Associate Head of School: Hospitality, Events, Aviation and Tourism
As the Associate Head of School, I take great pride in leading a dedicated team of academics. With a diverse portfolio encompassing areas such as Hospitality, Events, Esports, Aviation, Tourism, and Sustainable Tourism, my role centres on guiding the strategic growth and implementation of our courses, promoting high-quality teaching, advancing impactful research, and ensuring an exceptional student experience.
I play an active and leading role in the Faculty of Business, Law, and Tourism Transnational Education provision, and our Hospitality and Tourism courses that are delivered in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Nepal.
Teaching and supervision
With over 15 years of teaching and research experience at the university, I have taught across the curriculum and I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). I have successfully supervised the completion of five PhD students and currently oversee the progress of seven more.
Research interests for potential research students
I successfully completed my PhD thesis entitled “Backpacker Mobilities: Train Travel in Central and Eastern Europe” in 2013. My PhD is grounded in the new mobilities paradigm, which places meaningful movement at the centre of contemporary social research. The project is methodologically cutting edge insofar as it develops an ethnographic approach to data collection that emphasises mobility.
My current research interests focus on the intersection of tourism, place, planning, and development. Other research interests include event experiences and tourism, embodiment and transportation mobilities.
Research
I successfully completed my PhD thesis entitled “Backpacker Mobilities: Train Travel in Central and Eastern Europe” in 2013. My PhD is grounded in the new mobilities paradigm, which places meaningful movement at the centre of contemporary social research. The project is methodologically cutting edge insofar as it develops an ethnographic approach to data collection that emphasises mobility.
My current research interests focus on the intersection of tourism, place, planning, and development. Other research interests include event experiences and tourism, embodiment and transportation mobilities.
Publications
Article
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
Morton, Ian Joseph and Johnson, James Lee (2019) Planning for hospitable public spaces and the changing city: A content analysis of the city of Sunderland Unitary Development Plan. Hospitality and Society, 9 (3). pp. 267-290. ISSN 2042-7913
Wilson, Sharon, Chambers, Donna and Johnson, James (2019) VW Campervan tourists' embodied sonic experiences. Annals of Tourism Research, 76. pp. 14-23. ISSN 0160-7383
Book Section
Johnson, James (2010) Euro-railing: A Mobile-Ethnography of Backpacker Train Travel. In: Beyond Backpacker Tourism: Mobilities and Experiences. Channel View Publications, Clevedon, pp. 102-113. ISBN 9781845411305
Johnson, James (2009) Inter-Railing: Extended Train Journeys as Tourist Experience. In: Transport and tourism: challenges, issues and conflicts : proceedings of the Travel and Tourism Research Association Europe 2009 annual conference, Rotterdam - Breda, the Netherlands : 22-24 April 2009. Travel and Tourism Research Association. ISBN 9789163346651
Conference or Workshop Item
Uzunogullari, Serkan, Johnson, James and Pappas, Nikolaos (2024) A Sense of Place in Video Games: Interaction, Exploration and Immersion. In: The INC 2024 Technology Enabled Competitiveness and Experiences in Tourism, Hospitaliy and Events, 05-07 Jun 2024, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Unpublished)
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.
Hannam, Kevin and Johnson, James (2009) Embodying Backpacker Train Travel Experiences in Eastern Europe. In: Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers, Las Vegas, USA.
- Tourism mobilities
- Transportation and tourism
- Transnational education and tourism pedagogies