DkIT Researchers present at National Tourism Conference

In a session themed ‘Learning from the past: culture and heritage shaping places, communities and visitor experiences’, Colleen Savage and Dr Daithí Kearney from the Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music at DkIT, presented on the ‘Sing for Your Supper’ experiences that Colleen has developed with various partners in South Armagh. The paper highlighted the potential to integrate aspects of the cultural heritage of the region, such as its music and song traditions, to reshape the region’s identity. 

PhD candidate Maria Roddy-Freyne and Dr Kate Johnson contributed to a session focused on managing costs and revenue for sustainable and regenerative tourism, examining the practices of Revenue Management in the Irish Hotel Industry. Their research is being undertaken with Irish Hotels and is very relevant to policy makers, industry representatives and academics working and researching in the sector.

In line with the theme of new ideas and values shaping change, PhD candidate Lorraine Dunne presented research on value-driven association conferences in Ireland. She highlighted business travel as an important source of economic growth and proposed a model to help suppliers create more valuable conference experiences and services.

Responding to the challenges of navigating and managing change in tourism, hospitality, events and leisure in difficult times, Dr Teresa O’ Rourke drew on her recent doctoral research to demonstrate how small tourism businesses use their strengths to grow in changing environments. Her research explores how owner-managers of tourism micro-firms can survive and thrive in times of turbulence.  PhD candidate Christopher McGrath discussed examining Generation Z in the hotel industry and its relevance to the Irish hospitality sector as GenZ forms a growing share of the workforce pipeline and a distinct and fast-changing guest segment whose expectations are reshaping service, marketing, and operations.

Incorporating research from the area of Learning and Teaching, Karen Commins presented on her innovative projects utilising student EduVlogs to drive innovation and ensure that assessment methods continuously develop to meet the needs of learners in the sector. Karen’s research underscores the need for educators to embrace digital transformation and foster creativity, critical thinking, and communication in future tourism professionals.

Dr Kevin Burns, Head of Department of Hospitality Studies at DkIT reflected:

“THRIC is a wonderful opportunity to meet with colleagues and engage with discussions that not only informs what we do in DkIT but also highlights the excellent work of our staff to a wider audience.”

Many of the DkIT contributions echoed sentiments in the opening keynote presentation by Professor of Social Sustainability at Manchester Metropolitan University, Nigel Morgan and reflected the industry conversation involving a variety of stakeholders. Alongside the strong links between academia and industry, Gráinne Walshe, Assistant Director, Researcher Development Research Ireland, also highlighted further opportunities for research funding in this area, in which DkIT are well-positioned to benefit from.