Research

Research profile

I am a social science researcher interested in tourism - or a “touristologist” - with a background in sustainability-driven studies and sociology. I am interested in tourism from multiple perspectives and my work is influenced by different approaches. Particularly, I use practice-theory, performativity, and governance theories to look within and beyond tourism.  I am also acquainted with actor-network theory and mobilities. These different perspectives help me to see and understand tourism from a micro and macro level to study the impacts, tensions and forms of development that take place in particular settings and contexts, and how societies and the surrounding environment cope with it. My goal as a researcher is to provide more knowledge about tourism as an interdisciplinary and multidimensional socio-environmental phenomena but also to use science for societal impact.

I have conducted research in the field of coastal governance, cultural heritage and tourism development in Portugal and Malta, using different approaches such as PPA and practice theory to understand how natural and cultural resources are connected to and (mis)used by tourism development. Through these experiences, I gained some research skills in doing ethnographic fieldwork, action-research and using bottom-up approaches to build up knowledge with my research participants.

My current research project as a PhD fellow at ISE focuses on residents and tourists encounters through the analysis of ‘shared practices’ such as cycling or dining out, and how do they contribute to social value creation. My aim is to explain underlaying processes, conflicts and tensions between residents and tourists in highly visited cities and to shed light on the unintended consequences that might affect the everyday life of the residents in popular destinations such as the city of Copenhagen.