Excelia’s researcher-active faculty members carry out research in the interests of everyone!
Of course, students benefit from specialised teaching and quality supervision for their dissertation or thesis, but not only... because a dynamic Research Department contributes to the excellence of the programmes offered, and is the condition for obtaining the accreditations that place Excelia in the top 1% of schools worldwide (with ‘triple crown’ accreditation: AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA), thereby enhancing the value of students’ qualifications. Research is an integral part of the Business School and its scope logically includes tourism and tourism management.
DIVERSITY and IMPACT are the two cornerstones of Excelia’s research policy
DIVERSITY is achieved through a wide range of contributions that reflect the ability of Excelia’s research to focus, as much as possible, on current issues through…
- articles in high-level academic journals
- works and chapters of works
- published case studies
- papers in national and international conferences and symposia
- editorials in professional and academic journals
- the organisation of research-oriented events within Excelia
IMPACT is manifold:
- academic… through the dissemination of articles in the best journals
- pedagogical… through case studies
- managerial… through a meeting of minds with industry professionals and other organisations
- societal… through contributions that fall within the scope of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The school has a strong desire to disseminate the results of its research to a wider audience, for example by involving entrepreneurs to generate complementary points of view, from which elements of progress and new ideas can emerge.
The researcher seeks to identify the gap between the hypotheses on a given theme and the reality of managerial and societal problems.
Therefore, the aim of Excelia’s tourism research is for the academic impact to improve management practices, as these two dimensions are mutually beneficial.
2021 and 2022: three research themes leading to various intellectual contributions
- Theme 1: this is directly linked to Excelia’s 2020-2025 strategic plan, namely reflection and possible action focussed on the development strategies of tourism organisations, with topics such as the management of coastal paths and hiking tourism, the digital policy of spa resorts, the case of a Hotel & Spa in Charente-Maritime, the challenges of the camping & holiday park industry, sustainable tourism and oenology.
- Theme 2: this focusses on accommodation providers and local regions, their appeal and their strategies to retain tourists with longer and more diversified stays, within the framework of price optimisation through Destination Revenue Management (DRM), a principle of forecasting analysis using market data.
- Theme 3: this involves a study of the power struggles of the various players, ranging from family-owned and independent operations present in large numbers in the market, to large global groups competing with online travel agencies, such as Booking, or indeed collaborative models based on the sharing economy, such as Airbnb.
Research, a step to the side to jump with both feet into the real world!
Excelia’s research faculty are also working on two other less developed areas, by means of contributions:
- Exceptional regions… or how to encourage the development of places that would not be attractive a priori, that are not yet exploited; selling rurality and originality, as opposed to mass tourism
- Sustainable tourism… a current trend, with the development of energy-efficient leisure activities and the encouragement of sustainable practices; a particularly strong theme in the Centre-Val de Loire region
Neither activists nor consultants, researchers are passionate about their work, but do not operate alone because they work in partnership with many others. Researchers are also teachers who systematically refer back to what they have written in their syllabus, to ensure that their courses are in line with the latest developments in a constantly evolving world of research!
