Cardiff School of Management>Staff>Victoria Richards

Dr Victoria Richards

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​Department: Tourism, Hospitality and Events 
Telephone No: +44(0)29 2020 5573
Email Address: vrichards@cardiffmet.ac.uk​

Victoria joined the Tourism, Hospitality and Events department (THE) as a full time member of staff in September 2014 following a period as an Associate Tutor and after completing her PhD in June 2013 at Cardiff Metropolitan University. The PhD explored issues around social justice and inclusion of vision impaired people in tourism, focusing on experiences and the meaning of tourism in people's lives.  This follows her previous career of 20 years in the third sector working with and for people with vision impairments in areas such as personal rehabilitation training, conference organisation, student mentoring and awareness raising training schemes and design.  

Presently, she team teaches across the department on a variety of tourism and events management modules including tourism for a small planet, managing tourism in the natural environment, the tourism industry, sociology of THE, employability, diversity and social inclusion for THE, research skills, dissertation supervision. Particular areas of interest include the 'tourist gaze', increased emphasis on visitor experience, issues of embodiment, gender and tourism for all. In addition Victoria has an added interest in the host/customer relationship as well as how the built environment impacts upon these relationships. She is also studying for the PgCE and is interested in approaches to teaching and learning, enjoying creating materials and learning resources to engage students. 

Research

Member of the Welsh Centre for Tourism Research

Research interests:  Social justice and the participation of marginalised groups in tourism, hospitality and events; Accessible Tourism and Events; Experiences of vision impaired people and people with disabilities; Venue Design; Guest/Host relationships in tourism, hospitality and events environments; Disability Policy; diversity and social inclusion.

Publications

Peer-reviewed Journals Articles:

Richards, V., Pritchard, A., & Morgan, N.M., 2010. (Re)envisioning tourism and visual impairment. Annals of Tourism Research, 37(4), 1097-1116.

Peer-reviewed Book Chapter:

Richards, V., Pritchard, A., & Morgan, N.M., & Sedgley, D., 2010. Tourism and Visual Impairment in Tourism and Inequality, in Cole,S., and Morgan,N.M.,(Eds) 2010 Tourism and Inequality: Problems and Prospects. CABI. Oxfordshire.

Conference Papers:

Richards, V. (2009, 21–24 June). They're not interested in you as a person: Insights into visually impaired people's tourism experiences from South Wales, UK. Paper presented at the 3rd critical tourism studies conference: Connecting academies of hope, Zadar, Croatia.[Awarded the Annals of Tourism Research Carole L. Green Prize for the best Doctoral paper]

Richards, V. (2011).  The (Dis)embodied tourism experiences of people with vision impairment. Presentation at the 4th critical tourism studies conference: University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), Wales. 

Conference Presentations:

Richards, V (2015). 'You want to be the best mother you can be and part of that is going on holiday': The impact of vision impairment and disability on family holidays. Presentation at the 6th critical tourism studies conference, Opatje, Croatia.

Richards, V (2015). Paying "lip-service" or embedding diversity and social inclusion in the tourism curriculum. Presentation at the Association of Tourism in Higher Education conference, St Anne's College, Oxford.

Projects

June 2015 – Feasibility Research with Gorwel (independent non-party Welsh Think Tank) into the potential of establishing a Royal Palace in Wales and its impact/implications for tourism in Wales. 

External Links

External Examiner Birmingham City University Habilitation Foundation Degree (vision impairment)

Member of the Birmingham City University Habilitation Foundation Degree (vision impairment) Advisory Panel

Previous Steering Group member of the University of Glamorgan (Rehabilitation, vision impairment Degree)