Research

If you want to be the most progressive and innovative hotel management school, you have to dare to look ahead.

Our Academy of International Hospitality Research (AIHR) provides insights about developments that impact the industry, and contributes to improving education in hospitality. Multiple times per year, AIHR publishes the journal ‘Research in Hospitality Management’.

Latest research news

Research
15/05/2023

Innovations in Hotel Bedrooms: Prioritising the Importance of Quality Sleep

Sleep Why do we stay in hotels? Well the most important and obvious reason is a good night’s sleep when away from home. 2023 has being dubbed the year of…
Charlotte Knol
Research
11/04/2023

Service with a friend – PhD research by alumnus Sake Jan Velthuis

About Sake Jan Velthuis Alumnus Sake Jan Velthuis (cohort 1999) is a former bartender. Currently, he is a teacher in Neuromarketing for the Commercial Economics course at NHL Stenden. He…
Charlotte Knol
Research
03/04/2023

Revised edition The Three Levels of Sustainability

Elena Cavagnaro is professor of applied sciences in Sustainability in Hospitality & Tourism at NHL Stenden, and associate professor of Responsible Leadership Development and Sustainability in Tourism at the University…
Charlotte Knol

How can we increase sustainability in the hospitality industry?

What will the future of the industry look like? Which shifts have taken place in hospitality and the perception thereof? These are some of the questions that AIHR tries to answer. The knowledge this brings forth is applicable to hospitality business anywhere in the world. The research undertaken at our hotel management school is part of two Professorships of Applied Sciences.

Sustainability in Hospitality and Tourism

Dr. Elena Cavagnaro; Professor (of Applied Sciences)

The professorship Sustainability in Hospitality and Tourism carries out applied research with the objective of improving sustainability in the tourism and hospitality industry. The central question is how hospitality and tourism can be sustained in the future, and can deliver on the promise to improve people’s quality of life.

The main objective of the professorship is to support the hospitality and tourism industry’s commitment to sustainability by designing, deploying, and evaluating behavioural interventions aimed at nudging hosts and guests towards sustainable choices.

The professorship operates as part of a wider network that includes businesses, non-profit organisations, government institutions, and students. This has for example led to the research project ‘Plastic in Hospitality & Tourism: a global problem with local solutions’.

Hospitality Studies

Dr. Erwin Losekoot; Professor (of Applied Sciences)

The professorship Hospitality Studies is interested in discovering hospitable moments in unusual places and times, as well as where we might expect to find them. Their research focuses on real-life situations in our industry, as well as developing and testing theory. They collaborate with other hospitality research centres and conduct research with colleagues and students, for small, local and large international hospitality organisations.

Some of the current research topics of this professorship include the ‘Hospitality & Healthcare Education Partnership’ (involving all five Dutch hotel management schools), which investigates how hospitals can become more hospitable places. Furthermore, the research centre is looking into future-proof jobs and the gig-economy, and the impact of Design Based Education on the hospitality industry.

RIHM journals

The Academy of International Hospitality Research publishes the peer-reviewed Open Access journal ‘Research in Hospitality Management’. The journal publishes articles that make an original contribution to the understanding of hospitality and to the theory and practice of international hospitality management.

The journal focuses on three main areas:

1

Hospitality (Management) Studies includes articles related to the study of and the study for hospitality. The study of hospitality refers to studies about the essence and ethics of hospitality from a social sciences perspective, while the study for hospitality refers to a more disciplinary approach according to the quintessential managerial areas of Finance, Human Resources, Operations, Marketing & Sales, and Technology
2

Hospitality Management Education is devoted to articles about curriculum content and delivery methods for training and educating hospitality managers. Considering the size and scope of the hospitality industry, and the number of staff and students involved, studies on efficient, effective, and innovative ways of developing hospitality competencies are considered indispensable;
3

Student Research Projects allows excellent student work to be published. Student work can relate to excellent BA dissertations or MA theses. RHM also accommodates short communications, working papers, book reviews and discussion papers
Read the latest edition

The team

Members of the research group are lecturers at NHL Stenden and professionals working in the field, whose responsibility it is to ensure that the research has practical relevance. They provide input by suggesting research topics and sharing relevant findings of their research with businesses and other organisations, while the lecturers incorporate the findings in their classes.

Dr. Elena Cavagnaro

Professor of Applied Sciences in Sustainability in Hospitality and Tourism

Dr. Erwin Losekoot

Professor of Applied Sciences in Hospitality Studies

Dr. Hanneke Assen

Associate Professor in Design Based Hospitality Education

Dr. Marte Rinck de Boer

Research lecturer & NHL Stenden counsellor research integrity

Georges El Hajal

Lecturer, Researcher and student coach

Dr. Anne Keizer-Remmers

Member research group

Dr. Tjeerd Zandberg

Research lecturer

Dr. Wichard Zwaal

Research lecturer