Japanese school excursions in Oulu area – Research of the possibilities for a home stay accommodation
Tahvonen, Henna (2019)
Tahvonen, Henna
Oulun ammattikorkeakoulu
2019
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201902072043
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201902072043
Tiivistelmä
The commissioner of the thesis is an accommodation and service booking company Suomen Keskusvaraamo Oy. A company is piloting a new service concept which aims to arrange a school excursion programs for foreign student groups in Oulu area. The objectives of the thesis are to find out possibilities to recruit host families in Oulu area and which method would be the most suitable way to recruit the host families.
Background knowledge considers educational tourism and how it appears in Finland. Sustainable tourism and different accommodation choices are also introduced. Main principals for the host family recruitment are reviewed for the better understanding of the topic. Last part of the theoretical background concentrates on different customer profiles, Japanese customers and two Japanese student trip concept Shugakuryoko and Kenshuryoko. Research of the thesis is executed by applying literary sources, e-books, articles, websites, and reports. The empirical part is conducted by using qualitative and quantitative research methods in a semi-structured webropol survey.
This research gives concrete information to the commissioner on markets and which channels to use when recruiting host families. Results are illustrating possibilities in Oulu area and what kind of families are the potential target group for their new service model. Based on the research, the most useful marketing channels for recruiting are introduced.
Overall, the commissioner should take the potential markets into account by focusing on marketing and increasing awareness via different marketing channels. In addition, it will be valuable to find co-operating schools to execute school excursion service concept in the best possible way.
Background knowledge considers educational tourism and how it appears in Finland. Sustainable tourism and different accommodation choices are also introduced. Main principals for the host family recruitment are reviewed for the better understanding of the topic. Last part of the theoretical background concentrates on different customer profiles, Japanese customers and two Japanese student trip concept Shugakuryoko and Kenshuryoko. Research of the thesis is executed by applying literary sources, e-books, articles, websites, and reports. The empirical part is conducted by using qualitative and quantitative research methods in a semi-structured webropol survey.
This research gives concrete information to the commissioner on markets and which channels to use when recruiting host families. Results are illustrating possibilities in Oulu area and what kind of families are the potential target group for their new service model. Based on the research, the most useful marketing channels for recruiting are introduced.
Overall, the commissioner should take the potential markets into account by focusing on marketing and increasing awareness via different marketing channels. In addition, it will be valuable to find co-operating schools to execute school excursion service concept in the best possible way.