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.
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.
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)