Scenario Invention Task Technique (SITT): A practical innovation for qualitative research in a reef tourism study

The aim of this paper is to outline the use of a qualitative research method called the Scenario Invention Task Technique (SITT) in the context of a reef tourism study. The study was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the relationship between working time arrangements, sleep and the capacity to perform emotional labour in the reef tourism workforce of Far North Queensland (FNQ). To achieve this, focus groups were conducted with reef tourism workers during which the SITT was applied. This involved asking reef employees to create a challenging/negative customer service scenario to help stimulate insights. Employing a task that required participants to create a challenging customer service situation was considered to promote the acquisition of rich insights in a way that promoted applicability and trustworthiness of findings. The paper starts by describing the SITT and then outlines the research context of the study, followed by a section of how the SITT was applied. The paper concludes by offering reflections on the use of SITT and considers its broader application in tourism research.