Tourism Hub Profile

Dr Karen Thomas

Director

Areas of expertise

Destination management and marketing; UK policy making for the visitor economy; stakeholder engagement and knowledge exchange.

Profile summary

Dr Karen Thomas is the Director of the Tourism and Events Hub and Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University. Her academic interests are primarily related to destination management and marketing, UK policy making for the visitor economy, and destination branding. She also has a strong research background in motivation and decision making for the tourism sector. As Director of the Tourism and Events Research Hub, a significant part of her current role relates to the strategic development of the research unit, building relationships with key stakeholders and exploring opportunities for the team to collaborate in a wide range of knowledge exchange activities. She also represents the University as a member of the Steering Group for the Kent Hospitality, Tourism and Transport Guild. Most recently, she managed the Feasibility Study which resulted in the development of the ‘Hub’ which included stakeholder mapping and qualitative interviews with key organisations in Kent. She has also conducted consultancy research for public and private sector organisations in the area of tourism marketing, with research in areas such as image and consumer decision making for specialist tour operators, place image and city marketing strategies and destination branding strategies for short breaks. 

 

Contact us

Dr Karen Thomas
Director, Tourism and Events Hub

T: 01227 782691

Hub Administrator

E: tourismhub@canterbury.ac.uk
 

Connect with us

Last edited: 27/06/2019 10:00:00