Professor Rhodri Thomas

Rhodri Thomas is Professor of Tourism and Dean of the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management at Leeds Beckett University.

Rhodri has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in economics (Leeds) and two PhDs; one in management studies (Exeter) and one on public policy and small firms in tourism (LBU). He holds a PGCE (Leicester), is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and Fellow of the Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT).

He has secured grant and non-grant research funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as well as from the European Commission, OECD, British government departments and various other agencies. Much of this work has been concerned with understanding (i) public policy designed to influence the practices of small firms in tourism and (ii) knowledge acquisition in tourism and the impact of academic knowledge production on practitioners.

Rhodri is currently examining how theorising on small firms in tourism articulates with work undertaken by researchers with an interest in other sectors. He is also part of a School-based research team led by Professor David Parsons on digital skills in tourism.

In addition to dissemination via academic journals and books, Rhodri has made invited keynote presentation to academic conferences in China, numerous European countries, and the USA. He has also accepted invitations to speak at major international practitioner events including those in Argentina (International Congress and Convention Association), Malta (Association of Independent Tour Operators), Spain and Italy (Institute of Travel and Tourism) as well as in the UK (e.g. Association of British Travel Agents [ABTA] and Association of British Professional Conference Organisers [ABPCO]). Rhodri was a member of the Business and Economics Panel of the New Zealand Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF), that country’s periodic system for research evaluation.

Rhodri is Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events (ESCI listed; ABDC B), Co-ordinating Editor for the International Journal of Hospitality Management (ABS 3* SSCI IF 9.237) and Academic Editor for Sustainability (SSCI IF 3.251). He sits on the Editorial Advisory Boards of eight journals including Tourism Management, Tourism Management Perspectives, and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.