Biography
Dr Ross Tinsley is a Tourism Lecturer and Programme Leader Edinburgh Napier University. He is currently interested in the identity and evolution of counterculture festivals and the role of spirituality within such events. He has also researched and published on small tourism businesses and destination development within developing country contexts. His PhD investigated networking between small tourism businesses and its contribution to destination development. His current work centres on the evolution of the Beltane Fire Festival, of which he was a past performer.
Areas of expertise
- Spirituality in tourism and events
- Motivation/satisfaction at alternative festivals
- Festival evolution and the carnivalesque
- Festivals as ritual/performance
- Backpacker tourism
- Tourism and authenticity
- Small tourism businesses
- Representation of attractions/destinations in popular tourist materials: implications for attraction/destination marketing (an attraction or destination of student’s own choice)
- Tourism planning and policy
Research projects
Motivation and satisfaction at the Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh.
Courses taught
Postgraduate
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Tourism, Society & Visual Culture, Module Leader
-
Tourism Marketing, Module leader
Undergraduate
PhD supervision
Rubina Moniz Vieira, PhD Student 2nd Supervisor
The multiple mobilities of the Madeiran diaspora, May 2016 to present
Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh.
Cecilia Teitz, PhD Student, 2nd Supervisor (completed)
The development of a theoretical framework for a co-operative approach to sustainable rural tourism development, May 2011 to June 2015
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
Martin Jost, PhD Student, 2nd Supervisor
Transformative learning and complex problem solving among hospitality and tourism students, July 2010 to present
HTMi, Switzerland/Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Career history
May 2016 to present
UG Programme Leader for Tourism - The Business School, Edinburgh Napier University.
August 2015 to present
Tourism Lecturer - The Business School, Edinburgh Napier University.
February 2015 to present
Visiting Lecturer - Division of Business, Enterprise and Management, School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
January 2013 to January 2015
Head of Research - International Hospitality and Tourism Research Centre, HTMi Switzerland.
October 2009 to December 2012
Research advisor - International Hospitality and Tourism Research Centre, HTMi Switzerland.
January 2012 to January 2015
Associate Lecturer - Edinburgh Napier University
May 2009 to June 2012
Visiting Lecturer - Division of Business, Enterprise and Management, School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
Qualifications
Certificate Mathematics (Statistics), January to June 2009 - The Open University
PhD Social Anthropology, May 2004 - Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Thesis focus: Networking between tourism businesses and its contribution to destination development (two separate studies: Scotland, India)
BA (Hons) (2.1) Tourism Management, June 1999 - Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh
Professional memberships and honours
Professional Member of Tourism Concern, March 2015 to present
Academic Member of The Tourism Society, 26th April 2011 to present
Best track research paper award at CHME Conference 2016:
Tinsley, R., Rimmer, R. and Matheson, C. M. 2016. Spiritual attitude, motivation and repeat attendance at the Beltane Fire Festival. The 25th Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) Conference, 4-6th May 2016, University of Ulster, Belfast, N. Ireland, United Kingdom.
Key publications
Matheson, C. M. and Tinsley, R. 2014 [online]. The carnivalesque and event evolution: a study of the Beltane Fire Festival. Leisure Studies.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2014.962591
Tinsley, R. and Matheson, C. M. 2014. Layers of passage: The ritual performance and liminal bleed of the Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh. In: J. Laing and W. Frost. Eds. Rituals and Traditional Events in a Modern World. New York: Routledge, pp.141-158.
http://routledge-ny.com/books/details/9780415707367/
Matheson, C. M., Rimmer, R, and Tinsley, R. 2014. Spiritual attitudes and visitor motivations at the Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh. Tourism Management. 44, pp.16-33.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.01.023
Tinsley, R. and Lynch, P. A. 2008. Differentiation and tourism destination development: Small business success in a close-knit community. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 8 (3) pp.161-177.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/thr.2008.26
Tinsley, R. and Lynch, P. A. 2007. Small business networking and tourism destination development: A comparative perspective. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 8 (1), pp.15-27.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ip/ije/2007/00000008/00000001/art00003
Tinsley, R. and Lynch, P. A. 2007. Small hospitality and tourism businesses in Pushkar, India: Destination development through communication networks, World Journal of Tourism Small Business Management, 1, pp.83-94.
Tinsley, R. and Lynch, P. A. 2001. Small tourism business networks and destination development’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 20 (4), pp.11-14.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ip/ije/2007/00000008/00000001/art00003
Connect
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ross_Tinsley
https://napier.academia.edu/RossTinsley
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-tinsley-08a25b22?trk=hp-identity-name