Tourism and hospitality PhD

Since the 1990s, the University of Brighton has taken a pioneering role in the academic study of tourism, and welcomes students undertaking PhD research across all aspects of tourism and hospitality.

The university is an affiliate member of the UN World Tourism Organisation. Our academics are well-known internationally for their critical perspective on the sector, their industry experience and their emphasis on critical thinking, public-facing, interventionist social science. Expert supervision will allow you to join researchers who undertake intellectually rigorous research that contributes towards the theoretical, methodological and applied development of travel and tourism.

Recent and current PhD students have been successful in obtaining studentships covering both fees and living costs through the University of Brighton’s involvement in the ESRC South Coast Doctoral Training Programme.

Supervisory expertise spans a range of disciplinary approaches to the PhD study of tourism, hospitality and events. These include human geography, development studies, sociology, anthropology, marketing and business, cultural studies and political science. Much of our work has real-world application and staff are well-connected to a variety of international development agencies (i.e. UNWTO, World Bank, UN), public, private and third sectors’ organisations.

Our current and recent PhD students are exploring a range of topics in relation to the role of politics in tourism, the relations between tourism and poverty alleviation, critical perspectives on travel philanthropy, the influence of the perception of risk on consumer decision-making in ocean cruising, post-conflict destination branding and national identity construction, the role of sport tourism in image destination formation in the Middle East, tourism development and community involvement in Saudi Arabia.

Many of our graduates have progressed into jobs in academia, becoming lecturers or post-doctoral researchers, while others work in commercial consultancy, international development or international travel, tourism, hospitality and events operations.

Apply to 'business and law' in the portal

Apply with us for funding from the ESRC South Coast Doctoral Training Programme

Key information

As a tourism, hospitality and events PhD student at Brighton, you can develop research plans and apply methods involving both quantitative and qualitative data, supported by appropriate research methods training. You will benefit from:

a supervisory team comprising two or sometimes three members of academic staff. Depending on your research specialism you may also have an additional supervisor from another School, another research institution, or an external partner from government or industry.
desk space and access to a computer in a space specifically designed for research students. There are a range of facilities on the Eastbourne campus including various catering options.
access to a range of electronic resources via the university’s Online Library, as well as to the physical book and journal collections housed within the network of university campus libraries.

Details of specific topic areas can be located in the lists below and on the university research pages. Please contact the relevant member of staff before submitting an application through the university’s Doctoral College.

Academic environment

Based on the university’s Moulsecoomb campus, the School of Business and Law has a vibrant community of research staff, which PhD students join as active members.

Academics deliver translational research with local, regional and international benefits. PhD students form an integral part of BBS and take an active role in a range of intellectual and social activities within the school. All postgraduate students are invited to join the university's research centres and groups, including the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Research and Enterprise Group, which will provide you with opportunities to present ‘work in progress’ and network with other researchers.

The Brighton Doctoral College offer a training programme for postgraduate researchers, covering research methods and transferable (including employability) skills. Attendance at appropriate modules within this programme is encouraged, as is contribution to the school’s seminar series. Academic and technical staff also provide more subject-specific training.

We welcome approaches for PhD supervision across most aspects of tourism hospitality and events research. Fields of recent pursuit have included: investigations of human resource issues, sociology and social issues, food and consumer behaviour, digital technologies and social media. The following list of interests will serve as a guide to some of the department’s outlook and expertise:

sustainable, responsible, ethical and community-based tourism
tourism - policy, planning, development and management
globalisation, migration and mobility
sexuality and gender
niche and special interest tourism - particularly cruise tourism; sport tourism, family tourism, rural tourism, nature based tourism
tourism and development in developed, developing and emerging countries
tourism and social justice
tourism environmental justice (i.e. animal rights in tourism)
travel philanthropy
consumer behaviour in tourism
destination management and marketing
tourism impacts management
visual and visuality; culture and media, popular films and tourism
heritage, landscape and memorialisation
identities and culture, embodiment, materiality and the senses
international events and festival
subculture, counterculture and spectacle

Some of our supervisors

Dr Matthew Adams

Dr Adams supervises PhD students addressing a range of topics including mental health and distress, social and cultural identity, critical psychologies of climate change, climate activism, nature-connection, Anthropocene studies, nature-based interventions, human-animal relations and posthumanities. He is especially interested in supervising students adopting qualitative methodological and critical theoretical approaches. Interdisciplinary projects are especially welcome.

Dr Mandy Curtis

I am interested in supervising Post Graduate Researchers in events, public space, and identities. I am also keen to support students researching diversity in all its forms, as well as those looking at accessible and sustainable events.

The doctoral project I am currently supervising is examining the value of social entrepreneurship and volunteer support within community sports events.

Dr Barbara Grabher

I am interested in supervising doctoral students in their research projects linking to the field of Critical Event Studies, urban/ regional regeneration, gender/equality/diversity, ecological sustainability as well as community and identity creation. Due to my thorough education and extensive experience of ethnographic fieldwork in event settings, my supervisory interest strongly grounds in this methodological approach. If you're interested in undertaking research that examines the above mentioned themes, please feel free to contact me.

Dr Nigel Jarvis

I have successfully supervised a number of PhDs to completion, with candidates getting academic publications as part of their journey even before they defend their thesis. I am interested in supervising research projects on gender and sexuality, the cruise sector, sport tourism, sport and event sponsorship, sport event legacies, the socio-cultural impacts of tourism and events, and leisure management.

Dr Adam Jones

I am interested in supervising PhD students interested in sustainability related to tourism, marketing, and corporate social responsibility. I am also interested in those wanting to research behaviour change, especially related to the environmental crisis. Recently completed research and publications include those concerning behaviour change and travel demand management, destination planning and management and information overload on the internet. I specifically welcome projects that adopt innovative qualitative methodological approaches to creating new knowledge.

Dr Catherine Kelly

I welcome the opportunity to supervise PhD students with an interest in the areas of tourism and wellbeing, place and wellbeing, sustainability, nature-based tourism, coastal tourism, blue spaces, water and wellbeing, rural tourism, cultural/heritage tourism, national parks and biospheres.

Dr Rodrigo Lucena De Mello

I welcome students' research projects in the following areas: Consumer psychology and behaviour; Customer relationship marketing; Marketing for families; Gender and sexuality in marketing

Prof Marina Novelli

Marina’s PhD supervisory interests are closely aligned with her research interest and experience. These include:

- Sustainable Tourism Development for Resilient Communities - i.e. the complexity of tourism development in the Golbal South; niche (tourism) product development; the impact of heath crisis on tourism communities (Ebola, COVID); healthy lifestyle tourism development and management; Local, National and IDOs' interventions for sustainability and resilient communities; travel philanthropy, serious leisure and the act of giving beyond volunteering;

- Innovation, responsible entrepreneurship and sustainability in tourism - community-based and responsible tourism approaches; circular economy, contemporary arts and community development, contemporary arts for sustainable development in Africa; rural diversification and regeneration through tourism.

- Policy, Planning and Governance - i.e. master-planning; training needs analysis and capacity building; responsible leadership; participatory and community cetred development; capacity building processes and practices; overtourism and tourismophobia; tourism and the circular economy.

Dr Tijana Rakic

Tijana is an experienced PhD supervisor and examiner and welcomes informal enquiries from potential PhD applicants who are interested in topics and methodological approaches related to her research interests, projects and publications.

These include but are not limited to the PhD research project ideas which propose to rely on visual and creative qualitative research methods and/or are related to the themes of heritage, tourism and national identity studies; travel, tourism and art; and representations of places, cultures and identities in promotional materials and popular media.

Her PhD students say:

The supervisory support by Tijana is outstanding. She brings to her profession a wealth of experience, networks and expertise. She cares deeply about her students, their research interests and her own research interests, which together are forming powerful coalitions and synergies. I really enjoy the pleasant and stimulating work environment I am doing my PhD in whilst being supervised by Tijana. (Katharina Bürger, current PhD student)

Tijana is currently supervising 5 PhD research projects:

Ms Marineli Codin, working title: Constructing and Projecting National Identity in Post-Communist Romania: a Longitudinal Analysis of Tourism Promotional Materials from 1990 until 2020 (research degree study on-going, Lead Supervisor)
Ms Katharina Bürger, working title: Conflicts, Protest and Resistance to (Modern) Olympic Games (research degree study on-going, Lead Supervisor)
Ms Lorraine Ojukwu Odumegwu Ojukwu, working title: National Identity Construction in Tourism Promotional Materials in Postcolonial Namibia (research degree study on-going, Second Supervisor)
Ms Matea Hanžek, working title: Post-Conflict Destination Branding and National Identity Construction: a Discourse Analysis of Croatia’s Official Tourism Promotional Materials (research degree study on-going, Lead Supervisor)
Mr Brendan Downing, working title: Construction of Greeknes in the Travels and Artwork of Fred Boissonnas (research degree study on-going, external co-supervisor, National College of Art and Design, Ireland)

For further supervisory staff including cross-disciplinary options, please visit research staff on our research website.

Making an application

You will apply to the University of Brighton through our online application portal. When you do, you will require a research proposal, references, a personal statement and a record of your education.

You will be asked whether you have discussed your research proposal and your suitability for doctoral study with a member of the University of Brighton staff. We recommend that all applications are made with the collaboration of at least one potential supervisor. Approaches to potential supervisors can be made directly through the details available online. If you are unsure, please do contact the Doctoral College for advice.

Please visit our How to apply for a PhD page for detailed information.

Fees and funding

Funding

Undertaking research study will require university fees as well as support for your research activities and plans for subsistence during full or part-time study.

Funding sources include self-funding, funding by an employer or industrial partners; there are competitive funding opportunities available in most disciplines through, for example, our own university studentships or national (UK) research councils. International students may have options from either their home-based research funding organisations or may be eligible for some UK funds.

Learn more about the funding opportunities available to you.

Tuition fees academic year 2023–24

Standard fees are listed below, but may vary depending on subject area. Some subject areas may charge bench fees/consumables; this will be decided as part of any offer made. Fees for UK and international/EU students on full-time and part-time courses are likely to incur a small inflation rise each year of a research programme.

MPhil/PhD
	Full-time	Part-time
UK	£4,712	£2,356
International (including EU)	£15,300	N/A
International students registered in the School of Humanities and Social Science or in the School of Business and Law	from £13,900	N/A

PhD by Publication
Full-time	Part-time
N/A	£2,356

Contact Brighton Doctoral College

To contact the Doctoral College at the University of Brighton we request an email in the first instance. Please visit our contact the Brighton Doctoral College page.

For supervisory contact, please see individual profile pages.