A Delphi toolkit for ecotourism research

The Delphi is considered a legitimate and valuable research technique in a range of research fields. Its value is based on its utility for forecasting, issue identification or prioritisation, and concept or framework development. However, systematic guidelines for designing and executing a Delphi are not widely available. Concomitantly, a plethora of methodological interpretations are proving a source of confusion for the Delphi architect. This paper explores the utility of a proposed generic Delphi toolkit (GDT) for designing and implementing a Delphi study. An ecotourism research example is introduced as a basis for testing the GDT and for a critical review of its benefits and challenges for ecotourism research.