Our PhD students
Ann Cameron
Thesis title: Hospitality and the Social Capital of Hotel Work in New Zealand popular media from 1880
Supervisor: Dr Jenny Cave
Ann completed a BCA at Victoria University of Wellington, majoring in marketing and accounting. She moved into Hospitality via a Graduate Diploma at AUT and time working as a research assistant at the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute. He MPhil, also completed at AUT, examined the role of ICT in service delivery in hotels.
Ann has worked as a Help Desk/Customer Support Manager for small IT firms as well in amongst other customer service roles ranging from retail to call centres and hospitality. At present she is teaching on the Bachelor of Applied Business Studies programme at Whitireia Auckland, delivering a range of papers in the Management and Hospitality majors. She also facilitates the Community of Practice and convenes and organises WARS the campus research symposium and a campus wide Professional Development day.
Her PhD aims to explore the historical influences on the socio-cultural context of hotel work in New Zealand and how this influences the recruitment and retention issues faced by the industry.
Vijay Kumar
Thesis title: Cruise ship tourism: what is the impact and growth of the industry in the Oceania region and implications of marketing?
Vijay was born and raised in the suburbs of the Holy place Kurukshetra in India. The historical, religious and touristic importance of the place inspired him to pursue tourism management for his career and he completed his masters in tourism management from the Kurukshetra University. After completing his masters he moved to the heart of the country, New Delhi and gained extremely valuable experience while working in an outbound travel industry in international travel management roles for four years. During this experience he developed a penchant towards cruising and is currently pursuing doctoral research on Cruising in New Zealand at The University of Waikato, Waikato Management School.
Supervisors:
- Associate Professor Tim Lockyer
- Associate Professor Anne Zahra
Fangxuan Li
Thesis title: Chinese Tourists' Perceptions of Tourism in North Korea.
Fangxuan completed his first degree at Dongbei University, China, and then studied at the University of Surrey campus at Dongbei before coming to the University of Waikato. His research project is a study of the motives and perceptions of Chinese visitors to North Korea, and initial results reveal motives such as nostaligia and an interest in making comparisons between North Korea and China as it is today, and as it might have been if it were not for the policies of Deng Xiaoping and his successors. Fangxuan has also been an active participant in other research projects within the department.
Supervisors:
- Professor Chris Ryan
- Associate Professor Asad Mohsin
Murray MacKenzie
Thesis title: Corporate Social Responsibility in the New Zealand Hotel Industry: An Exploitative Study.
Murray has worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University since 2008, prior to that he was employed at the Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, as a senior lecturer and programme leader for the Bachelor of International Hospitality Management. He has 17 years experience lecturing and teaching in Northern Ireland and New Zealand. As a former Chef his industry experience has taken him to several countries, including ,New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Northern Ireland and England where he has worked with renowned chefs such as Paul Rankin (Cayenne) and Peter Gordon (The Sugar Club). Mr Mackenzie has held key positions in major hotels and restaurants such as Executive Sous Chef, Head Banqueting Chef and Executive Head Chef, and has worked in the hospitality industry for over 25 years. Mr Mackenzie completed his Master of Education in 1997 through the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland.
Supervisors:
- Associate Professor Tim Lockyer
- Associate Professor Asad Mohsin
Ashley Puriri
Thesis title: Kaupapa Maori Action Research for Sustainable Whanau Based Tourism Development for the Cruise Ship Industry.
Ash Originates from the East Coast of New Zealand and is a descendant of Ngato Kahunngunu and Ngati Porou with relationships with Waikato Tainui. Ash's doctoral studies concentrate on regarding kaupapa Maori as a valuable research methodology when researching Maori tourism development by a Maori scholar for Maori. He will be researching, developing testing,reaffirming Maori research paradigms and developing and defining analytical tools, that inform the well-being of Maori through a kaupapa Maori methodology.
Supervisors:
- Dr Brennan Allen
- Professor Chris Ryan
- Dr Jenny Cave
Jin Yi
Thesis title: The Social Network of DMO and its Impact on the Rural Tourism Destination Branding.
Jin Yi comes from Jinan, Shandong Province and her study relates to the role of destination marketing organisations and the development of tourism policies in Shandong, especially with reference to community impacts in traditional fishing ports. Jin is very familiar with the area and has conducted previous research and work there in her previous roles in Shandong
Supervisors:
- Professor Chris Ryan
- Dr Jenny Cave
Yana Wengel
Thesis title: Communication of Ideals, Narratives and Reciprocity in Alternative Volunteer Exchange Programmes: An Examination of WWOOF Farms in New Zealand.
Yana was born in Russia but completed her university under- and post-graduate education in Germany, gaining her Master’s degree in tourism development studies at University of Applied Sciences Stralsund. Her supervisors are Professor Alison McIntosh and Dr Cheryl Cockburn-Wotton from the Department of Management Communications. Yana is looking at WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) Programme which connects volunteers who work on organic farms in countries of their choice in exchange for food and accommodation. A mixed methods approach is being adopted, commencing with a series of interviews with the various stakeholders, with the primary focus being on value systems and their communication.
Supervisors
- Dr Cheryl Cockburn-Wootten
- Professor Chris Ryan
- Dr Jenny Cave
Jun (Tom) Gao
- Professor Chris Ryan
- Dr Jenny Cave