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JuliaAssociate Professor

Office OBS 8.06
Tel +64 3 479 5441
Email julia.albrecht@otago.ac.nz

Background

Dr Julia N. Albrecht has joined the Department of Tourism in April 2015. With her academic background in geography and landscape ecology, political studies, and tourism, Julia is interested in tourism and destination management for sustainable tourism, tourism strategy and planning, visitor management and nature-based tourism.

Julia publishes her work in leading academic journals such as Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, among others. She is a co-editor of the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, and she serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.

In 2023, Julia was awarded OUSA Supervisor of the Year for the University of Otago. She is a sought-after PhD supervisor, and supervising PhD research is among her favourite aspects of her work.

Julia is the course coordinator for TOUR219 Destination Management and TOUR305 Tourism Product Development, and she teaches on TOUR101 Introduction to Tourism.

Julia serves on the University of Otago Human Ethics Committee, and on the Otago Business School Research Committee. In 2020, Julia won the Otago Business School’s Best Contribution to the Research Environment award.

Teaching

  • TOUR 305 Tourism Product Development (course co-ordinator)
  • TOUR 102 Global Tourism (Distance) (course co-ordinator)
  • TOUR 101 Introduction to Tourism (teacher)

Current research projects

Sustainability in destination management

This project investigates destination managers' perceptions of sustainability, and their efforts towards implementing projects / initiatives for a sustainable destination. The research takes a comparative approach, looking at nature-based tourism destinations in Austria and New Zealand.

Research collaborators:

  • Dr Marco Haid (UMIT Tirol, Austria)
  • Dr Wiebke Finkler (University of Otago)


Visitor pledges as innovative visitor management tools

Since the development and implementation of the Icelandic Pledge in 2017, initiatives that encourage visitors to commit to responsible behaviours in a destination have become common. This project explores the strategic thinking behind using pledges as a visitor impact management tool, related marketing and implementation initiatives, and expected and actual initial results from the perspectives of the relevant destination management stakeholders.

Research collaborator:

  • Eliza Raymond (GOOD Travel)


Tourism management as a third sector function, ecosanctuaries in New Zealand

This research project examines the organisational roles, functions and structures in tourism and visitor management in ecosanctuaries in New Zealand. The key aim of the research is a better conceptual and practical understanding of visitor management in protected areas, as well as in tourism destinations more generally, for both the academic community and key stakeholders in the New Zealand tourism industry.

Research collaborators:

  • Dr Marco Haid (UMIT Tirol, Austria)
  • Dr Abrar Faisal (AUT)

Publications

Haid, M., Albrecht, J. N., Tangl, P., & Plaikner, A. (2024). Regional products and sustainability. Sustainability, 16, 628. doi: 10.3390/su16020628

Qin, Y., Albrecht, J. N., & Tao, L. (2024). The effects of migratory village residents’ social identity on community participation in tourism. Journal of China Tourism Research. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/19388160.2024.2302562

Albrecht, J., & Raymond, E. (2023). Best practice in developing and implementing visitor pledges. In H. Ramkissoon (Ed.), Handbook on tourism and behaviour change. (pp. 285-303). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. doi: 10.4337/9781800372498

Haid, M., Albrecht, J. N., & Finkler, W. (2023). Barriers to the implementation of sustainability in tourism destinations: Evidence from Tyrol, Austria, and the South Island of New Zealand. International Journal of Tourism Policy, 13(6). doi: 10.1504/IJTP.2023.134513

Albrecht, J. N., & Haid, M. (2023). Sustainable product development for visitor experiences in nature-based tourism: Applying and extending the Double Diamond Design Process. In A. Mandić & S. K. Walia (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of nature based tourism development. (pp. 543-554). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003230748-39

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