Best Ph.D. Workshop Paper Award presented to MODUL University Researcher

This year’s “Best Ph.D. Workshop Paper Award” has been presented to Clemens Költringer from MODUL University Vienna for his work on Information Needs of City Travellers – Investigating the Implications of Consumers’ Information Search and Actual Travel Behaviour.

The PhD Workshop at the 16th International Conference on Information Technology and Travel & Tourism (IFITT | ENTER conference) is a platform for doctoral students undertaking research in the area of Information and Communication Technology in Travel and Tourism.

On January 27, eight doctoral students had the opportunity to present their research proposals to renowned professors, academics and industry experts at the INHolland University (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Besides MODUL University Vienna the other Universities presented were Hong Kong Polytechnic, Arizona State, Manchester Metropolitan, and Bournemouth University as well as the University of Innsbruck. About 25 participants discussed the presented proposals from different angles and gave valuable feedback. The institution of the Ph.D. Workshop as a part of the annual ENTER conference is highly appreciated by the participating Ph.D. candidates and shows the active engagement and contribution of the research community to support and guide their peers in their research process.

The research of Clemens Költringer focuses on the information needs of city travellers and their implications on actual travel behaviour. Different online information sources are used to demonstrate the temporal relationship of information search and travel behaviour over time. Based on log file analyses, the relationship between the information retrieval process and tourism demand has been examined. A longitudinal approach applying time series analyses was used to compare and analyse decomposed seasonal patterns.

Findings indicate the importance of online information search during the travel planning process and its impact on actual travel behaviour. City (tourism) managers can use the outcomes to revise their marketing and communication strategy in order to i) optimize scheduling of online marketing activities, ii) identify seasonal patterns in the information search process for different markets and segments, and iii) learn about state of the art online information sources and the power of log file analysis as a basis for research and development processes.

This year’s workshop was chaired by Professor Mathias Fuchs (University of Mid-Sweden), Dr Marianna Sigala (University of the Aegean) and Dr John van der Pijl (Erasmus University). For further information about ifitt or the ENTER conference, please click here.

Contact

Clemens Költringer, MODUL University Vienna, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Am Kahlenberg 1, 1190 Vienna, Austria
clemens.koeltringer@modul.ac.at | www.modul.ac.at/thm