Cardiff School of Management>Staff Profiles>Sheena Carlisle

Dr Sheena Carlisle

Department: Tourism, Hospitality and Events Management

Office/Location: 0.16, Ogmore Building, Cardiff School of Management, Llandaff Campus

Telephone: +44 (0)29 2041 6475

Email: scarlisle@cardiffmet.ac.uk

Staff Overview

Sheena is a passionate advocate for the benefits of Tourism Education, working in tourism academia for twenty years. Her qualifications are BA. (Hons) Hospitality Management; MA (Exon) Tourism and Social Responsibility; MSc. Built Environment Research Methods; PhD. Political Economy of Tourism Development in The Gambia; Practitioner in Project Management for Sustainable Development (PM4SD).

Prior to working in tourism academia Sheena developed a career in Social Housing Associations in Bristol and Trowbridge where a strong interest in community participation, diversity and social justice developed. Combined with early work experience in Visitor Attraction Management with the National Trust at the East Anglia Regional Office Public relations department and research at the World Heritage Site of Lalibela in Ethiopia, Sheena has a keen interest in sustainable tourism development and multi-stakeholder partnerships.

Sheena is currently working as Project Quality Manager developing research, tools and resources in sustainability and digital skills development for the Next Tourism Generation Alliance Project funded by the European Commission. Working across eight European countries and 14 university and trade association partners, Sheena is leading and managing the NTG Wales Team to support the integration of the new approaches to skills development in the tourism and hospitality industry and education sector in Wales and across Europe.

Sheena’s PhD entitled “A Political Economy of Small-Scale Business Development in Gambian Tourism, West Africa” involved extensive Participant Action Research with a tourism trade association, consultancy work for the Gambia Tourism Authority and two years as a Head of Department and Lecturer in the International Business College where she helped to establish the first Higher National Diploma course (accredited by BTEC) in The Gambia to support middle and senior management education in tourism.

The PhD research provided extensive experience and knowledge of the vital link between tourism, development, collaboration, tourism operations and entrepreneurship. Sheena has a passion for the Arts, Heritage Regeneration, Culture and the natural environment and she brings an eclectic portfolio of experience to Research and Teaching Projects.

Teaching

​Sheena currently teaches a wide range of subjects to support a future oriented approach to tourism management, including Tourism Ethics, Crisis Management, Project Management, Change Management, Sustainable Tourism Development, Destination Management, Tourism Impact Analysis, Dissertation Supervision at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level. Other subjects taught include Visitor Attraction Management, Marketing Management.

Research

​Currently Sheena works as project manager and project quality manager on the Next Tourism Generation Alliance Project, a 4 million Euro project funded by the European Commission Erasmus+ programme to support a Blueprint for sustainability and digital skills development across Europe. The project aims to provide an alternative collaborative approach to quality skills development, assurance and delivery following a comprehensive research programme that identified significant digital and sustainability skills gaps of employees in the tourism and hospitality sector. Additionally, a comprehensive set of resources on a new online tourism skills platform and collaborative governance framework to support sustainability and digital skills delivery across college and higher education and within the tourism and hospitality industry are key outputs of the project.

Key research areas that Sheena is also interested in include: collaborative partnerships, the integration of Tourism and Art disciplines to help raise awareness about the importance of sustainable tourism; Sustainability skills training and education; Sustainable Destination Development, Crisis Management in Tourism Destinations, Applied Tourism Ethics and human geography perspectives in tourism education.

Previous research projects have focused on the application of project management principles to sustainable tourism projects and the establishment of the APMG accredited PM4SD programme within the Cardiff School of Management via the Co-operation for Leadership in Tourism programme also funded by the European Commission. Other academic journal publications represent Sheena’s interest in how tourism can reduce negative impacts of tourism within destination communities and how tourism can effectively support poverty alleviation and sustainable development via small scale business development and entrepreneurship and overcome barriers and challenges accessing international tourists.

Key Publications

​Carlisle, S., Ivanov, S., Dijkmans, C., Marco, B. (2021) Environmental skills gaps in tourism and hospitality organisations: Evidence from Europe. Tourism: An Interdisciplinary Journal.

Carlisle, S., Zaki, K., Ahmed, M., Dixey, L., McLoughlin, E. (2021) The Imperative to address sustainability skills gaps in Wales. Sustainability Journal. 13(3), 1161.

Carlisle, S.; Ivanov, S. Dijkmans, C. (2021) The digital skills gaps of tourism and hospitality employees: Evidence from a European Survey. Tourism Futures Journal. Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2055-5911.

Carlisle, S. and Ritchie, C. (2021) Permission to Rebel: A Critical Evaluation of Alcohol Consumption and Party Tourism. International Journal of Sociology and Leisure. (Special Issue) 4, pp. 25–44.

Espeso, P. and Carlisle, S. (2017) Collaborative action research with indigenous communities: A case study of the Lacandon of Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol. 24, Issue 8-9.

Carlisle, S., Kunc, M. and Johansen, A. (2016) Strategic Foresight for (Coastal) Urban Tourism Market Complexity: The case of Bournemouth. Tourism Management, 54, issue C, pp. 81-95.

Carlisle, S. Kunc, M. Jones, E. Tiffin, S. (2013) Supporting innovation for tourism development through multi-stakeholder approaches: Experiences from Africa. Tourism Management, Vol. 35 pp. 59-69.

Carlisle, S. And Jones, E. (2012) The Beach Enclave: A Landscape of Power. Tourism Management Perspectives, 1, pp. 9-16.

Carlisle, S (2010) “Marginalization in a Beach Enclave Resort: Case Study of The Gambia” Cole, S and Morgan N. (Eds) Tourism and Social Inequality. CABI Publishing

Carlisle, S. (2007) Reshaping International Tourism Structures: Local Capacity to Influence? Atlas Africa Conference Proceedings from Annual Conference on Tourism and Wealth Creation in Africa, Kampala , Uganda.

Bah, A., Carlisle, S, Sallah, H. and S.T. Nyang (2004) Costs and Benefits of Tourism in The Gambia. Action Aid Published Report.

Carlisle, S. (1998) “A Religious Town in Rock: An analysis of impacts of tourism at Lalibella, Ethiopia.” in Shackley, M (ed.) Visitor Management at World Heritage Sites. Butterworth Heinemann.

Other Projects and activities

​Sheena is a renowned PhD examiner who has successfully examined nine PhDs across the world with a focus on sustainable tourism, women’s entrepreneurship in tourism, niche tourism development and cultural heritage development.

Peer Reviewer for a wide range of Tourism Journals including: Tourism Management; Tourism Management Perspectives; Current Issues in Tourism; African Journal of Culture and Heritage; Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research; Sustainability; Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

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