Research

The Division of Tourism, Hospitality and Events is home to two research centres: UCLan's Institute for Dark Tourism Research (iDTR) and The Institute of Transport and Tourism.



UCLan's Institute for Dark Tourism Research (iDTR)

A world-leading academic centre for dark tourism scholarship, research and teaching.

The iDTR promotes ethical research into the social scientific understanding of tourist sites of death, disaster or the seemingly macabre.

The Institute brings together researchers who seek to deliver internationally recognized research that contributes to the ethical and social scientific understanding of dark tourism and dark heritage.

The iDTR seeks to research, publish, and consult as to the appropriate development, management, interpretation and promotion of dark tourism sites, attractions and exhibitions, as well as understanding tourist experiences.

For regular updates from the iDTR please like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @dark_tourism.


The Institute of Transport and Tourism

Aims to advance knowledge about travel for leisure and tourism. It brings together researchers who seek to deliver high quality research contributing to the development and practice of sustainable transport and tourism.

In support of this aim the Institute also seeks to:

1. Build research capacity in the area of transport and tourism in order to publish high quality articles [and in addition other research related outcomes] in line with the University and School research strategies
2. Enhance the development of practice, which will benefit government and other organisations, in policy formulation and implementation
3. Establish an international reputation for developing new knowledge and research approaches in transport and tourism
4. Increase the level of academic collaboration across the School, University and with Research Networks at an international level
5. Generate external revenue from commissioned studies to contribute to income generation within the School
6. Update and improve knowledge which informs the curriculum and the teaching of transport and tourism as well as research methods
7. Generate a strong regional commitment in association with practitioners, chartered institutes and societies and other key organisations

We aim to provide fresh insights into transport, tourism and sustainable development through a rigorous investigation of issues of mobility in contemporary society. Through dissemination of our findings, we hope to advise policy in relation to changing travel patterns and improve the sustainability of tourist travel practices.

The Institute of Transport and Tourism is a small institute with big ambitions to make leisure travel more sustainable. Many beautiful areas of the UK and world are now threatened by people’s travelling, whether it is the noise of traffic in an area of natural tranquillity, historic buildings rising from a plinth of parked cars or islands and coasts facing floods from global climate change exacerbated through expanding air and surface travel.

For a long time people’s leisure travel has been under-researched both by transport and tourism academics. The Institute of Transport and Tourism aims to correct this by studying and reporting on how people make their decisions about leisure travel, what influences those decisions and how choices of where and how to travel can reduce the environmental impact of leisure travel, while increasing the benefits for travellers and destinations.