In search of an appropriate research topic...

"Be aware that selecting a good topic may not be easy." (University of Michigan-Flint, 2007)
Uhhh yesss, I can tell you a thing or two about this!

From experience I know for sure that finding a good thesis topic can be a longsome process. Of course, there are about 1,000,001 topics out there, irrespective of the area or scope of the assignment. And probably, many of those topics deserve to be researched and written about. But the crux of the matter is the personal interest - and you better be interested in what you are writing about when you have to deal with it for about three to six months of your life.

Apart from being interested in the topic, it can be of great help to have a certain experience in the chosen area. Extensive research needs to be conducted somehow or other, but as a start, it might help to know roughly where to start looking for information. Moreover, having connections in the industry and knowing people that know answers to very specific questions is always a plus.
As I have to write a tourism-related dissertation, this obviously is an area I have some or even a bit more experience in. However, it still leaves the range of topics quite broad.

At the beginning of my first MA term at the UoG, I was convinced that I would be writing about something related to new technologies - one of my favourite topics and personal interests. However, I wasn't quite sure which direction to focus on, since I had already written my Bachelor Thesis on 'Smartphone Travel'. Focusing on German tourists, I analysed the influence of the use of these new mobile devices on tourists' experiences. By means of qualitative as well as quantitative research, my previously formulated hypothesis of an existing influence was proven as true. Furthermore, I established a number of impacts on the travel industry resulting from this paradigm shift. (Sorry, I tried not to go too much into detail about this, but whoever is interested in more information - just send me an email.)

Throughout the whole six months of working on my first thesis, I was always very interested in the topic and I still am. Nevertheless, I came to the conclusion that I might want to write about something completely different this time. One the one hand, I would probably end up finding and using the same information all over again and finally get stuck. And on the other hand, I would like to broaden my horizon even further by specialising in a different tourism area this time.

So after some random and a little chaotic brainstorming, I figured I would like to put the focus for my dissertation on London - the city I chose as my current place of residence and at the same time, one of the world's greatest metropolises.
The final inspiration I needed came from the title of a dissertation written by a former student about city and country branding.

For my dissertation, I would like to research in what way and to what extent London as a city brand has an influence on the perception of England (not the UK as a whole) as a country.
For example, personally, I am not very attracted to visiting various other parts of England, but I would always come as tourist to visit London. Against this background, my intention for visiting England lies in exclusively visiting the metropolis London.

I might not be able to make myself very clear about this just yet, but in general, I would like to research the relation of metropolitan cities and their countries in regard to tourism. 'City branding' might be the correct tag for this or at least play a role in my explanation.

Methodology-wise, I would probably like to make use of a wide-stretching online survey that (hopefully) establishes the intentions of international tourists who visit London and their interest in and opinion about England as a country destination.


Well, this is what I've come up with so far concerning a decent research topic...
I could really use some feedback on this. So please feel free to make comments - even if you think this topic seems completely absurd or anything. Nothing's set in stone yet and all sorts of ideas or feedback are welcome :-)