form and this will be your

essay plan

STRUCTURE

• Structure your essay in the most effective

way to communicate your ideas and

answer the question.

• All essays should include the following

structure (no headings used):

• Avoid the risk of plagiarism.

• All academic essays MUST contain references. Referencing guards

against plagiarism, a serious academic offence. Plagiarism is copying

someone else's words or ideas and presenting them as your own.

So, Why Reference?

REFERENCING THE ESSAY

Referencing is a system that allows you to acknowledge the contributions and work of others in

your writing by citing your sources. A feature of academic writing is that it contains references to

the words, information and ideas of others.

• What is paraphrasing???

• Paraphrase shows that you understand what you read

• However, if you do decide to quote a few words, or a

definition, you must remember to always include the

PAGE NUMBER in the in-text reference.

Importance of Paraphrasing

PARAPHRASING EXERCISE (GROUP 1)

1) Go to the Padlet Link titled on Moodle

• https://padlet.com/jess_derham/paraphrasinggroup1

2) In groups paraphrase the following:

• Market segmentation to identify existing users and markets that could be further developed allows attractions to diversify their product offering and align to user group needs” (Connell, Page and Meyer 2015, p. 286)

From Article:

• Connell, J., Page, S.J. and Meyer, D., 2015. Visitor attractions and events: Responding to seasonality. Tourism Management, 46, pp.283-298.

PARAPHRASING EXERCISE (GROUP 2)

1) Go to the Padlet Link titled on Moodle

• https://padlet.com/jess_derham/paraphrasinggroup2

2) In groups paraphrase the following:

• Market segmentation to identify existing users and markets that could be further developed allows attractions to diversify their product offering and align to user group needs” (Connell, Page and Meyer 2015, p. 286)

From Article:

• Connell, J., Page, S.J. and Meyer, D., 2015. Visitor attractions and events: Responding to seasonality. Tourism Management, 46, pp.283-298.

How NOT to Reference In-Text:

 Jones (2012) argued that… , whereas Smith (2011) asserts that…

 According to Smith (2011, p. 24) tourism can be defined as “…quote”

 Tourism is a complex industry (Turner, 1998).

 MacMillen and Webster (2002) explain that…

 The tourist experiences a sense of displacement (MacMillen & Webster, 2002).

 Hospitality has experienced an economic boom (Smith, 2011; Jones, 2012).

 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013)…

 These departments suffered a loss of 18% in 2012 (ABS, 2013).

How to Reference in the Reference List:

• Reference list: all works noted in the text / report / document.

• Bibliography: all works used in the preparation of the text / report / document.

• These may or may not be acknowledged in the text.

Journal article:

Teller, M. and Brooks, P. (2003) Tourism as a Discipline, Journal of Tourism Management, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 123-231.

Book:

Willis, L. (2013) Tourism Management: A Guide in Tourism Studies, La Trobe University Press, Melbourne, Victoria.

Website:

ABS (2013) Figures and Listings, Available: www.abs.gov.au, Accessed: 16th November 2017.

Referencing handbooks will be slightly different – this is ok! – as long as you are consistent throughout your entire

assignment --- eg. If you use brackets once, you must use them every time.

General Rules for Reference Lists:

• Do list them in alphabetical order.

• Do have a separate page for your reference list and title it.

• Do not number your references.

• Do not break them up under headings such as ‘journal articles’, ‘books’, ‘websites’ etc.

• Do not confuse first names and last names (only use the initial of the first name in the reference

list – but it is not needed in-text).

LTU LIBRARY HELP FOR REFERENCING

The library has very accessible guides for referencing:

• Academic referencing modules:

• http://latrobe.libguides.com/referencingmodules

• And style guides

• http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/help/style-guides.php

Use Academic Sources:

 Go to the library homepage, then search in databases.

 As a La Trobe student, you have access to Proquest, Emerald and

many more databases.

 Alternatively, type in a journal and search for it, such as:

 Annals of Tourism Research

 Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing

 Journal of Travel Research

 Tourism Management

 Tourism Analysis

 Tourism, Culture and Communication

 Pacific Tourism Review

Google Scholar:

Online Sources:

Evaluating the Utility of the Data

• There is a lot of data online – this is not always good or useful.

• Reputable sources must only be used:

– Journals

– Established organisations

• Many websites are inappropriate for research as a secondary source in professional

academia and in industry:

– Wikipedia or any other ‘wiki’ type subset

– Investotopia

– ‘How-to’ websites

– Amateur websites

General Hints and Tips for Essays

• Avoid using non-academic language

– Do not use slang or words like “gotten”, “struggle”, “the thing is….”

– Please make sure you use the Australian way of spelling not American

– To change your settings go to:

Tools – Language – Set Language – English (Australia)

• Refrain from using contractions rather than the full phrase

– Contractions are informal E.g. Don’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t, won’t, it’s

– Write out the full word – do not, would not, it is

• Do not include headings in essays.

• Your Reference List is to start on a separate page.

• In text referencing: if a new idea is introduced, provide a reference.

• It is better to over reference than under reference.

• Make sure your essay looks professional - Check spelling mistakes

• Write out numbers smaller than ten.

E.g. 4 – four

General Hints and Tips for Essays

• Do not rely on direct quotes.

• Limit the amount of direct quotes you include in your essays.

• These are not your own words and therefore are not assessable.

• Paraphrase and use your own words.

• Et al. – means “and others”

• Only use this in text if you have already cited the full reference once.

• Cite the full reference in text one time, then every time after that you can use et al.

General Hints and Tips for Essays

• Make sure you read the unit guide BEFORE submitting an assignment to ensure you

understand the presentation requirements.

• Include the word count on your cover sheet.

• Paragraphs – Make sure you only have one idea per paragraph.

General Hints and Tips for Essays

• Long sentences – if your sentences are too long the meaning often gets lost among the

jumble of words.

• Make sure you include adequate references to ensure you have enough theories to draw

upon.

• It is important to analyse the situation rather than simply describe what happened.

– When you describe the situation and do not include enough theory, your essay turns into a story rather than an analysis

General Hints and Tips for Essays

Academic Skills Advisor

What can they help you with?

• Reading more efficiently

• Understanding assignment tasks

• Referencing

• Writing essays, case studies, reports

• Studying more effectively

Contact: Jason Cormick-Dockery

[email protected]

ne.edu.au to make an appointment if

you require any assistance.

https://jasoncormick.youcanbook.me

/

OR

Visit the drop in space for a quick

question.

Drop by room 309

Monday, Wednesday & Friday:

9 am - 12 pm

Tuesday: 2 pm - 4 pm