Ranked No.1 in the UK for Hospitality and Tourism by The Guardian, The Times and The Complete University Guide, the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management combines a young and dynamic outlook with a leading international reputation.
The research and statistical evidence is growing constantly: air travel has a negative impact on the environment and contributes to climate change. But would knowing this information alter the way you travel? Would you give up your trip to the other side of the world if you were aware of the damage it caused?
Based on interviews with UK holidaymakers, researchers at Surrey and the University of Otago in New Zealand have found that concerns about our carbon footprint are actually unlikely to have an impact on our travel decisions.
What’s more, the research suggests that our understanding of the environmental issues around air travel are patchy at best — so it may be up to the government and the media to send out more concrete messages before we consider cancelling that holiday in the sun.
In the aftermath of the 2012 Olympics, it was suggested that the Games had brought about a ‘new London’ — perhaps even a better society.
Research by Dr Lynn Minnaert suggests that, while this may be a tall order, the London Olympics have certainly earned their moniker as ‘the most inclusive Games ever’. Through a range of initiatives — the inclusion of women, people from ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and previously unemployed people in the workforce; the opportunity for socially excluded groups to obtain a qualification and volunteer at the Games to gain skills and experience — London 2012 has been radically different from the often elitist Games of the past, where the lucky few benefit while the rest of the population bears the burden.
While it’s unrealistic to expect the Olympics to build a ‘new London’ or a better society, the 2012 Games have shown that the event needn’t be a playground for the rich and famous, or a blanket behind which inequalities are hidden — they can also be a stimulus for doing things differently.
Living out of a rucksack for months on end is part of the classic travel experience for many gap-year students. For some, though, backpacking comes to mean much more — even becoming a permanent way of life for the more committed adventurers.
Dr Scott Cohen has studied these ‘lifestyle travellers’, and why they choose to live as they do. Rather than being the preserve of drifters or vagabonds, might constant backpacking offer a genuine alternative lifestyle? And how does such a lifestyle challenge our traditional ideas about consumption, place, and identity?
The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management carries out a number of European Commission funded research projects focusing on social and sustainable tourism, accessibility and disability. Our latest project, worth €250k in total, allows us to continue our work on accessible tourism across Europe and beyond.
The new project aims at improving Europe’s tourism sector competitiveness and the attractiveness of its destinations by examining the current and future demand for accessible tourism. Travel patterns and behaviour of people with access needs are investigated, essential to establish the current and future economic contribution of accessible tourism.
This will provide evidence why investments in accessible tourism are necessary to deliver economic and social benefits to both the industry as well as all individuals.
Phone: +44 (0)1483 681 681
For postgraduate taught and research admissions enquiries, please see the individual course pages.
Dr Sangwon Park was recently announced as the winner of the ‘Journal Article of the Year Award’ at the ENTER 2013 Conference.
His paper, ‘The Role of Smartphones in Mediating the Touristic Experience’ was awarded for being the most innovative and scientifically rigorous information technology and tourism-related paper published in an academic journal in 2012.
Tuesday 25 Jun. 2013
Friday 28 Jun. 2013
