China tourism and Australia-China tourism relations
China has emerged in the world not only as an economic power, but also as a tourism power. It is forecasted for the near future that China will be the top tourism destination attractiing the largest number of international tourists and become one of the significant tourist generating countries. Due to the complexities of China's economic, social, and political contexts, studying various emerging issues in relation to China tourism is one of the research foci in the international tourism community. To Australia, China has risen to be most valuable for inbound markets. Many emerging research issues need to be addressed to assist the Australia tourism and related service industries to better understand the Chinese tourist market and cope with challenges brought about by this new market. Multiple projects and research papers are published in China tourism and Australia-China tourism relations by academic researchers.
Entrepreneurship in the tourism, hospitality and events sectors
Small and medium enterprises play a critical role in the tourism, hospitality and events sectors. These enterprises are driving forces for economic development and for the sustainability of the tourism industry. Ongoing research is being conducted that examines entrepreneurial activities within these enterprises and the factors influencing business performance.
Health and wellness, lifestyle
Healthy lifestyles have been identified as a long term priority theme for University research. Health benefits considered in a more wholistic paradigm include a range of studies assessing health benefits for customers at public sports and leisure centres.
Internationalisation of hospitality, China hospitality industry, destination marketing
Internationalisation of firms from developing countries will be an important theme in future hospitality research. Such research will study the nature of relevant stakeholder relationships that will determine the activities, pace and progress along such firms' internationalisation paths. China's hotel industry is a substantial and growing presence in Chinese society, has been at the forefront of the country's reform processes, and in particular will play a significant role as a protagonist in the internationalisation story. Future research will examine firms' prospects of internationalisation, internationalisation activities already undertaken, factors that support or inhibit internationalisation, and future intentions and plans for internationalisation.
Service quality and operational management in the events, sports, and leisure industries
Service quality, satisfaction and customer behaviour analysis in sport, leisure and tourism is considered as a major focus of the centre. The CERM Performance Indicators Project has developed benchmarks for operational performance and customer service quality for public sport, aquatic & leisure centres, tennis facilities, and university sport services.
Understanding tourism, hospitality and leisure experiences
Tourism is one of the growth industry sectors in Australia, contributing over five per cent to the total GDP of Australia. Consequently, understanding the tourist experience is of key economic, marketing and social significance and hence is an integral theme of the centre.
Research endeavours to understand tourism, hospitality and leisure experiences have been international in scope and broad ranging in topical coverage. Much of the work has been guided by theories related to relationships between tourism and place identity and levels of involvement and tourism. Projects related to tourism experiences at events features prominently as another area of research activity. The interdisciplinary appeal of this theme is reflected in publications that have appeared in a range of leisure, sports and tourism journals.