Award Winners
TTRA celebrates its past award winners.
Best Graduate 3-Minute Thesis Award (Academic Award)
Awarded to the best graduate 3-minute thesis presented at the Annual International Conference.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Li Xie-Carson | "Fake it to make it: Exploring Instagram users’ engagement with virtual influencers in tourism" |
| 2019 | Yawei Jiang | “Building Dynamic Capabilities in Tourism Organisations for Crisis and Disaster Management: Antecedents and Barriers" |
Best Graduate Colloquium Paper (Academic Award)
Awarded to the best graduate colloquium paper presented at the Annual International Conference.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Michael Lever, Ye (Sandy) Shen & Marion Joppe | "Using Eye-Tracking Technology to Segment Tourism Brochure Reading Typologies" |
| 2017 | Yu-Hua (Melody) Xu & Lori Pennington-Gray | "Exploring the Spatial Relationship between Airbnb and Crime" |
| 2016 | Jennifer K. Young | "Non-Travel: the role of design in the experience of contemporary travel" |
| 2015 | Jake Jorgenson | "A Moment in Time: Autobiographical Memories of Nature-based Tourists" |
| 2014 | Mary-Anne Smith | "Quality Tourism Experiences: A qualitative study of Australian Gold Coast residents’ perspective as tourists in a group tour to China" |
Best Illustrated Paper (Academic Award)
Awarded to the best illustrated paper presented at the Annual International Conference.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Hyunseo (Violet) Yoon & Carla Santos | “Exploring the Tourist Experience in Virtual Tourism " |
| 2019 | Leah Gibson | “What’s Old is New Again: Instagram as the New Slide Night" |
| 2018 | Ye (Sandy) Shen, Michael M. Lever & Marion Joppe | “Determining Visitor Guide Appeal Using Eye Tracking and in-depth Interviews: The Case of Ottawa, Canada“ |
| 2017 | Jyoti Sood, Deepak Chhabra, & Kathleen Andereck | "Sustainable Promotion of Homestay Tourism in the Remote Himalayas of India" |
| 2016 | Jason Stienmetz & Dan Fesenmaier | "Validating Volunteered Geographic Information: Can We Really Trace Visitors Digital Footprints?" |
| 2015 | Pete Parker, Nichola Evernden, Laurel Sliskovic | "Designing systems for community-based visitor data: A collaborative case study on Vancouver Island" |
| 2014 | Rick Perdue, Geoffrey Crouch, & Whitney Knollenberg | "On the Evolution of Tourism Research: An Analysis of the Journal of Travel Research Charles R. Goeldner Article of Excellence Award Recipient Papers" |
| 2013 | Carla Barbieri, Jie Gao, & Corinne Valdivia | "Are pictures worth more than a 1000 words or…? Insights from preferences for agritourism destinations." |
Best Qualitative Research Methods Paper (Academic Award)
Awarded to the best qualitative research methods paper presented at the Annual International Conference.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Joelle Soulard & Nancy McGehee | “Using Drawings as Tools for Travelers to Express Transformation" |
Best Research Paper (Academic Award)
Awarded to the best research paper presented at the Annual International Conference.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Oksana Tokarchuk, Jacob Barr, & Claudia Cozzio | “Estimating Destination Carrying Capacity: The Big Data Approach" |
| 2019 | Yuhua (Melody) Xu | “Spatial Effects of Crime on Peer to Peer Lodging Performance" |
| 2018 | Alana Dillette & Stephanie Benjamin | "Tweeting The Black Travel Experience: Social Media Counter-Narrative Stories as Innovative Insight on #TravelingWhileBlack" |
| 2017 | Jason Stienmetz | "Destination Value Systen Taxonomy for Smarter Tourism Management" |
| 2016 | Anil Bilghian, Peter Ricci, & Ye Zhang | "Agent-Based Modeling of DestinationBased Tourists Interactive Evolution" |
| 2015 | Dan Fesenmaier, Jeongmi Jamie Kim | "Designing Tourism Places: Understanding The Tourism Experience Through Our Senses" |
| 2014 | Danielle Barbe, Elizabeth A. Halpenny, Kelly MacKay, & Christine Van Winkle | "Your Festival in 140 Characters or Less*: Exploring Festivals Use of Twitter" |
| 2013 | Suesheng Wang | "Residents’ Propensity for Tourism Advocacy, a Place Identity Perspective" |
| 2012 | Fang Meng & Simon Hudson | "Drive Tourism in Rural Destination Development: Dual Perspectives from Industry Stakeholders and Potential Visitors" |
Boeing Masters Student Research Award (Academic Award; Awarded Every 2 Years)
Awarded to a masters student enrolled in a degree-granting program for a completed, original research study.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Becky Liu-Lastres | "Building A Diverse, Inclusive, and Resilient Workforce in Tourism and Hospitality: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic" |
| 2019 | Ashley Schroeder & Whitney Knollenberg | "Understanding Best Practices to Improve Advocacy Efforts for the Tourism Industry" |
| 2018 | Not Awarded | |
| 2017 | Not Awarded | |
| 2016 | Not Awarded | |
| 2015 | Ibrahim Nasreen | "The Development of Innovative Service Experiences to Maintain the Maldives Position as a Luxury Tourist Destination." |
| 2014 | Not Awarded | |
| 2013 | Not Awarded | |
| 2012 | Jie Gao | “Residents Perceptions of Agroforestry Landscapes: Implications for Agritourism” |
Chapter Achievement Award (awarded at the Annual Conference)
The Travel and Tourism Research Association’s Chapter Achievement Award is presented to the chapter that best furthers the mission of TTRA through spirit, innovation, effectiveness, and creativity.
| Year | Chapter | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Not Awarded | |
| 2019 | Not Awarded | |
| 2018 | CenStates | |
| 2017 | SouthEast States | |
| 2016 | Asia Pacific | |
| 2015 | Greater Western | |
| 2014 | Not Awarded | |
| 2013 | Canada | |
| 2012 | SouthEast States |
Charles R. Goeldner Article of Excellence Award (Academic Award)
Awarded to recognize the most significant work in the Journal of Travel Research during the year. The award is named for the long-time editor of the Journal of Travel Research – Charles R. Goeldner.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Sheng Ye, Julie Lee, Joanne Sneddon, & Geoffrey Soutar | "Personifying Destinations: A Personal Values Approach" |
| 2019 | Jungkeun Kim, Peter Beomcheol Kim & Jae-Eun Kim | "Different or Similar Choices: The Effect of Decision Framing on Variety Seeking in Travel Bundle Packages" |
| 2018 | Fred Bronner, Robert de Hoog | “Tourist Demand Reactions: Symmetric or Asymmetric across the Business Cycle?“ |
| 2017 | Ding Du, Alan A. Lew, Pin T. Ng | "Tourism and Economic Growth" |
| 2016 | Tim Coltman, Sara Dolnicar, & Rajeev Sharma | "Do Satisfied Tourists Really Intend to Come Back? Three Concerns with Empirical Studies of the Link between Satisfaction and Behavioral Information" |
| 2015 | Christina Cavaliere, Scott Cohen, & James Higham | "Climate Change, Discretionary Air Travel and the “Flyers’ Dilemma" |
| 2014 | Vernon Biaet, Cody Morris Paris, & Timothy Tyrrell | "A Quantifies Triple Bottom Line for Tourism: Experimental Results" |
| 2013 | Albert George Assaf & Alexander Josiassen | "Identifying and Ranking the Determinants of Tourism Performance: A Global Investigation" |
| 2012 | Geoffrey I. Crouch | "Destination Competitiveness: An Analysis of Determinant Attributes" |
| 2011 | M. Joseph Sirgy | "Toward a Quality-of-Life Theory of Leisure Travel Satisfaction" |
| 2010 | Xiang Li, Bing Pan, Lixuan Zhang, Wayne W. Smith | "The Effect of Online Information Search on Image Development: Insights from a Mixed-Methods Study" |
| 2009 | Zheng Xiang, Karl Wöber, Daniel R. Fesenmaier | "Representation of the Online Tourism Domain in Search Engines" |
| 2008 | Joe Kelly, Wolfgang Haider, Peter W. Williams | "A Behavioral Assessment of Tourism Transportation Options for Reducing Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gases" |
| 2007 | Yuksel Ekinci, Sameer Hosany | "Destination Personality: An Application of Brand Personality to Tourism Destinations" |
| 2006 | Robert J. Johnston, Timothy J. Tyrrell | "A Dynamic Model of Sustainable Tourism" |
| 2005 | Duarte B. Morais, Michael J. Dorsch, Sheila J. Backman | "Can Tourism Providers Buy their Customers’ Loyalty? Examining the Influence of Customer-Provider Investments on Loyalty" |
| 2004 | Sara Dolnicar, Friedrich Leisch | "Winter Tourist Segments in Austria: Identifying Stable Vacation Styles Using Bagged Clustering Techniques" |
| 2003 | Yvette Reisinger, Lindsay W. Turner | "Cultural Differences between Asian Tourist Markets and Australian Hosts: Parts 1 and 2" |
| 2002 | Donald Getz, Martin O’Neill, Jack Carlsen | "Service Quality Evaluation at Events through Service Mapping" |
| 2001 | Marcia Sakai, Jeffrey Brown, James Mak | "Population Aging and Japanese International Travel in the 21st Century" |
Distinguished Researcher Award
A Distinguished Researcher is one who is recognized by their peers as a valuable resource in the tourism research community and who has provided outstanding service to the field. The recipient is recognized by not only general overviews of contributions during their career but also recognized by specific examples of what they have done to advance tourism research, the people in it, and how they have worked to ensure that the tourism research community continues to flourish.
| Year | Name | Organization Affiliation At Award Presentation |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Jeff Dalley | New Zealand Department of Conservation |
| 2017 | Sara Dolnicar | The University of Queensland |
| 2014 | Denise Miller | Strategic Marketing & Research Insights |
| 2010 | Rick Cain | TNS Travel and Leisure |
| 2008 | Stan Hodge | Texas Tourism Office of the Governor |
DK Shifflet Award for Research Excellence (Practitioner Award)
The DK Shifflet Award for Research Excellence recognizes a practitioner or their DMO for research that resulted or contributed to key decisions or actions for their organization and/or its constituents. This award also highlights the tireless work of a researcher role to measure and promote travel and tourism within their DMO and the industry.
| Year | Name | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Joe Black | Visit Knoxville |
| 2019 | Marlise Taylor | Visit NC, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina |
| 2018 | Stephen Schwer | Tourism Central Australia Membership Review |
Emerging Leaders Rising Star Award (awarded at the Marketing Outlook Forum)
Presented to an emerging leader employed the travel and tourism sector for the individual’s commitment to increasing his or her expertise in the industry, demonstration of leadership abilities, and outstanding accomplishments that have added value to travel and tourism.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Ladan Ghahramani | Tourism Oregon |
| 2019 | Not Awarded | |
| 2018 | Whitney Knollenberg | North Carolina State University |
| 2017 | Nick Breedlove | Jackson County Tourism Development Authority |
| 2016 | Andria Godfrey | Georgia Department of Economic Development |
| 2015 | Leah Chandler | Branson Convention and Visitors Bureau |
J. Desmond Slattery Graduate Student Research Award (Academic Award)
Awarded to a master or doctoral student to assist with their thesis or dissertation.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Kim Pham | "Overtourism: A Theoretical Framework and Stakeholder Involvement" |
| 2019 | Jada Lindblom | "Investigating Emotion and Affect within Residents in a Post-War, Emergent Destination" |
| 2018 | Seojin Lee | “Adoption and Rejection of Service Innovations by Travelers in the Sharing Economy” |
| 2017 | Florian Kock, A. George Assaf, & Alexander Josiassen | "Advancing Destination Image: The Destination Content Model" |
| 2016 | Becky Liu | "Developing Effective Crisis Response" |
| 2015 | Not Awarded | |
| 2014 | P.C.R. Lam | "Consumer Evaluations of Hotel Restaurant Brand Alliance" |
| 2013 | Matthew Dugdale | "The effect of negative media on destination branding: Altered perceptions in the case of Jersey and Haut de la Garenne" |
| 2012 | Mark Wai Kan | "Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in Four and Five Star Hotels in Hong Kong: Perspectives from Hong Kong Visitors" |
J. Desmond Slattery Professional Marketing Award (Marketing Award)
The J. Desmond Slattery Professional Marketing Award is presented to the travel marketing professional who has made a significant contribution to travel and tourism marketing. This award was named after past TTRA President J. Desmond Slattery. He was a favorite ttra speaker and shared wonderfully educational stories about his travel clients.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Erin Francis-Cummings | Destination Analysts |
| 2019 | Not Awarded | |
| 2018 | Gail Bryant | City of Hannibal / Convention & Visitors Bureau |
| 2017 | Heather Lemoine | North Dakota |
| 2016 | Jarrod Lyman | Clackamas County Tourism and Cultural Affairs |
| 2015 | Claudia Vecchio | Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs |
John and Joan Markham Tourism Marketing Award (Marketing Award)
This award was established in honor of John and Joan Markham for the almost 30 years of dedicated service by John Markham as the stalwart financial planner and treasurer for the international Travel and Tourism Research Association. Both John and Joan, up until her recent passing, have been unfaltering in their support for TTRA over the years and forever committed to its success.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Clare Robinson | Temple University |
| 2019 | Hailey Post | North Carolina State University |
| 2018 | Patrick Robbins | Temple University |
| 2017 | Juleigh Giberson | Ryerson University |
| 2016 | Kari Roberg | Arizona State University |
| 2015 | Cassandra Ball | Temple University |
Keeling Dissertation Award (Academic Award; Awarded Every 2-Years)
Awarded to a junior researcher (faculty with less than 5 years out of terminal degree) for the creative development of a research project, technique, or methodology.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Not Awarded | |
| 2018 | Rawan Nimri | “Positive versus Negative Framing: Triggering Pro-Environmental Behaviour in Hotel Guests“ |
| 2017 | Not Awarded | |
| 2016 | Ye Zhang | "Self-Determined Travel Facilitation with Primed Mental Construal" |
| 2015 | Jake Jorgenson | "A Moment in Time: Autobiographical Memories of Nature-based Tourists" |
| 2014 | Mary-Anne Smith | "Quality Tourism Experiences: A qualitative study of Australian Gold Coast residents’ perspective as tourists in a group tour to China" |
| 2013 | Not Awarded | |
| 2012 | Not Awarded |
Lifetime Achievement Award Winners
The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor given by the Travel and Tourism Research Association. This award is presented to the individual or organization that has made a highly significant contribution to TTRA as well as to the travel and tourism industry. The award is based on significant, long-term contributions to the industry and/or TTRA
| Year | Name | Organization Affiliation at Award Presentation |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Bill Siegel | Longwoods International |
| 2019 | Sue Beeton | Independent Researcher |
| 2018 | John L. Crompton | Texas A&M University |
| 2017 | Dee Ann McKinney | Missouri Division of Tourism |
| 2016 | Sheila Flanagan | Dublin Institute Of Technology |
| 2015 | Rick Perdue | Virginia Tech University |
| 2014 | Noel Sweeney | Tourism & Transport Consult International |
| 2013 | Dan Fesenmaier | Temple University School of Tourism and Hospitality Mgmt |
| 2010 | James Burke | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona |
| 2009 | Pauline Sheldon | University of Hawaii |
| 2008 | Scott Meis | Scott M. Meis Research Associates |
| 2004 | Peter Williams | Simon Frasier University |
| 2003 | Donald F. Holecek | Michigan State University |
| 2001 | Clare Gunn | Texas A&M University |
| 2001 | Earl E. Ditmars | American Airlines |
| 2000 | John Markham | Markham & Associates |
| 1999 | Suzanne D. Cook | Travel Industry Association of America |
| 1998 | John D. Hunt | University of Idaho |
| 1997 | Doug Frechtling | George Washington University |
| 1996 | Rossi Ralenkotter | Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority |
| 1995 | J.R. Brent Ritchie | University of Calgary |
| 1994 | Gordon Taylor | Tourism Canada |
| 1992 | Chuck Goeldner | University of Colorado |
| 1991 | Marilou Wood | University of Utah |
Travel Research Grant (Academic Award; Awarded Every 2-Years)
Awarded to a junior researcher (faculty with less than 5 years out of terminal degree) for the creative development of a research project, technique, or methodology.
| Year | Name | Paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Not Awarded | |
| 2018 | Not Awarded | |
| 2017 | Not Awarded | |
| 2016 | Emily Ayscue | "Airbnb: Assessing its Engagement and Sustainability in Athens, GA" |
| 2015 | Not Awarded | |
| 2014 | Holly Donohoe | "Ticks, tick-borne diseases, and their knowledge and prevention amongst Florida State Park Visitors and Workers" |
| 2013 | Not Awarded | |
| 2012 | Not Awarded |
Yesawich Award for Marketing Excellence (Marketing Award)
Sponsored by MMGY Global, this award seeks to recognize excellence in either a Marketing Manager or Director or a Destination Marketing Organization, with excellence defined as having created an outstanding marketing strategy based on relevant data and research, resulting in a superior marketing effort with significant, measurable results.
| Year | Name | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Mark Ezell | Tennessee Department of Tourist Development |
| 2019 | Will Hare | Discover Durham |
| 2018 | Lauren Hansen-Flaschen | Visit Philadelphia |
| 2017 | Jay Kinghorn | Utah Office of Tourism |