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Hospitality and Tourism

Tips, Tricks and Time-Saving Tools

Phrase Searching: Your Compass for Navigating Hospitality & Tourism Insights

When you use phrase searching, you direct the database or search engine to locate a specific group of words in that precise order. This is particularly useful when:

  • You're seeking a specific hotel brand or destination: Searching for "Four Seasons Hotels" will find information about that specific chain, not just articles that mention the words "four," "seasons," and "hotels" separately.
  • You want a specific industry term or concept: Searching for "sustainable tourism development" will find articles that use that exact phrase, not just those that mention "sustainable" and "tourism" independently.
  • The order of the words is significant: Searching for "customer experience management" will find information about managing guest experiences, not just any mention of customers and experiences.

How to Use Phrase Searching in Hospitality & Tourism Research:

Simply enclose the phrase you're looking for in quotation marks. Most hospitality and tourism databases and search engines recognise quotation marks as a signal for phrase searching.

  • Example: "luxury hotel marketing"
  • Example: "cultural heritage tourism"

Why Phrase Searching is Crucial for Hospitality & Tourism Students and Professionals:

  • Precision: It helps you find the exact industry information you need, not just vaguely related content.
  • Relevance: It ensures that the results you get are focused on your specific topic, not just general mentions of the words you're searching for.
  • Efficiency: It saves you valuable time by filtering out irrelevant results, allowing you to focus on the most pertinent information for your research, assignments, or decision-making.

Remember:

  • Don't use quotation marks around excessively long phrases: If your phrase is too long, you might not find any matches.
  • Combine phrase searching with other search techniques: You can use phrase searching in conjunction with other tools like Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and filters (date, region) to refine your search even further.

By mastering phrase searching, you'll be able to navigate the vast landscape of hospitality and tourism information with greater precision and efficiency, uncovering the specific insights you need to excel in your studies and career.

Proximity Searching: Uncovering Connections in Hospitality & Tourism Research

Proximity searching allows you to find words or phrases that appear near each other in a document, even if they're not directly next to each other. This is useful when:

  • The order of the words is flexible: You might remember two hospitality concepts being discussed in an article, but not the exact phrase. For example, searching for "hotel" NEAR/5 "sustainability" would find documents where those terms appear within five words of each other, in any order.
  • You want to find linked ideas: You might want to find documents where two concepts are discussed in close proximity, indicating a potential relationship or impact on each other. For example, searching for "event" NEAR/10 "economic impact" could find articles exploring the effects of events on local economies.
  • You're unsure of the exact terminology: Maybe you recall a general idea from a report but not the precise wording. Proximity searching can help you locate it even if you don't remember the exact phrase.

How to Use Proximity Searching in Hospitality & Tourism Research:

Different databases and search engines use varying symbols and syntax for proximity searching. Common operators include:

  • NEAR/ or N/: Finds words within a certain number of words of each other. For example, "tourism" NEAR/5 "climate change" would find "tourism and climate change" but also "climate change impacts on tourism."
  • W/ or WITHIN: Finds words within a certain number of words of each other, in the order you specify. For example, "tourism" W/3 "sustainability" would find "tourism sustainability" but not "sustainability in tourism."

Why Proximity Searching is Valuable for Hospitality & Tourism Students and Professionals:

  • Flexibility: It offers more freedom than phrase searching, which requires exact word order, accommodating variations in how concepts are expressed.
  • Relevance: It can help you find documents where ideas are closely related, even if they're not expressed in the exact same way, leading to a broader understanding of the topic.
  • Discovery: It can help you uncover valuable information that might have otherwise remained hidden with a more rigid search, leading to deeper insights and a broader understanding of complex industry issues.

By mastering proximity searching, you'll be able to delve deeper into the connections between concepts in the hospitality and tourism field, uncovering valuable insights and expanding your knowledge of this dynamic industry.

Remember:

  • Check the database's help guide: Different databases might have different rules for proximity searching, so be sure to check the specific syntax and operators they use.
  • Library Search does not allow proximity searching: Be sure to use the appropriate database that supports this feature.

 

Wildcards: Your Secret Weapon for Uncovering Hospitality & Tourism Insights

Wildcards are special characters that substitute for unknown or multiple letters, enabling you to expand your search and uncover variations of words, leading to valuable insights in your hospitality and tourism research.

The Asterisk (*):

  • Replaces zero or more characters.
  • Ideal for finding different word endings, plurals, or variations of a word stem.
  • Example: Searching for "hotel*" could find:
    • hotel
    • hotels
    • hotelier
    • hoteling

The Question Mark (?):

  • Replaces a single character.
  • Useful for alternative spellings or when you're unsure of the exact spelling.
  • Example: Searching for "trav?ler" could find:
    • traveller (British spelling)
    • traveler (American spelling)

How Wildcards Amplify Your Hospitality & Tourism Research:

  • Capture All the Variations: Instead of typing every possible ending or variation of a word, use a wildcard to find them all in one go. This saves you time and ensures you don't miss any relevant industry data or reports.
  • Account for Industry Jargon and Acronyms: Different sectors of the hospitality and tourism industry might use varying terminology or abbreviations. Wildcards help you find all the relevant terms. For instance, searching for "MICE" will find instances of the acronym as well as "meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions."
  • Find What You Don't Know: If you're unsure of the exact spelling of a term or acronym, wildcards can help you fill in the gaps and discover the correct information.

Important Note:

Each database might have its own rules for wildcards: Some databases might use different symbols, or have restrictions on how many wildcards you can use in a search. Always check the database's help section for specific instructions.

Boolean Operators: Your Precision Tools for Hospitality & Tourism Intelligence

Boolean operators are simple words (AND, OR, NOT) that help you combine or exclude search terms, making your searches more precise and focused on the most relevant hospitality and tourism information.

  • AND: Narrows your search. Like saying "I want articles about sustainable tourism AND community development AND the Caribbean." All conditions must be true.
  • OR: Broadens your search. Like saying "I want articles about hotel revenue management OR customer satisfaction OR employee engagement." At least one condition must be true.
  • NOT: Excludes terms. Like saying "I want articles about eco-lodges, but NOT those in Costa Rica." This eliminates certain articles from your search results.

Why Use Boolean Operators in Hospitality & Tourism Research?

  • Find exactly what you need: By combining terms in specific ways, you can zero in on the most relevant information, like niche market reports, competitor analyses, or emerging trends in sustainable tourism.
  • Save time: Avoid wasting time sifting through irrelevant results by using Boolean operators to filter out unwanted information.
  • Get more accurate results: Be specific with your search terms and combinations to get the most precise answers to your research questions.

Examples in Hospitality & Tourism Research:

  • AND: "event management" AND "sustainability" AND "festivals" (Find articles about sustainable event management practices in festivals)
  • OR: "hotel marketing" OR "social media" OR "influencer marketing" (Find articles about any of these hotel marketing strategies)
  • NOT: "luxury hotels" NOT "Dubai" (Find articles about luxury hotels that are not located in Dubai)

By mastering Boolean operators, you can fine-tune your search strategies and uncover the most relevant and valuable information for your hospitality and tourism research or decision-making.

Parentheses (Brackets): Your Blueprint for Precise Hospitality & Tourism Searches

Parentheses (or brackets) act like guideposts, directing the search engine on how to group your search terms and in what order to process them, ensuring you get the most relevant results for your hospitality and tourism research.

Here's why parentheses/brackets are essential for effective research in this field:

Controlling the Search Engine's Logic:

Search engines have a default order for processing search terms (typically AND first, then OR). Parentheses allow you to override that order and prioritise certain terms or combinations, just like a hotel manager prioritises tasks in a daily operations plan.

Example: Searching for "sustainable tourism" AND ("eco-lodges" OR "green hotels") will find documents about sustainable tourism practices specifically related to eco-lodges or green hotels. Without the parentheses, the search engine might find documents about sustainable tourism in general, and then either eco-lodges or green hotels separately.

Grouping Similar Concepts:

By using parentheses with the OR operator, you can group together synonyms or related terms to broaden your search and ensure you capture all relevant information.

Example: Searching for (gastronomy OR "culinary tourism" OR "food tourism") AND ("cultural heritage" OR "local traditions") will find documents related to culinary tourism and its connection to cultural heritage or local traditions.

Building Complex Queries:

Parentheses help clarify the meaning of complex searches that combine multiple operators and terms, like crafting a multi-faceted tourism development plan.

Example: Searching for ("hotel marketing" OR "hospitality marketing") AND ("social media" OR "influencer marketing") AND (ROI OR "return on investment") will find documents about the return on investment of social media or influencer marketing in hotel or hospitality marketing.

In Summary:

Parentheses act like signposts in a sentence, guiding the search engine to understand your intended meaning and deliver the most relevant results for your hospitality and tourism research. By using them effectively, you can:

  • Control the logic of your search, ensuring the search engine processes your terms in the order you intend.
  • Group related terms to broaden your search and capture all relevant information.
  • Construct complex queries that accurately reflect your research question or information needs.

Search String:

("eco-tourism" OR "sustainable tourism") AND ("customer experience" OR "visitor experience" OR "tourist satisfaction") NEAR/5 (personali?ation OR customi?ation) NOT ("artificial intelligence" OR "AI")

Explanation:

Phrase Searching:

  • "eco-tourism": Searches for this exact term.
  • "sustainable tourism": Searches for this exact phrase.
  • "customer experience": Searches for this exact phrase, commonly used in tourism.
  • "visitor experience": Searches for this exact phrase, often used interchangeably with "customer experience" in the tourism context.
  • "tourist satisfaction": Searches for this exact phrase, focusing on the specific experience of tourists.

Boolean Operators:

  • OR: Broadens the search to include either "eco-tourism" or "sustainable tourism," any of "customer experience," "visitor experience," or "tourist satisfaction," and any of "personalisation," "personalization," "customisation," or "customization."
  • AND: Narrows the search to include only results that contain both an eco-tourism/sustainable tourism term AND a customer/visitor experience/tourist satisfaction term.
  • NOT: Excludes results that contain the phrases "artificial intelligence" or "AI" to focus on strategies that don't rely on these technologies.

Wildcard:

  • ?: The question mark wildcard is used within "personali?ation" / "personalization" and "customi?ation" / "customization" to account for both British and American English spellings.

Proximity Searching:

  • NEAR/5: Ensures that the terms on either side of this operator appear within five words of each other in the text. This links the eco-tourism/sustainable tourism terms to the experience terms and the personalization/customization/tailoring terms, ensuring the results discuss their relationship.

What this search will find:

This search will uncover articles, research papers, or other documents that discuss the impact of personalisation or customisation strategies on the customer or visitor experience in eco-tourism or sustainable tourism settings. It specifically excludes documents that primarily focus on artificial intelligence to highlight strategies that can be implemented without relying on AI. By incorporating wildcards, it ensures that variations in spelling between British and American English are accounted for.

Key Points:

  • This search is tailored to hospitality and tourism students and professionals interested in eco-tourism and sustainable practices.
  • It prioritises relevance by ensuring that the key concepts are closely linked within the text.
  • It avoids unwanted results by excluding the terms "artificial intelligence" and "AI," focusing on alternative strategies.
  • It accounts for variations in spelling between British and American English.

Additional Notes:

  • You can adjust the proximity distance (NEAR/5) based on your specific needs and the database you're using.
  • This search can be further refined by adding more specific terms or using other Boolean operators (e.g., adding "nature tourism" or "wildlife tourism").
  • Always consult the specific database's help guide to confirm the correct syntax for wildcards and proximity operators.