Research areas
Research areas
1. Entrepreneurship, business management and gender
The management of tourism businesses, especially hotels, can be studied by analysing efficiency in terms of production and available resources. Finance and accounting management make up one of the other pillars of this line of research, the aim being to seek out ways to improve the management of tourism businesses.
The close ties between the School and the hotel sector, resulting from placement programmes, job offers and the presence of Hotel Campus, offer a chance to apply theoretical knowledge empirically, which brings added value, both in academic terms and in terms of the tourism sector itself. Accordingly, the School offers its Official Master's Degree in Hotel Management, with over 15 editions behind it.
Entrepreneurship and business start-ups in the tourism sector are another way to link up studies on gender impact, productivity, higher employment in the sector and a new vision of human resources management.
In addition, the School is behind the Centre for University Entrepreneurial Initiatives (CIEU), which promotes and guides entrepreneurial activity both at the School itself and in the UAB as a whole, for its undergraduate and postgraduate students, former students and other members of the community. This initiative could serve as a platform for studying the interrelationships between entrepreneurial projects in the university context and the entrepreneurship already existing in the tourism market.
Exemples of research in this area:
- Obstacles to sustainable entrepreneurship amongst tourism students: A gender comparison. Sustainability, 12(5), 2020.
- Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship in Social, Sustainable, and Economic Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Future Research. Sustainability, 12(21), 2020.
2. Economics of Tourism, Commercialisation and Public-Sector Intervention: Economic impact, analysis of prices and markets, aspects tourism marketing and regulation of the sector.
Research in Economics of Tourism focuses on the economic impacts of specific tourism institutions and destinations and cost-benefit analyses.Other research line concerns market studies on the available tourist offer and studies on the behaviour of tourist demand based on the most sensitive variables in the process of choosing a tourist destination.
From the perspective of marketing, it is possible to analyse prices and seasonal variation in different types of tourist accommodation (hotels, second homes, Rural Tourism and campsites), and to make a quantitative analysis of the brand image of tourist destinations on the basis of prices.
Exemples of research in this area:
- Tendències recents i estratègies de futur en l’allotjament turístic en espais metropolitans. El cas del Vallès Occidental. Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Geografia, 88, 2019.
- The effect of different characteristics on campsite pricing: Seasonality, dimension and location effects in a mature destination. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 29, 2020.
- Exploring Ex Ante Impacts and Social and Sportive Challenges of Hosting a Future New International Major Event: a Case Study of the World Roller Games in Barcelona. Event Management, 25(4), 2021.
3. Tourism, sustainability, environment and ecotourism
This area includes studies related to sustainable management and planning of tourist destinations, and environmental management and the corporate social responsibility of tourism businesses. Others specific topics related to this area are ecotourism and sustainable management of protected natural spaces and the importance of green areas to health and well-being.
The School has a long record in this field, both in teaching – with subjects like Tourism and Sustainability in the Bachelor's Degree in Tourism and the Graduate Diploma in Ecotourism and Nature-Guide Training – and in research and consultancy, fulfilling numerous projects and contracts with public authorities since the year 2000.
Exemples of research in this area:
- El incremento del turismo de proximidad en Cataluña en verano de 2020: una oportunidad para la consolidación del turismo rural como una forma de turismo sostenible y segura. Investigaciones Turísticas, 23, 2022.
- The COVID-19 crisis: Opportunities for sustainable and proximity tourism. Tourism Geographies, 22(3),2020.
- Physical health in green spaces: Visitors’ perceptions and activities in protected areas around Barcelona. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 23, 2018.
4. Tourism and cultural heritage
This line of research includes cultural heritage and its treatment as a tourism product, and the management of tourist guidance in heritage sites, like museums.
It also studies accessibility in heritage sites, which could be extended to other buildings linked to tourism: conference halls, hotels, etc.
Exemples of research in this area:
- Visitors and residents in El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona. New Opportunities for Creative Tourism? Review of European Studies, 13(4), 2021.
- Las micro y pequeñas empresas turísticas y la protección del patrimonio cultural en clave de sostenibilidad. ROTUR. Revista de Ocio y Turismo, 15(1), 2021.
- Ignatius of Loyola’s traces in Manresa. A new incentive for religious tourism?. International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 4(7): 38-47.