Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Events
I have been a Lecturer since 2011, and joined the University of Sunderland in 2014 teaching primarily events, tourism and hospitality. My PhD explored the festivalgoer experience at UK music festivals.
I am also interested in research surrounding service experiences, digital media communication, quality, communities, social inclusion, accessibility, and tourist behaviour at special interest events.
Teaching and supervision
I am currently programme leader for BA (Hons) Events Management.
I also teach on:
- BSc (Hons) International Tourism and Hospitality Management
- BSc (Hons) International Tourism and Hospitality Management (Top-Up)
I am module leader on the following modules:
- TLH109 Experiencing Events
- TLH110 Staging Events
- TLH318 Contemporary Issues in Events
- TLH346 Professional Development for the Service Sector
- TLH339 Service Quality
- CHTM30 Events Management Studies
I also supervise both undergraduate and master's major projects, and PhDs.
Research interests for potential research students
- Event studies and event management
- Service quality
- Social media and other digital media communication
- Consumer behaviour at events
- Motivations and experience
- Wellbeing
- Music festivals
- Alternative and niche events
- Social Inclusion and accessibility
Research
My PhD explored the festivalgoer experience at UK music festivals. I used a mixed method approach to develop an experience value model that examined the relationship between festivalgoer's sociodemographic, psychographic and behavioural preferences against what they valued in the festival experience.
I have also produced further research around the role and use of digital media communication within the music festival experience, co-creation and engagement, research methods at live events, and inclusion and accessibility.
Other research interests include tourist behaviour and experiences at special interest events, social media and digital technology at events, event communities and wellbeing, social inclusion, and accessibility.
Publications
Article
Davis, Leon, Brown, Alyssa Eve and Hayes, Christopher J (2024) Making the case for exploring accessibility and inclusion at live music events held in sports stadia. Event Management. ISSN 1525-9951
Davis, Leon and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2024) Advocating the use of informal conversations as a qualitative method at live events. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 23. ISSN 1609-4069
Davis, Leon and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2024) Analyzing Twenty-First-Century Perspectives of Persons with Disabilities and Accessibility at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The International Journal of Sport and Society, 15. pp. 111-140. ISSN 2152-7857
Brown, Alyssa Eve (2023) Co-creation and engagement: what festivalgoers want in the UK rock festival experience. Event Management, 27 (2). pp. 201-216. ISSN 1525-9951
Marshall, Hayley, Johnson, James and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2023) GOING ALONE: THE EXPERIENCE OF SOLO EVENTGOERS AT MUSIC EVENTS IN THE UK. Event Management. ISSN 1525-9951
Brown, Alyssa Eve and Pappas, Nikolaos (2021) Added value and music events: A festivalgoer perspective. Annals of Leisure Research. ISSN 1174-5398
Uzunogullari, Serkan and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2020) Negotiable bodies: employer perceptions of visible body modifications. Current Issues in Tourism. pp. 1-14. ISSN 1747-7603
Pappas, Nikolaos and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2020) Entrepreneurial Decisions in Tourism and Hospitality during Crisis. Management Decision, ahead. p. 1. ISSN 0025-1747
Brown, Alyssa Eve, Donne, Keith, Fallon, Paul and Sharpley, Richard (2019) From Headliners to Hangovers: Digital Media Communication in the British Rock Music Festival Experience. Tourist Studies. ISSN 1468-7976
Brown, Alyssa Eve and Sharpley, Richard (2019) Understanding festival-goers and their experience at UK Music Festivals. Event Management. ISSN 1525-9951
Book Section
Davis, Leon, Hayes, Christopher J and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2024) Utilising Informal Conversations as a Creative Method at Live Events. In: Creative Research Methods for Critical Event Studies. Routledge. ISBN 9781032686424 (In Press)
Brown, Alyssa Eve (2021) Is it just the music? Understanding the atmosphere in festivalgoers experience at British rock music festivals. In: Handbook of the Tourist Experience. Routledge. ISBN 9781032114255
Conference or Workshop Item
Marshall, Hayley, Johnson, James and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2023) Going Alone: solo eventgoers experience of UK music events. In: AEME Forum, 6-7 July 2023, University of Gloucestershire. (Unpublished)
Marshall, Hayley, Johnson, James and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2022) Going Alone: The case of solo event goers at music events in the U.K. In: THE INC 2022 - Tourism, Hospitality and Events: Innovation and Resilience during Uncertainty, 22-24 June 2022, Limassol, Cyprus.
Brown, Alyssa Eve (2020) Co-creation and Engagement: What festivalgoers want in the UK Rock festival experience. In: THE INC, 9-11 June 2020, Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
Pappas, Nikolaos and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2020) Entrepreneurial Decisions in Tourism and Hospitality during Crisis. In: THE INC, 9-11 June 2020, Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
Brown, Alyssa Eve, Donne, K, Fallon, P and Sharpley, R (2019) From headliners to hangovers: Digital media communication in the British rock music festival experience. In: AEME 2019, 3-4 July 2019, Hertfordshire, UK.
Brown, Alyssa Eve and Sharpley, R (2018) Understanding Festival-Goers and Their Experience at UK Music Festivals. In: THE INC 2018 –Tourism Hospitality & Events in a Changing World, 26-28 June, Buxton, United Kingdom.
Brown, Alyssa Eve (2018) The influence of psychographic characteristics on the music event experience. In: THE INC 2018 –Tourism Hospitality & Events in a Changing World, 26-28 June, Buxton, United Kingdom.
Brown, Alyssa Eve (2015) Towards an Understanding of Managing Service Quality and the UK Music Festival Experience. In: EuroCHRIE 2015, 15-17 Oct 2015, Manchester Metropolitan University.
- Event studies and event management
- Service quality, satisfaction, and experience
- Service operations, marketing
- Tourism and hospitality management
- Personal and professional development
- Music festivals and events
- Inclusion and accessibility