2023 Awards
The Travel and Tourism Research Association Awards Program was developed to encourage and recognize excellence in the field of travel and tourism research and marketing. Entrants are judged on quality, originality, creativity, usefulness, results, and benefits to the travel and tourism industry.
Award Submissions Timeline:
- Entry Deadline: Sunday, March 26
Awards will be announced at the 2023 TTRA International Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on June 15. Winners will be notified by May 5, 2023.
2023 Award Co-Chairs: Dr. Carla Barbieri and Dr. Whitney Knollenberg, North Carolina State University
2023 AWARD OPPORTUNITIES:
J. DESMOND SLATTERY AWARD (Academic Award)
Awarded to a master or doctoral student to assist with the completion of their thesis or dissertation.
Requirements: All master or doctoral students enrolled in a degree-granting program are eligible to submit an abstract of their proposed research. The abstract must be in English, between 1,000-1,500 words, and must clearly describe the rationale, purpose, and methods of the study in a proposal format. Previous entries for this award are excluded and any entry for this award may not be submitted for any other TTRA award.
Criteria: The papers will be judged by a review committee that will examine the quality of the proposed research in terms of overall writing, relationship to travel and tourism, and its potential scholarly and practical contributions.
Award: The 2023 winning student will receive a $4,000 cash award, a plaque, and a complimentary registration to the International Conference.
BOEING TRAVEL RESEARCH GRANT (Academic Award)
Awarded to a junior researcher (faculty with less than 5 years out of terminal degree) for the creative development of a research project, technique, or methodology.
Requirements: The abstract/proposal should be 1,000-1,500 words and show how the abstract/proposal links to a current issue in the field.
Please also include an up-to-date CV with your abstract/proposal to verify years since graduation. The recipient must be an individual responsible for creating this research agenda.
Criteria: The awards committee will review entries and judge them based on their ability to improve measurement, decrease costs and improve information for better application and understanding by management. The project must show significant benefits to the travel & tourism industry.
Award: The 2023 winner will receive a $5,000 cash award, a plaque, and a complimentary registration to the International conference.
DK SHIFFLET AWARD FOR RESEARCH EXCELLENCE (Practitioner Award)
Requirements: This award recognizes a practitioner or their DMO for research that resulted or contributed to key decisions or actions for their organization and/or its constituents.
Criteria: The recipient must be a tourism practitioner or DMO in good standing in the travel and tourism industry and submit a 1-2 page summary outlining: the issue being addressed; the research designed or used to address the issue (may be original or licensed from a third party research or research by a third party to which you had input); the outcome of the research; the decisions that were made, money that was saved or revenue that was earned based on the research.
A reference from someone in the organization who will be able to independently verify the impact of this work must be included.
Award: The recipient will receive a $200 cash award, a plaque, and a complimentary registration to the TTRA International Conference.
DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER AWARD
Requirements: This individual should be one who is recognized by their peers as a valuable resource in the tourism research community and who has provided outstanding service to the field. The recipient should be recognized by not only general overviews of contributions during their career but also recognized by specific examples of what they have done to advance tourism research, the people in it, and how they have worked to ensure that the tourism research community continues to flourish. Any noteworthy contributions made to the tourism research community should also be acknowledged.
Nominations must include: nominee’s name and contact information (including full address, email address, telephone number); number of years in the Tourism Research business; a general overview of the nominee’s contributions to the tourism research community; at least two (2) examples of noteworthy contributions made by the individual; contact information of two (2) individuals in the tourism research industry who wish to see this person nominated. Contact information must include printed name, signature, name of business, email address, and business address.
Nominations must be provided by someone other than the person nominated. Nominations must be submitted to the TTRA President and Executive Director.
Criteria: Individuals should be nominated via email application of an individual’s credentials noting all significant examples of how their talents are seen as being a resource in the tourism research community. These examples may be based upon but not limited to: outstanding service to the tourism research community ground-breaking research methodology or report; professional activity or technique that positively impacted the industry; etc.
All contributions will be considered. The TTRA awards committee will review entries and judge based on above criteria. All contributions meeting the above criteria will be presented to the TTRA Executive Committee for a final decision.
Award: The recipient will receive a plaque as well as a complimentary three (3) year membership in TTRA. Should this award not be presented posthumously, the award will be presented to the family or business associate of the family’s choice. A posthumous award will not carry a complimentary membership.
Disclaimer: The Distinguished Researcher Award is not limited to any one type of professional capacity within the tourism research community nor is it limited to the members of TTRA. All national and international contributions are to be considered for this award. TTRA reserves the right not to award the Distinguished Researcher Award if no one is nominated or for any other reason including incomplete applications, late applications, or if the achievement of the nominee are not clear or do not rise to the level of attainment sought by the review committees.
The Travel and Tourism Research Association’s Chapter Achievement Award is presented to the chapter that best advances the mission of TTRA through spirit, innovation, effectiveness, and creativity.
Requirements: Please include a proposal of 500 words to show the mission of TTRA through spirit, innovation, effectiveness, and creativity. You may also include an electronic copy of the advertisement or promotion, member recruitment collateral, newsletter, etc. to be reviewed.
Chapters have the option of submitting an entry from the following categories (or may create a category of their choice): membership recruitment and retention, member communications, programming and networking, member benefits, or outreach.
Criteria: This award is determined by a review team of practitioners.
Award: The winning chapter will be presented with a plaque and a $1,000 cash award.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor given by the Travel and Tourism Research Association. This award is presented at the TTRA International Conference to the individual or organization that has made a highly significant contribution to TTRA as well as to the travel and tourism industry.
Requirements: The award is based on significant, long-term contributions to the industry and/or TTRA, including but not limited to: outstanding service; record of publication; and Professional activity (i.e.; research methodologies, techniques, and important positive outcomes for the industry, and/or marketing concepts, techniques and important positive outcomes for the industry).
Criteria: Nominations must be communicated to the TTRA President and the Executive Director. Written communication should specify the contributions the nominee has made or how the nominee has met the above criteria. Award determined by the TTRA Executive Committee – nominations to the President and Executive Director.
Award: The recipient will receive a plaque, TTRA lifetime membership, and lifetime complimentary TTRA International Conference Registration.
The following awards will be decided by committee members and awarded at the conference:
CHARLES R. GOELDNER ARTICLE OF EXCELLENCE AWARD
This award is named for the long-time editor of the Journal of Travel Research – Charles R. Goeldner.
Awarded to recognize the most significant work in the Journal of Travel Research during the previous year.
Requirements: No entry is necessary.
Criteria: The Charles R. Goeldner Article of Excellence Award is presented to the author(s) of the article which is judged to be the best appearing in the Journal during the previous year. The award recipient(s) is determined by the JTR editor and his/her committee.
Award: Award recipient(s) will receive a plaque and a complimentary registration to the TTRA International Conference.
BEST RESEARCH PAPER AWARD
Awarded for the best research paper.
Requirements: For directions on how to enter your submission, please see the Call for Papers on the TTRA website. Be sure to follow the specific submission criteria as outlined via the Call for Papers (including deadline dates).
Criteria: The top three research papers will be presented at the conference; a winning paper will be named at the conference. Award: Plaques will be presented to the award winners at the TTRA International Conference.
BEST ILLUSTRATED PAPER AWARD
Awarded for the best visual paper presented at the conference.
Requirements: For directions on how to enter your submission, please see the Call for Papers on the TTRA website. Be sure to follow specific submission criteria as outlined via the Call for Papers (including deadline dates).
Criteria: The top visual paper will be voted on during the Ideas Fair for Illustrated Papers; a winning paper will be named at the conference. Award: A plaque will be presented to the award winner at the TTRA International Conference.
BEST GRADUATE 3-MINUTE THESIS AWARD
Awarded to the best graduate colloquium paper presented at the conference.
Requirements: All submissions will be considered for this award.
Criteria: A panel of three judges will evaluate papers recommended by reviewers according to the following criteria: theoretical innovation, methodological rigor, and potential for making change in the travel and tourism industry and/or the communities in which tourism takes place.
Award: A plaque will be presented to the award winner at the TTRA International Conference
BEST QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS AWARD
Awarded to the best qualitative research methods paper presented at the conference.
Requirements: All submissions will be considered for this award.
Criteria: A panel of three judges will evaluate papers recommended by reviewers according to pre-determined criteria.
Award: A plaque will be presented to the award winner at the TTRA International Conference.
(The awards committee reserves the right not to present an award in any given year. Non-winners will not be notified.)