Developing and Designing Research Studies: Examining Resident Perceptions of Tourism in British Columbia

As part of Destination BC's 2023-2025 Corporate Strategy, building a globally competitive tourism ecosystem is an essential lever to achieving the vision of improving the lives of all people living in BC and visitors through tourism. A better understanding of the perceptions that British Columbians have about the tourism industry is key to achieving this vision.

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To help bring this vision to life, Destination BC actively encourages BC communities and regions to measure how residents perceive the tourism industry within their communities. This document outlines a research framework that provides a consistent, credible, and robust measure of resident perceptions of the tourism industry and visitors. This summary also provides an overview of the details to consider when initiating a project, how to determine the most suitable resident sentiment sampling methodology, which survey administrative tools to use, how to develop a survey, and recommended data analysis and reporting.

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Destination BC uses the World Tourism Organization’s (WTO) definition of tourism:

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According to the WTO, tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes. The term usual environment is intended to exclude trips within the area of usual residence, frequent and regular trips between the domicile and the workplace, and other community trips of routine character.