NORDIK Institute and Algoma University are undertaking the Northern Ontario Tourism Development and Recovery Strategy in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic study to understand how tourism-based economies have grown under both normal circumstances and unanticipated crises (e.g., COVID-19 Pandemic) and identify strength and barriers to tourism industry.
There are four components to the project: i) survey and/or focus group of visitors to collect demand-side data; ii) survey of tourism business operators to collect supply-side data; iii) analysis of survey results and contextualization within wider literature and social contexts; and iv) a final report for Northern Ontario tourism industry.
Please complete this survey Northern Ontario Tourism Survey if you own, operate, or manage a tourism related business and service.
We expect it will take between 15 and 20 minutes to complete the survey.
The survey deadline is April 30, 2021.
On the next page you will find the survey questions. Before that, we would like to share information about your rights as a participant and answer some frequently asked questions.
Are my answers anonymous?
The survey is completely anonymous meaning, we don’t know nor will we be able to identify who you are. The answers we receive are grouped together with all other answers, so we cannot trace the answers back to the person who made them.
Should you wish to provide us your contact information, (it is optional), we would only contact you about this project to share results and future invitations to research activities. Your contact information is not connected with your survey response.
What if I don’t want to finish the survey?
Participation is strictly voluntary and you may exit the survey or close the browser window at any time and your answers will not be saved. You can skip any questions you prefer not to answer.
What are the risks or discomforts of participating in the survey?
The risk to participating in this survey is low (including physical, social, psychological, and emotional risks) since all your answers are anonymous and all your answers will be combined with all other answers in the survey. Almost no one will be able to connect any of the answers to the people who made them.
However, as the SurveyMonkey service that we are using to collect answers uses a server located in the United States, it is subject to the USA Freedom of Information Act that permits US law enforcement to seek a court order that allows access to a person’s personal information without their knowledge.
Apart from this exception, all survey responses are anonymous.
What are the benefits to me or others?
The project goal is to identify the means for promoting sustainable growth and fill a knowledge gap in the Northern Ontario tourism industry. The Covid-19 pandemic heavily impacted the tourism industry and may yield long-term changes in consumer demand and preferences. By building on input from your experience in tourism, the research will be able to identify the potential areas and development strategies of Northern Ontario tourism industry.
How is the information being stored?
All digital files relating to this project will be kept on the password protected computers of Dr. Nusrate Aziz and Prof. Sean Meades, at either their home offices or offices at the Algoma University campus, which will remain locked at all times when not present.
