University of Exeter Business School

Professor Tim Coles

Professor Tim Coles

Professor of Management

 T.E.Coles@exeter.ac.uk

 4441

 +44 (0) 1392 724441

 Streatham Court 0.57

 

Streatham Court, University of Exeter, Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4PU, UK

Overview

Tim Coles is Professor of Management in the University of Exeter Business School. 

His research examines how businesses and organisations in tourism, the cultural industries and creative economy respond to major challenges -such as digital innovation, austerity, Brexit, and global environmental change- in their management practices, operations and business models.  He is particularly interested in issues around sustainable tourism and his latest work is examining how trajectories for tourism development relate to international agendas, for instance, relating to climate change and emissions reduction.

As a world-leading authority on business and management research in tourism, he is the author of over 50 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, 30 chapters in books, and co-author or –editor of four volumes.  He edits two book series for Routledge and is a member of the editorial board of five international, peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Sustainable Tourism where his work has regularly appeared.

Tim’s research has been extensively funded by research councils, in particular by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the European Union.  Within colleagues in Drama, he is currently working on 'Outside the Box', an AHRC-funded project about open-air performance as a pandemic response.  Ahead of the 2012 Olympics, he was director of the Exeter Centre for Sport, Leisure and Tourism from 2008 to 2013.  Funded by ESRC, this £1.5 million inter-disciplinary programme recognised Exeter as the UK centre for postgraduate and postdoctoral capacity building in sport, leisure and tourism in the social sciences.

Tim is deeply committed to engaged research, knowledge exchange and co-production.  He has completed projects for and with a wide range of partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors.  These have included the World Travel and Tourism Council, Tate, Arts Council England, National Trust, Flybe, Ministry of Defence, UK Trade and Investment, Rugby Football Union, BT, and Land Securities.

Within the Business School, Tim has held several senior management roles, including Associate Dean for Research and Impact (2016-18), Director of Impact (2015-16), and Director of Posgraduate Research (2008-11).  In 2017 he established the University of Exeter’s Public Engagement Strategic Advisory Group (PEG) which he chaired until 2021. 

Administrative responsibilities

  • Member, University of Exeter ESRC Funding Advisory Network

Qualifications

BSc, PhD (Exeter)

Research group links

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Research

Research interests

  • Tourism and global environmental change
  • Sustainable business and environmental behaviours in tourism.
  • Business model innovation in tourism, the cultural industries and creative economy.
  • Resilience, risk and crisis response in the tourism sector.

From the sheer number of people travelling these days to the proliferation of new digital platforms for tourism, there are many strong reasons for understanding changing mobility patterns and visitor economies.  As a crucible for innovation, the tourism sector faces a dynamic range of issues around digital disruption, regulation, competition, privacy, data protection, productivity and pay gaps, among many others.

Tim’s work investigates how businesses and organisations in tourism and the cultural industries respond to these 'grand challenges' in their management practices, operations and business models.  He is also interested in the potential of digital to provide new solutions to long-standing management challenges; to offer new insights into how contemporary consumers make decisions about their trips; and to present new possibilities for measuring and analysing visits and experiences that may result in further rounds of business model innovation.  This is set against a backdrop of a sector that, although it may be growing and attractive to investors, is nevertheless highly vulnerable to market disruptions, natural hazards and events.

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Publications

Books

Coles TE, Duval DT, Shaw G (2013). Student's Guide to Writing Dissertations and Theses in Tourism Studies and Related Disciplines. Abingdon, Routledge.
Coles TE, Hall CM (2008). International Business and Tourism:. Global Issues, Contemporary Interactions.  Abingdon, Routledge.
Church A, Coles TE (2007). Tourism, Power and Space.  Abingdon, Routledge.
Coles TE, Timothy DJ (2004). Tourism, Diasporas, and Space. Abingdon, Routledge. Abstract.

Journal articles

Hutchison F, Bailey AR, Coles T (In Press). An Evidence Based Methodology for Cultural Institutions Seeking to Identify and Profile their Local Populations. Museum Management and Curatorship (RMMC)
Wilkinson T, Coles T (In Press). Do tourists want sustainability transitions? Visitor attitudes to destination trajectories during COVID-19. Tourism Geographies
Wilkinson T, Coles T, Petersen C (In Press). Mindful continuation?. Stakeholder preferences for tourism development in Northern Devon during COVID-19. Tourism Geographies Abstract.
Hall CM, Prayag G, Safonov A, Coles T, Gossling S, Koupaei SN (2022). Airbnb and the sharing economy INTRODUCTION. CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM, 25(19), 3057-3067. Author URL.
Price S, Wilkinson T, Coles T (2022). Crisis? How small tourism businesses talk about COVID-19 and business change in the UK. Current Issues in Tourism, 25(7), 1088-1105.
Coles T, Garcia G, O'Malley E, Turner C (2022). Experiencing Event Management During the Coronavirus Pandemic: a Public Sector Perspective. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3 Abstract.
Nevola F, Coles T, Mosconi C (2022). Hidden Florence revealed? Critical insights from the operation of an augmented reality app in a World Heritage City. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 17(4), 371-390.
Hood L, Bailey AR, Coles T, Pringle E (2022). Liminal spaces and the shaping of family museum visits: a spatial ethnography of a major international art museum. Museum Management and Curatorship, 37(5), 531-554.
Coles T (2022). The sharing economy in tourism and property markets: a comment on the darker side of conceptual stretching. CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM, 25(19), 3068-3075. Author URL.
Pham LDQ, Coles T, Ritchie BW, Wang J (2021). Building business resilience to external shocks: Conceptualising the role of social networks to small tourism & hospitality businesses. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 48, 210-219. Abstract.
Coles T (2021). Tourism, Brexit and the climate crisis: on intersecting crises and their effects. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(9), 1529-1546.
Coles T (2020). Impacts of climate change on tourism and marine recreation. MCCIP Science Review, 2020, 593-615. Abstract.
Coles T (2018). Tourism Geographies at 20: notes from a ‘small island’. Tourism Geographies, 20(5), 923-925.
Borden DS, Shaw G, Coles TE (2017). Consensus building in social marketing campaigns through the Delphi method. Social Marketing Quarterly, 1-14. Abstract.
Borden DS, Coles TE, Shaw G (2017). Social marketing, sustainable tourism, and small/medium size tourism enterprises: challenges and opportunities for changing guest behaviour. Journal of Sustainable Tourism
Church A, Coles TE, Fish R (2017). Tourism in Sub-Global Assessments of Ecosystem Services. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25, 1529-1546. Abstract.
Coles T (2016). Book Review: Cities and visitors: regulating people, markets, and city space. Progress in Human Geography, 30(2), 268-270.
Coles T (2016). Book Reviews. European Urban and Regional Studies, 10(4), 376-377.
Coles T, Warren N, Borden DS, Dinan C (2016). Business models among SMTEs: identifying attitudes to environmental costs and their implications for sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(4), 471-488.
Coles TE, Dinan C, Warren N (2016). Carbon Villains? Climate Change Responses among Accommodation Providers in Historic Premises. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 11(1), 25-42. Abstract.
Coles TE, Dinan C, Warren N (2016). Energy Practices among Small- and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises: a Case of Misdirected Effort?. Journal of Cleaner Production, 111(B), 399-408. Abstract.
Thomas GL, Coles T, Wilson MR (2016). Exploring mini rugby union coaches’ perceptions of competitive activities. Sports Coaching Review, 6(1), 94-107.
Coles TE, Hall CM, Duval DT (2016). Tourism and post-disciplinarity: back to the future?. Tourism Analysis, 21(Special issue on Post-disciplinarity), 373-387. Abstract.
Coles T (2016). Transformation of the Retail Sector in Eastern Germany after Unification. European Urban and Regional Studies, 5(1), 77-83.
Coles TE, Dinan CR, Warren N (2015). Climate change mitigation and the age of tourism accommodation buildings:. a UK perspective. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(6), 900-921. Abstract.
Hall CM, Amelung B, Cohen S, Eijgelaar E, Gössling S, Higham J, Leemans R, Peeters P, Ram Y, Scott D, et al (2015). Denying bogus skepticism in climate change and tourism research. Tourism Management, 47, 352-356. Abstract.
Hall CM, Amelung B, Cohen S, Eijgelaar E, Gössling S, Higham J, Leemans R, Peeters P, Ram Y, Scott D, et al (2015). No time for smokescreen skepticism: a rejoinder to Shani and Arad. Tourism Management, 47, 341-347.
Coles TE (2015). Tourism mobilities: still a current issue in tourism?. Current Issues in Tourism, 18(1), 62-67. Abstract.
Coles TE, Zschiegner A-K, Dinan CR (2014). A cluster analysis of climate change mitigation behaviours among SMTEs. Tourism Geographies: an international journal of tourism place, space and the environment, 16(3), 382-399. Abstract.
Coles TE, Fencolva E, Dinan C (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting among European Low-Fares Airlines: Challenges for the Examination and Development of Sustainable Mobilities. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 22(1), 69-88. Abstract.
Hunter-Jones P, Mccabe S, Coles T, Fyall A (2014). Editorial for the Special Issue of the International Journal of Tourism Research linked to the PhD Colloquium, Exeter, UK, 2nd-4th April 2012. International Journal of Tourism Research, 16(4), 313-314.
Warren N, Coles TE (2014). Out of sight and out of mind?. Tourism, the Journal of the Tourism Society, 160, 16-17.
Coles TE, Dinan CR, Hutchison, FC (2014). Tourism and the Public Sector in England since 2010:. a Disorderly Transition?. Current Issues in Tourism, 17(3), 247-279. Abstract.
Coles TE, Zschiegner A-K, Dinan CR (2013). Climate change mitigation policy and the tourism sector: perspectives from the South West of England. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 5(1), 1-27. Abstract.
Coles TE, Dinan CR, Hutchison FC (2012). May we live in less interesting times?. Changing public sector support for tourism in England during the Sovereign Debt Crisis. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 1-2, 4-7. Abstract.
Fenclova E, Coles TE (2011). Charitable partnerships among travel and tourism businesses: perspectives from low fares airlines. International Journal of Tourism Research, 13(4), 337-354. Abstract.
Coles TE, Zschiegner AK (2011). Climate change mitigation among accommodation providers in the South West of England: comparisons between members and non-members of networks. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 11(2), 117-132. Abstract.
Coles TE, Fenclova E, Dinan CR (2011). Responsibilities, recession and the tourism sector:. perspectives on CSR among low-fares airlines during the economic downturn in the United Kingdom. Current Issues in Tourism, 14(6), 519-536. Abstract.
Coles TE, Hall CM (2011). Rights and Regulation of Travel and Tourism Mobility. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 3(3), 209-233.
Barr SW, Shaw G, Coles TE (2011). Sustainable Lifestyles: sites, practices and policy. Environment and Planning A, 43, 3011-3029.
Barr SW, Shaw G, Coles TE (2011). Times for (Un)sustainability? Challenges and opportunities for developing behaviour change policy. Global Environmental Change, 21, 1234-1244.
Marcevova K, Coles TE, Shaw G (2010). Young Holidaymakers in Groups: Insights on Decision-making and Tourist Behaviour among University Students. Tourism Recreation Research, 35(3), 259-268. Abstract.
Barr SW, Shaw G, Coles TE, Prillwitz J (2009). 'A holiday is a holiday’: practicing sustainability, home and away. Journal of Transport Geography, 18(3), 474-481. Abstract.
Hall D, Singh TV, Henderson JC, Pearce PL, Brown F, Pike S, Coles T (2009). Book Reviews. Tourism Recreation Research, 34(1), 97-105.
Shaw G, Coles T (2009). Conference report. Urban History, 23(1), 90-92.
Coles T (2009). Ecotourism, NGOs and development. A critical analysis. Current Issues in Tourism, 12(3), 295-296.
Coles TE (2009). Tourism studies and the governance of higher education in the United Kingdom. Tourism Geographies, 11(1), 23-42. Abstract.
Coles T (2008). Book Review. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 14(1), 109-111.
Coles T (2008). Book Reviews. Current Issues in Tourism, 11(2), 203-204.
Coles T (2008). Mountain Resort Planning and Development in an Era of Globalization. Mountain Research and Development, 28(2), 177-177.
Coles TE, Liasidou SL, Shaw G (2008). Tourism and New Economic Geography: Issues and Challenges in Moving from Advocacy to Adoption. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 25(3-4), 312-324. Abstract.
Singh S, Wall G, Coles T, Fagence M, Smith VL, Grötzbach E, Prideaux B, Singh TV, Ryan C, Zhang G, et al (2007). Book Reviews. Tourism Recreation Research, 32(2), 91-103.
Coles T (2007). M.ShellerJ.UrryTourism mobilities. Places to play, places in play2004RoutledgeLondon0-415-33879-4xi+240pp, (pbk). Tourism Management, 28(1), 335-336.
Coles T (2006). Book Review. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 14(4), 418-420.
Coles T (2006). Book review. Tourism Management, 27, 356-357.
Coles T (2006). Book review. Tourism Management, 27(2), 356-357.
Coles TE, Hall M (2006). Editorial: the geography of tourism is dead. Long live geographies of tourism and mobility. Current Issues in Tourism, 9(4-5), 289-292.
Scherle N, Coles TE (2006). Inter-cultural communications and power relations in international tourism commodity chains. Zeitschrift fur Wirtschaftsgeographie, 50(2), 109-122.
Coles TE, Hall CM, Duval DT (2006). Tourism and post-disciplinary enquiry. Current Issues in Tourism, 9(4-5), 293-319. Abstract.
Coles TE, Shaw G (2006). Tourism, Property and the Management of Change in Coastal Resorts: Perspectives from South West England. Current Issues in Tourism, 9(1), 46-68.
Coles T (2006). Tourism, creativity and regional development: on the 'project paradigm' in South West England. Wirtschaftsgeographische Studien(32-33), 30-45. Abstract.
SHAW G, VEITCH C, COLES TIM (2005). ACCESS, DISABILITY, AND TOURISM: CHANGING RESPONSES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. Tourism Review International, 8(3), 167-176.
Coles TE, Duval DT, Hall CM (2005). Mobilising tourism: a post-disciplinary critique. Tourism Recreation Research, 30(2), 53-63.
Shaw G, Coles T (2005). Selling the City: Urban Tourism Within the UK. Stadtetourismus, 265-278.
Coles TE, Hall D (2005). Tourism and EU enlargement: Plus ça change. International Journal of Tourism Research, 7(2), 51-61.
Coles T (2004). A Local Reading of a Global Disaster. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 15(2-3), 173-197.
Shaw G, Coles T (2004). Disability, Holidaymaking and the Tourism Industry in the UK. Tourism Management, 25, 397-403.
Coles T, Church A, Desforges L (2004). Discussion forum. Tourism Geographies, 6(2), 257-260.
Coles TE (2004). Tourism and leisure: reading geographies, producing knowledges. Tourism Geographies, 6(2), 1-8.
Coles TE (2004). Tourism and retail transactions: lessons from the Porsche experience. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 10(4), 378-389.
Coles T, Shaw G (2003). Strategy and tactics at the tourist-resident interface: Lessons for sustainable tourism management from the World Heritage city of Bath. Tourism, 51(2), 165-176. Abstract.
Coles TE (2003). The emergent tourism industry in eastern Germany a decade after Unification. Tourism Management, 24(2), 217-226.
Coles T (2003). Tourism, Diaspora and the Mediation of Vacationscapes : Some Lessons from Enticing Jewish- Americans to Germany. Espace, populations, sociétés, 21(2), 327-340. Abstract.
Coles TE (2003). Urban tourism, place promotion and economic restructuring:. the case of post-socialist Leipzig. Tourism Geographies, 5(2), 190-219.
Coles T (2002). Dark tourism— the attraction of death and disaster, by John Lennon and Malcolm Foley. Continuum, London and New York, 2000. No. of pages: 184. Price £15.99. 0‐8264‐5064‐4. International Journal of Tourism Research, 4(6), 485-486.
Coles T (2002). Tourism, Recreation and Sustainability: Linking Culture and the Environment. Land Use Policy, 19(3), 269-271.
Coles T (1999). Competition, contested retail space and the rise of the department store in Imperial Germany. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 9(3), 275-289.
Coles T (1999). Department Stores as Innovations in Retail Marketing: Some Observations on Marketing Practice and Perception in Wilhelmine, Germany. Journal of Macromarketing, 19, 34-47.
Coles T (1999). Reviews. Journal of Historical Geography, 25(4), 578-579.
Coles T (1999). Reviews. Journal of Historical Geography, 25, 578-579.
Coles T, Shaw G (1997). A sign of the times: Scandinavian town directories as sources for urban historical geography. Geografiska Annaler, Series B: Human Geography, 79(2), 65-81. Abstract.
Coles T, Alexander A, Shaw G (1997). Following the script: Optical Character Recognition Technology and the British Town and Trade Directory. History and Computing, 9(1-3), 1-16. Abstract.
Coles T (1997). Trading places. Applied Geography, 17(4), 315-333.
Shaw G, Coles T (1995). Directories as elements of town life - the case of National Socialist Germany. Geographical Journal, 161, 296-306. Abstract.
Shaw G, Coles T (1995). European directories: a universal source for urban historians. Urban History, 22(1), 85-102.

Chapters

Coles TE (In Press). Globalization. In Jafari J, Xiao H (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Tourism, Berlin: Springer. Abstract.
Coles T, Hall CM, Duval DT (2022). A Post-disciplinary Perspective on e-Tourism. In  (Ed) Handbook of e-Tourism, Springer Nature, 95-118.
Coles T, Hall M, Duval D (2021). A post-disciplinary perspective on e-tourism. In Xiang Z, Fuchs M, Gretzel U, Höpken W (Eds.) Handbook of e-Tourism, Cham: Springer, 1-24.  Abstract.
Coles T, Hall CM, Duval DT (2019). Chapter 5. Post-disciplinary Tourism. In  (Ed) Philosophical Issues in Tourism, Channel View Publications, 80-100.
Borden DS, Coles T, Shaw G (2019). Social marketing, sustainable tourism, and small/medium size tourism enterprises: challenges and opportunities for changing guest behaviour. In  (Ed) Marketing for Sustainable Tourism, Taylor & Francis, 35-52.
Coles TE, Fenclova E, Dinan CR (2015). Tourism and corporate social responsibility. In Hall CM, Gossling S, Scott D (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Sustainability, Abingdon: Routledge, 270-279.  Abstract.
Coles TE (2013). Much ado about nothing?. Tourism and the financial crisis. In Visser G, Ferreira S (Eds.) Tourism and Crisis, Abingdon: Routledge, 35-52.
Coles TE, Zschiegner AK (2013). Responses to climate change mitigation during recessionary times:. perspectives from accommodation providers in the Southwest of England. In Visser G, Ferreira S (Eds.) Tourism and Crisis, Abingdon: Routledge, 140-158.
Pitts MEJ (2012). Globalization. In Bagnall R, Broderson K, Champion C, Erskine A, Huebner S (Eds.) The encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley-Blackwell.
Hall CM, Coles T (2010). Introduction. In  (Ed) International Business and Tourism, Taylor & Francis, 1-25.
Shaw G, Coles T (2010). Selling the City: Changes in Urban Tourism within the UK. In  (Ed) Städtetourismus, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 265-278.
Coles T (2008). Citizenship and the state. In  (Ed) Routledge International Series in Tourism, Business & Management, Informa UK Limited, 55-69.
Scherle N, Coles T (2008). International business networks and intercultural communications in the production of tourism. In  (Ed) Routledge International Series in Tourism, Business & Management, Informa UK Limited, 124-142.
Coles TE, Hall CM, Duval DT (2008). Post-disciplinary tourism. In Tribe J (Ed) Philosophical Issues in Tourism, Clevedon: Channel View, 80-100.
Coles TE (2008). Telling tales of tourism: mobility, media and citizenship in the 2004 EU Enlargement. In Burns PM, Novelli M (Eds.) Tourism and Mobility: Local-Global Connections, CAB International, 65-80.
Coles T (2008). The implementation of sustainable tourism: a project-based perspective. In  (Ed) Sustainable Tourism Futures: Perspectives on Systems, Restructuring and Innovations, 203-221.
Coles TE (2008). The implementation of sustainable tourism: a project-based perspective. In Gossling S, Weaver D, Hall CM (Eds.) Sustainable Tourism Futures. Perspectives on Innovation, Scale and Restructuring, London: Routledge, 204-221.
Shaw G, Coles T (2007). The Resort Economy: Changing Structures and Management Issues in British Resorts. In Agarwal S, Shaw G (Eds.) Managing Coastal Tourism Resorts, Channel View, 40-56.
Shaw G (2006). Disability legislation and the empowerment of tourists with disabilities in the United Kingdom. In  (Ed) Tourism, Power and Space, 83-100.
Coles TE (2006). Enigma Variations? the TALC, marketing models and the descendents of the Product Life Cycle. In Butler RW (Ed) The Tourism Area Life Cycle: Conceptual and theoretical issues, Clevedon: Channel View Books, 49-66.
Coles T, Duval DT, Hall CM (2005). Chapter 24 Tourism, mobility, and global communities: new approaches to theorising tourism and tourist spaces. In  (Ed) Global Tourism, Elsevier, 463-481.
Coles TE (2004). Diaspora, Cultural Capital and the Production of Tourism: Lessons from Enticing Jewish-Americans to Germany. In Coles TE, Timothy DJ (Eds.) Tourism, Diasporas and Space, London: Routledge, 217-232.  Abstract.
Coles TE, Duval DT, Hall CM (2004). Tourism, mobility and global communities: new approaches to theorising tourism and tourist spaces. In Theobald W (Ed) Global Tourism, Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 463-481.
Coles TE (2004). Tourism, retailing and shopping: an axiomatic relationship?. In Lew AA, Williams AM, Hall CM (Eds.) A Companion to Tourism, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 360-373.
Coles T (2004). What makes a resort complex?: Reflections on the production of tourism space in a Caribbean resort complex. In  (Ed) Tourism in the Caribbean: Trends, Development, Prospects, 235-256.
Coles T, Shaw G (2002). Tourism, Tourists and Local Residents: Management Implications for the World Heritage City of Bath. In  (Ed) City Tourism 2002, Springer Nature, 230-240.

Conferences

Howard MB, Coles T (2016). A research agenda for the circular economy: SME integration in services-based supply chains. International Purchasing & Supply Education and Research Association. 26th - 31st Mar 2016.
Barr SW, Shaw G, Coles T, Prillwitz J (2008). 'A holiday is a holiday’: practicing sustainability, home and away. RGS-IBG.

Reports

Coles T (2023). Climate Change and the Tourism Sector:. Impacts and Adaptations at Visitor Attractions. Final Report. In Partnership with National Trust and Historic Environment Scotland. UK Climate Resilience Programme,  Exeter, University of Exeter Business School. In Partnership with National Trust and Historic Environment Scotland.  Abstract.
Coles T (2023). Climate Change and the Tourism Sector:. Impacts and Adaptations at Visitor Attractions. Technical Report:. Quantitative Research. United Kingdom Climate Resilience Programme - Natural Environment Research Council.
Coles T (2023). Climate Change and the Tourism Sector: Impacts and Adaptations at Visitor Attractions. Technical Report: Qualitative Research. United Kingdom Climate Resilience Programme - Natural Environment Research Council.

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External Engagement and Impact

Awards and Honours

  • 2016 Erskine Fellow, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
  • 2015 ESRC Celebrating Impact Awards (Business Category) - Shortlisted
  • 2002-04: Business Research Fellowship (SWRDA)
  • 1993 Alfred Steers Dissertation Prize (Royal Geographical Society)

Conferences and invited presentations

  • ‘Accessible tourism:  major issues and future challenges in the UK’, Keynote address, Accessible Tourism:  an Invitation for the Cypriot Economy, Cyprus University of Technology and Department of Tourism, October, 2019.
  • ‘Strengthening research through collaboration’, Keynote address, The Exchange, Exeter, June 2019.
  • 'A fair share?  Or when a problem shared is not a problem halved.  AirBNB, the sharing economy and the tourism sector in Brexit Britain'.  Invited presentation, Airbnb, tourism, and the impacts of the sharing economy.  University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ, March 2019.
  • 'Tourism geographies of Brexit'.  Invited research seminar. Umeå University, Sweden, October 2018.
  • ‘Brexit research implications'.  Keynote address. Business and Applied Sciences Academy of North America Conference (BAASANA). Exeter, August 2017.
  • ‘This much I know…. [about SMTEs]’, Keynote address, Green Travelism Summer School, University of Hasselt, Belgium, August 2014.
  • ‘Understanding the role of tourism in ecosystem services’, Keynote address, Tropical Tourism Outlook Conference: Nature, Culture and Networking for Sustainable Tourism, Dambula, Sri Lanka, August 2014.
  • ‘Tourism as a driver for regional economic development’, Keynote address, Sibiu Smart City Conference, Heritas Foundation, Sibiu, Rumania, October 2013.
  • ‘Post-disciplinary research in travel and tourism’, Keynote address, First Tourism Postdisciplinarity Conference, University of Lausanne, June 2013.

External positions

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Teaching

In his modules, Prof Coles explores the interfaces between management principles and practices, and between the academy and everyday business and commerce.  Inspired by his research and his experiences of consultancy and contract research, Tim’s current postgraduate modules are designed to ensure that students have the dual benefits of academic rigour combined with ‘real world’ practicality.  Employability features strongly in how the modules are designed and assessed. 

BEMM381 Tourism Business uses international case-studies as well as practical examples from regional businesses to unpack key ideas and issues about tourism management.  Although it may be unusual to see a module on a specific sector in a business school curriculum, travel and tourism is arguably one of the world's largest industries and it is accompanied by distinctive forms of behaviours that management scholars cannot afford to ignore.

BEMM389 Business Analytics and Research Methods focuses on a rapidly expanding area in business administration and management.  Using examples from a range of sectors, this module examines the practicalities and pragmatics of analysing contemporary business sources.  Rather than just focus on  the 'know how' of analytics technologies, this module also stresses the 'know why' - why data are important, why they can be trusted, and why they are communicated in particular ways.

Postgraduate Research

Tim is a very active and committed supervisor of research students at all stages.  28 students have successfully completed their doctorates with his direction, and 17 are working in higher education throughout the world.  In 2013 he published a textbook on writing dissertations and theses in tourism and related subjects, primarily aimed at undergraduate students.  This broke new ground by adopting an overtly project management, time-based approach to tackling dissertations by breaking down independent research into a series of less daunting, more ‘do-able’ tasks.  Scalable and adaptable in scope, the principles are equally applicable to doctoral and masters students, both in tourism and other social science disciplines.  At present he is particularly interested in supervising students in the areas of:

  • Sustainable tourism, including tourism and the SDGs
  • Tourism and global environmental change, including climate change and net zero emissions.
  • The impacts and management of tourism in both natural and historic environments, including overtourism.
  • Business model innovation in tourism, the cultural industries and creative economy.
  • New product development, and competition, including the sharing economy.
  • Business resilience, risk and disaster planning in the tourism sector.

Modules

2023/24


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