An examination of tourism educational publications and tourism businesses: Understanding the importance of readability

The purpose of this study was to assess the perception that educational materials of the Cooperative Extension Service are difficult to read. The Flesch Reading Ease formula was used to measure readability levels of 130 bulletins used in tourism industry education. Findings indicated that the mean readability level approximated the level of articles found in academic journals. About ninety-percent of the bulletins fell within the readability range of materials that are typically encountered by readers ranging from sixth grade through some college completed.;Binkley's Interactionist Theory was used as a model to develop a methodology using a criterion-referenced instrument for assessing the reading comprehension abilities of the intended readers of these materials. From a small demonstration sample, the intended readers of these tourism bulletins were found to be capable of independently reasoning with material written at least as difficult as the readability level most CES bulletins currently in print. Further studies are needed to yield statistically significant and more precise statistics on the reading comprehension abilities of the intended audiences of these materials. Authors are encouraged to use readability formulas to calibrate reading levels of educational materials with the reading comprehension abilities of the intended audiences.