Dr Joanne Connell

Biography

Dr Joanne Connell joined the University of Exeter Business School in 2011. Her previous posts include Senior Lecturer in Tourism in the Department of Marketing at the University of Stirling, and Lecturer in Tourism at the University of Plymouth. Her qualifications include a BSc (Hons) in Rural Resource Management and an MA in Tourism and Social Responsibility (Exeter). She was awarded a PhD in 2002 by the Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Plymouth for her research on gardens as a tourism and recreational resource, and in particular the implications for managing gardens as visitor attractions. Dr Connell has extensive experience in tourism research, education, publishing and knowledge transfer. Notably, Dr Connell is the author of a range of acclaimed books and edited collections, notably the major international text book Tourism: A Modern Synthesis of which she is currently working on a 4th edition, and most recently, The Handbook of  Events (both with Stephen Page). She has co-edited a series of high level research works for both Routledge and Sage that provide a valuable synthesis and roadmap for how sub-disciplines in Tourism (Event Tourism, Sustainable Tourism and the wider generic area of Leisure) have evolved. Many of the research and consultancy projects in which Dr Connell has been involved demonstrate both social and economic impact through the leveraging of policy advice to organisations seeking to address strategic issues. She has led and worked as part of small project teams with a number of external bodies in a knowledge transfer capacity: recent examples include VisitScotland, New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development and Stirling Council. Having advised and worked extensively with Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority (Scotland’s first National Park Authority) during a secondment, she experienced first-hand how academic approaches contribute to the development of methodologies to solve complex research problems in innovative and robust ways, in addition to contributing to National Park sustainable planning processes. Other projects she has worked on include event impact evaluations, tourism business surveys, visitor surveys and organisational secondary data analysis to improve business performance.  

Research Interest

Film-induced tourism activity, Holidays and the family, Sustainable tourism planning and application, Tourism events and attractions.