Senior Lecturer in Hospitality and Tourism
I studied my undergraduate degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management and Msc in International Business. Prior to commencing my academic career I gained extensive experience in the tourism and hospitality industry and worked for national and international employers including British Airways Istanbul Hilton, Ciragan Palace Kempinski and Holiday Inn. In my previous employment, I've also had significant involvement in developing tailored training to support employers in the tourism industry; helping businesses achieve their objectives such as customer service, service recovery, conflict handling and sales.
I continue to work with regional and national employers in curriculum and assessment design which informs some of the modules that I deliver. Recently, I worked with Kielder Water Forest Park and my students produced consultancy projects evaluating the accommodation, food and beverage provision of Kielder.
I am also a technology and design enthusiast and fascinated by creative use of technology that makes complicated concepts more accessible, tourism and hospitality products and services more fun.
Teaching and supervision
I teach on:
- BA (Hons) Events Management
- BSc (Hons) International Tourism and Hospitality Management
- BSc (Hons) International Tourism and Hospitality Management (Top-Up)
- MSc Tourism and Hospitality
Modules:
- TLH252 Consultancy for the Visitor Economy
- TLH314 International Hospitality Management
- TLH345 Airline and Airport Commercial Operations
- CHTM27 Hospitality Management Studies
I also supervise both undergraduate and masters major projects.
Research interests for potential research students
Research
- Value creation through gamification for local tourism places and stakeholders
- Not the Blue Mosque, take me where you like? Destination Branding through the Narratives of Taxi Drivers in Istanbul
- Reconceptualising the gamification in tourism
Publications
Article
Uzunogullari, Serkan (2022) Armchair travel through video games: stories from elsewheres and elsewhens. Leisure Studies. pp. 1-14. ISSN 0261-4367 (In Press)
Uzunogullari, Serkan and Brown, Alyssa Eve (2020) Negotiable bodies: employer perceptions of visible body modifications. Current Issues in Tourism. pp. 1-14. ISSN 1747-7603
Conference or Workshop Item
Mitsche, Nicole (2017) Pokémon GO game as a pull factor in new target market acquisition for tourism places and local stakeholders. In: UNSPECIFIED, 24th May 2017, Sunderland.
- Tourism and Hospitality Marketing
- Stragegic Hospitality Management
- Destination Branding
- Hospitality Operations
- Social Media
- Gamification in Tourism
- HEA Fellow
- Member of The Turkish Union of Tourist Guides (TUREB)
International Conferences:
- International West Asia Congress of Tourism
Member of Scientific Committee, 28 September - 1 October 2017, Van Turkey - Global Conference on Hospitality, Tourism, Event and Leisure Management (HOTEL)
Member of Scientific Committee, 14-17 March 2018, Florida, USA
Creative Work:
- Designer – University of Sunderland Tourism, Hospitality and Events Department Newsletter, THE Oracle
