Our research

While tourism and hospitality services can have a positive impact on local and national economies, they can also have negative effects for people living and working in the area. Additionally, for many businesses, there are questions around employee development and rights.

Our research in this area follows themes including:

• Tourism in conflict zones
• Equality, diversity and inclusion, including gendered and racial representations in marketing
• Dark tourism
• The impact of mega-events on local populations (particularly in low-income areas)

Like many industries, hospitality and tourism are under pressure to improve their sustainability practices on both an individual business level and in the sector as a whole.

Our work on sustainability includes:

• Eco-tourism
• The environmental impacts of tourism
• Destination impacts of loyal tourists
• The rights and responsibilities of both hosts and guests in tourist areas.

Technology has had a huge impact on the tourism and hospitality sectors. Guests can check-in to their hotel remotely, companies can market their experiences through social media, and automated services mean staff can be deployed to other tasks. But there are also big risks, some of which have not been fully understood or explored.

Our work on technology covers areas including:

• Use of technology in marketing, including artificial intelligence and the use of deepfakes.
• Social media, including use by small businesses to create an online identity.
• Digital transformation, including privacy, digital payments, and robots as service providers.