News and Events

New Institute in Tourism at BU

6 November 2009

BU Visiting Fellow John Kent with Professor Paul Curran

Professor Paul Curran, BU Vice-Chancellor, has today announced the establishment of The John Kent Institute in Tourism.

The Institute will be funded through a substantial gift made to the University by one of the world’s leading tourism entrepreneurs, John Kent.

Kent, the creator and CEO of www.Youtravel.com and Aquis Hotels and Resorts, will support a series of PhD studentships with the aim of establishing an internationally significant programme of tourism research within BU’s School of Services Management.

Professor Curran commented: “This new BU-based Institute will fund a considerable number of PhD studentships in tourism research, commencing with eleven over the next four years. This is a major initiative in tourism research that has been made possible by the generosity and vision of John Kent.

“John is an entrepreneurial pioneer of e-tourism and an enthusiastic supporter of tourism research at BU. While the studentships will focus on tourism they will 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.”

Earlier this month, Kent was named as a BU Visiting Fellow. He intends to use his strong track record in the tourism and travel industry to the benefit of the School of Services Management. “I am delighted to support the innovative research that is undertaken at Bournemouth University in Tourism,” said Kent.

“I have been particularly interested in the further development of research in Tourism Marketing and e-Tourism for which the University has developed an enviable international reputation.”

The School of Services Management is respected globally as a centre of excellence for tourism study and research; it boasts the largest cohort of postgraduate tourism students in the UK and is home to the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research (ICTHR), one of the leading research centres of its kind in the world.

The new Institute will complement the work of this Centre by attracting high calibre PhD students to BU.

ICTHR Deputy Director Professor Dimitrios Buhalis said “It is always a great pleasure and exciting challenge to work with John Kent and it will be a great opportunity to take advantage of his vision, innovation and industry networks to increase the relevance and impact of our research. We look forward to developing research-based tourism and hospitality innovations and to work even more closely with John.”