Researching the Effects of Holidaying in Tasmania on Visitors’ Emotional Wellbeing

^{Tourism Tasmania & Michael Walters Photography}

The Tourism Wellbeing study is being conducted by researchers from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research (Menzies), School of Medicine and School of Social Sciences.

The purpose of the study is to understand the effects of tourism on emotional wellbeing. The Tourism Tracer smart-phone application will be used to collect information about where tourists travel to and survey how they feel prior to their trip, on each day of their trip and after returning home. The surveys will collect information about tourists’ experiences and their sense of wellbeing.

Who can participate?

You are eligible to participate in this study if you are:

• Aged 18 or older
• Currently reside in Australia
• Travelling in Tasmania for a minimum of 3 nights
• Travelling in Tasmania primarily for leisure or to visit friends and family
• Travelling independently for most of your trip (i.e. not as part of a tour group)

What will I be asked to do?

In order to contribute to this cutting-edge research, participants are respectfully asked to do the following:

• Download the free Tourism Wellbeing Study App from the App or Google Play Store and activate the tracking function in the App at the start of your trip.
• Read through the information for participants and click ‘agree’ to give your consent to participate.
• Fill in the departure survey that will appear on the Tourism Wellbeing Study App two weeks prior to your departure. If you download the app later than two weeks prior to your departure, the departure survey will appear in the app after you download it to your mobile phone. The survey will take no more than 25 minutes to complete.
• Answer the 6 questions that will appear as ‘pop-ups’ on your phone each evening when you are in Tasmania. These daily surveys will take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
• Fill in the return survey on the App when prompted to do so, the day after you return home.
• If you are able, please also fill in a second return survey on the App when prompted to do so, six weeks after you leave Tasmania
• You will be asked if we can contact you to invite you to take part in an optional telephone interview after your holiday that will ask you questions about the effects of your trip to Tasmania on your wellbeing.

You are able to opt out at any time by switching off the tracking function and deleting the app from your phone.

Will I benefit from being a part of this study?

All participants will be contributing to global evidence of the wellbeing effects of tourist travel

The first 100 participants will each be given a $50 voucher. The remainder of participants will go into a random draw to win 10 x $100 gift vouchers.

Anyone interested in being part of this study can download the app here . For more information email tourism.wellbeing@utas.edu.au or call 0362 264 603.

This study has been approved by the Tasmania Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee.  If you have concerns or complaints about the conduct of this study, you can contact the Executive Officer of the HREC (Tasmania) Network on (03) 6226 2975 or email ss.ethics@utas.edu.au The Executive Officer is the person nominate to receive complaints from research participants. You will need to quote H0018555.