Pilot Study

In order to gain further insight into the features of the research a pilot test will be conducted with international tourists, travel industry professionals and tourism experts in order to check and fine-tune the items listed in the questionnaire. Table 3.2 shows the list of variables before the pilot study

According Ticehurst and Veal (2000) conducting a pilot study is crucial in order to achieve several aims, for instance, testing questionnaire wording, testing question sequencing, testing questionnaires layout, gaining familiarity with respondents, testing fieldwork arrangements (if required), training and testing fieldworkers (if required), estimating response rate, and estimating interview or questionnaire completion time.

A pilot test is imperative to any research to check the reliability of the data to be collected as well as the validity of the questions. This is because the design of a questionnaire is crucial in obtaining the required information (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2012). In order to ensure that the final formulation is as clear as possible, it is essential to undertake various type of pilot test, since as Bell (2005)

126 stressed, although the time is short it is recommended to provide the questionnaire a trial run as much as possible.

Table 3.2: Categorisation of variables before the pilot study

Attractions

Natural (Sightseeing, Climate, Beaches etc)

Cultural ( Historical sites, religious sites, Museums etc)

Special type of attractions (Amusement/Fun/Theme parks, Zoo, Wildlife centre, Manmade islands, events and festivals)

Nightlife (e.g. bar, café and disco parlor)

Entertainment (fishing, boating computer games, Theatres, galleries and cinemas)

Adventure activities (rafting, skydiving, horse riding and camel riding)

Accessibility

Easy visa procedure

Accessibility to the destination through different modes of travel Distance or flying(reaching) time to the destination

Airport and Air transportation Local transportation

127 Accommodation

Offers enough accommodation for tourists Wide selection of accommodation

Accommodation offers good physical environment Accommodation offers good services

Conference & convention facilities

Attitudes of staff towards visitors (Friendliness and hospitality)

Amenities

Rest and relax facilities

Facilities for children, elderly and physically challenged people A wide selection of Food (local food, exotic food)

Various shopping facilities (e.g. Main Street, market and shopping mall) Communication System (Information centers, telecom etc

Safety and Security

Availability of intermediaries (Travel agents, Tour operators, Guides etc.)

Destination marketing

Previous experience (Already visited & it’s the repeat visit) Internet.

Friends and relatives.

Media (Radio/TV, Newspapers) Travel agency & Tour operators Fairs and/or exhibitions

128 Pre & Post visit Destination Image

Most people have a positive opinion about this tourist destination. This tourist destination is a friendly and popular place.

This tourist destination has a unique image.

Dubai is a cosmopolitan city (e.g. fairly large populations, many multinational corporations, center for financial and education institution)

Dubai is a vibrant youthful city has enormous shopping malls and great nightlife

Dubai is a modern city comprises active populations, skyscrapers and great crowds

Dubai is a sophisticated city which combines cultural heritages and modernity together

Dubai is a traditional city consists of traditional urbanism and architectures

Many researches have used an expert opinion/judgement survey as a tool for refining Variables for scale development in both general services management (e.g. Sweeney and Soutar, 2001) and tourism and hospitality (e.g. Choi and Chu, 1999; Petrick, 2002; Caro and Garcia, 2008). The use of expert judgement is to ensure content and face validity (Hardesty and Bearden, 2004).

To ensure the content validity, an expert opinion was taken from the top level managers of tourism & related infrastructure field, in Dubai, to modify the attributes listed in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was revised accordingly, incorporating the suggestions obtained through expert opinion.

129 Hardesty and Bearden (2004) has been identified a number of item deletion/retention rules when researchers employ expert judgement; these include the deletion of items which were judged by any expert as being poor indicators of the construct domain or a cut-off point may be established as number (e.g. 3 out of 4) or a percentage (e.g. 70%) of experts based on either criterion.

A set of rules were established by Lee and Crompton (1992), adopting a criteria for the basis of rejection or retention of attributes or dimensions. An item was to be deleted if 50% of the experts rejected it. Similarly, a dimension was to be discarded if two or more of the four experts queried its inclusion.

A few revisions made to the questionnaire of this study as some attributes were not relevant or were repetition of an item or items already on the list. Such attributes were deleted from the list. The experts were given four dimensions of tourism infrastructure which include 25 attributes, 6 variables of destination marketing and also 8 statements of destination image. The expert opinion resulted in accepting all the four categories of tourism infrastructure but some attributes were rejected by the experts as it was repetition or irrelevant. From the attractions category “Entertainment and adventure activities” were rejected by 80% experts as it was already included in the item “Special type of attractions”. Also the expert opinion has rejected two variables from accessibility and one each from accommodation, amenities and destination image. The expert opinion resulted in accepting all the six variables from “Destination Marketing” category. Table 3.3 shows the list of variables after the pilot study.

130 Table 3.3: Categorisation of variables after the pilot study

Attractions

Natural (Sightseeing, Climate, Beaches etc)

Cultural ( Historical sites, religious sites, Museums etc)

Special type of attractions (Amusement/Fun/Theme parks, Zoo, Wildlife centre, Manmade islands, events and festivals)

Nightlife (e.g. bar, café and disco parlor)

Accessibility

Easy visa procedure

Distance or flying(reaching) time to the destination Airport and Air transportation

Parking facilities, Signposts & indicators

Accommodation

Wide selection of accommodation

Accommodation offers good physical environment Accommodation offers good services

Conference & convention facilities

Attitudes of staff towards visitors (Friendliness and hospitality)

131 Facilities for children, elderly and physically challenged people

A wide selection of Food (local food, exotic food)

Various shopping facilities (e.g. Main Street, market and shopping mall) Communication System (Information centers, telecom etc)

Safety and Security

Availability of intermediaries (Travel agents, Tour operators, Guides etc.)

Destination marketing

Previous experience (Already visited & it’s the repeat visit) Internet.

Friends and relatives.

Media (Radio/TV, Newspapers) Travel agency & Tour operators Fairs and/or exhibitions

Pre & Post visit Destination Image

Most people have a positive opinion about this tourist destination. This tourist destination is a friendly and popular place.

This tourist destination has a unique image.

Dubai is a cosmopolitan city (e.g. fairly large populations, many multinational corporations, center for financial and education institution)

Dubai is a vibrant youthful city has enormous shopping malls and great nightlife

132 crowds

Dubai is a sophisticated city which combines cultural heritages and modernity together