Study of tourism on Tanna - participants wanted

Hello everyone,

My name is William Skinner and I am a PhD candidate in Anthropology with the University of Adelaide. I am conducting research into tourism on the island of Tanna – in particular, the way people (tourists and locals) experience the specific places and spaces associated with tourism and travel. I will be spending about 7 months living on Tanna, probably from November 2011 onwards (with a few weeks in Vila beforehand).

While I’m on Tanna I will be trying to meet and talk to as many travellers as I can, but for my research it’s equally important to get people’s experiences before and after their trips as well. One of the main reasons I’m posting here is that I believe that planning trips and sharing information and stories through online communities like Thorn Tree is a very important part of the way we travel nowadays (I am also seeking participants on other online travel forums).

So, if you’ve been to Tanna - or another ‘outer island’ in Vanuatu - or are planning to visit, I would love to hear from you! If you’re interested in participating in my study, or finding out more about it, please let me know – send me a private message and we can correspond via email. Of course, your participation is entirely up to you, and will be kept confidential and anonymous.

The sort of data collection I will undertake will include:

• Participation and observation in forum discussions
• Semi-structured ‘interviewing’ via email – or by phone or face-to-face, whatever is appropriate; and
• Online questionnaires.

And, of course, if you’re planning to be on Tanna while I’m there, I’ll be hanging around somewhere with my notepad and pen ;-)

Cheers,
William

-I’m not selling anything so I’m pretty sure I’m not breaking forum guidelines with this post – but please let me know if I am!!-