Focus on tourism earns award
Discovering how food and wine create a distinct tourism
experience has earned a UniSA Lecturer an award against a
competitive international field.
UniSA School of Management Lecturer Dr Michael Gross won a highly commended award in the annual Emerald Publishing Group and European Foundation for Management Development’s Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards.
Dr Gross was recognised for his doctoral thesis A conceptualisation of lifestyle tourism in the hospitality management category. Findings from Dr Gross’ study demonstrated how factors such as food and wine products and services, in the case of South Australia, help to create a distinctive lifestyle that becomes an important part of the destination experience.
This research is an outcome of a project funded by the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), established by the Australian Government. The study is a collaboration between the STCRC, UniSA and the SA Tourism Commission (SATC).
Dr Gross said he was thrilled to learn of his award, and that he particularly appreciated the wonderful support he received from STCRC, UniSA, SATC, and his supervisors Professor Graham Brown and Dr Chris Brien.
"I hope the thesis and works published from it will be of some use in advancing knowledge frontiers around lifestyle tourism, and where tourism experiences, consumer involvement and place attachment interact," he said.
The awards were announced in Las Vegas USA in January after attracting more than 100 outstanding applications from institutions around the world.