Statistical analysis of tourist spending by nationality at a resort

Business Statistics

Task 1(a) - Group Spending

British

German

French

Italian

Mean

Sample Standard Deviation

Standard Error

Estimate of Mean

Upper Limit

Lower Limit

The French are the largest spenders overall when only considering the average spend per group, even though on average the Italians came to the resort in larger numbers. The British and Germans had the lowest spend per group, but they also visited the resort in lowest group numbers. There was more variation in the amount the French spent, although the lower limit of the mean was still higher than the upper limit of the mean for Britain and German, which indicates that they spent significantly more.

Task 1(b) - Individual Spending

British

German

French

Italian

Mean

Sample Standard Deviation

Standard Error

Estimate of Mean

Upper Limit

Lower Limit

Comments

As expected, French also have the highest spending per person. It is actually the Germans who have the lowest spending per person. The variation here is slightly more consistent, although it would still appear that the French spend significantly more than the Germans and Italians do for each person. They may not spend significantly more than the British though.

Task 1- - Difference in Means of Group Spending

Standard Error

British

German

French

Italian

Z-score

British

German

French

Italian

Comments

From the standard errors alone it would appear that the differences between the means were quite consistent. However this takes into account only the variation and not the mean value. Using the z-score is more accurate as this takes account of variation and mean. Comparing the z-scores in the table shows that there is a significant difference between France and each of the other countries' group spending.

Task 1(d) - Difference in Means of Individual Spending

Standard Error

British

German

French

Italian

Z-score

British

German

French

Italian

Comments

These show that the number in the group and the spending are correlated for all nationalities. The t-statistic of the slope and intercept may be used to find the significance, although this may be read directly from the Excel spreadsheet. This shows that the slope and intercept is significant in each case. Therefore the regression equations produced should be appropriate for prediction of expected spending based on information about group sizes.

Task 1(g) - Estimate for the spending of a family of four

British

German

French

Italian

Estimate

Comments

This shows that the French would spend the most for a family of four, and there would not be a great deal of difference in the amount spent by the other three countries for a family of that size.

Task 1(h) - Difference of opinions within nationalities

British

German

French

Italian

Chi-square value

5.04E-06

2.83E-15

Comments

This shows that there were differences of opinion about the resort for the British, German and Italian visitors, but not the French.

Task 1(i) - Difference of opinions between nationalities

Overall

Accommodation

Location

Food

Chi-square value

Comments

This shows that overall there were differences of opinion for the visitors in each area.

Task 2

SUMMARY of RESULTS

The results of the data analysis show that at the present time the French spend substantially more than the other three groups. The British also spend a substantial amount but at the present time come in smaller numbers than the French. The French opinion of the resort is however equally spread, which indicates that French visitors do not agree on whether the resort is generally good or bad. This may explain the wide variation in spending which is seen in the French tourists.

The fact that the French have the potential to spend more would suggest that it may be important to further establish what exactly leads to this difference in opinion. This could be done by conducting more in-depth research into the experience of the visitor, for example distributing feedback surveys to all guests. This may be worthwhile as increasing customer opinion may encourage more French guests to return, thereby attracting customers who spend more money. It is also worth noting that the French seem more likely to come as families, and it is family groups who overall seem to spend the most money at the resort. Therefore it may be worthwhile to try to steer away from the focus on young couples, and try to establish the resort as a more family-focused one. This may be part of the reason for the split opinion of the French guests in itself.

When looking at each of the areas of customer opinion individually, customers seem to find the resort only adequate. It would appear that customers generally find the accommodation good or excellent, food adequate, location adequate. This would suggest that the most effort should be channeled into improving the location, so forming better links with the other areas of the island. It would also be beneficial to improve the food options which are available. It may also be useful to conduct more research into establishing what type of food options would be most welcomed by the visitors.

RECOMMENDATIONS

As a result of the data analysis, the following recommendations are made:

Conduct further research into customer experience at the resort

Improve infrastructure to link areas of the island

Improve range of food facilities

Establish a family-focused resort to which to attract those type of customers that will spend more money, e.g. The French families