John Kent Institute heralds new era in tourism research

The Institute is named for one of the world’s leading tourism entrepreneurs, John Kent, whose substantial contribution to the University will make it possible for postgraduate researchers from around the world to take up a number of PhD studentships at BU over the next two years.

The studentships are offered in a range of industry-relevant topics that Mr Kent believes will help improve the quality of the global tourism industry, from the use of technology and multi-media elements in tourism marketing to aspects of consumer loyalty and satisfaction as well as the industry’s response to international issues such as security in the face of terrorism and the response to the current economic climate.

Speaking before an audience of leading figures from tourism, hospitality and academia, Mr Kent said: “Improving the Hospitality Industry through education has always been a primary area of focus to me and undoubtedly research programs offer great input to this industry. The idea of an institute to facilitate this overwhelming need for education and training has been in my plans for a long time and is now a reality through a very high profile institution like Bournemouth University.”

BU’s School of Services Management, respected globally as a centre of excellence for tourism and study research, will support the successful applicants for the new John Kent studentships. The School boasts the largest cohort of postgraduate tourism students in the UK and is home to the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research, one of the leading research centres of its kind in the world.

“John Kent is an entrepreneurial pioneer of e-tourism and an enthusiastic supporter of tourism research at our esteemed university,” said Professor Paul Curran, Vice-Chancellor of BU. “While the studentships will focus on tourism they will also take advantage of our intellectual breadth and help us to develop activities in areas as diverse as tourism and health; tourism and economics; tourism and climate change; tourism and psychology and tourism and communication.”

Last November, Mr Kent was named as a BU Visiting Fellow and will use his strong track record in the tourism and travel industry to all of the University’s students in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes related to tourism and hospitality.

“I am grateful to Professor Curran and his colleagues at Bournemouth University for making this Institute a reality and I it remains my strong desire to expand and develop even more opportunities for tourism research in the future."