A new model for conducting research on the partial industrialised syndrome in reference to tourism (the behaviour of tourists)

Sport, education, tourism and certain other categories of behaviour are partly industrialised: they are supported and fostered partly by industries distinctive to the behaviour (e.g. tourism industries) and are partly reliant on other industries and other factors that have passive and incidental, not strategic, links to it. The partial industrialisation syndrome has been discussed in a number of studies containing theoretical and empirical research (Leiper, 1990, 1995; 2003; Firth, 2002). Building on those foundations, a new model provides a clearer explanation, and an approach for further research. It shows two axes along which organisations supplying tourists directly with services or goods can be positioned. A vertical axis represents the degree to which an organisation is in the business of tourism, normally via competitive strategies targeting distinctive attributes of tourists. A horizontal axis represents the degree to which an organisation participates co-operatively in one or more tourism industries, to gain the synergies present in all genuine industries. The model's quadrants contain four classifications of organisations arranged according to their strategic relationships (or lack thereof) to tourism and to one another. The model provides ideas for research to further explore this issue, with implications for better understanding tourism and useful for various stakeholders.