Research Areas

Research Area: Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management

Staff in the Department of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management are actively involved in academic research in a number of focused areas. Their research activity and publications are characterised by their application to specific industry sectors and their integration with the Department's extensive consultancy services.

The key areas of research focus are:

strategy, policy and performance of international hotel groups
education, careers and development
consumer satisfaction in tourism and hospitality
financial decision-making
environmental studies
food studies

Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry

Research in the Centre has focused on sustainable tourism certification, waste minimisation and management, sustainable food, energy management and the development of tourism strategies.

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Featured Research Project

ESRC Funded Research Project (£100,000)
Project Title: Socio-Cultural factors, ethnic minority entrepreneurial orientation and a firm's growth: A comparative study of Turkish and Chinese small firms in the UK
Duration: 24 months (Sept 2006 - Aug 2008)
Researchers: Dr Levent Altinay and Dr Catherine Wang (Brunel)

This project aims to understand how the entrepreneur's socio-cultural background influences the firm's entrepreneurial orientation which in turn influences firm growth with reference to both Turkish and Chinese small firms in London, operating in a variety of sectors including manufacturing, retailing, and catering. The project will provide a comprehensive and detailed analysis of which socio-cultural attributes may facilitate or inhibit ethnic minority entrepreneurship in the process of firm growth and survival in different industries. It will provide recommendations to ethnic minority firms on how to gain a competitive edge and sustain it during both the start-up and break-out stages of business development.