Dr Irma Booyens
Senior Lecturer
Work, Employment and Organisation
Personal statement
I am a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor) in the Work, Employment and Organisation department, mostly on our tourism and hospitality courses. Tourism is one of my key research interests which I have approached from the theoretical frameworks of human geography, development studies, tourism management and innovation studies.
Before joining the Strathclyde Business School, I was a Senior Research Specialist in the Economic Planning and Development unit at the Human Sciences Research Council in Cape Town where I worked on various projects with policy impact. I also have experience as a tourism and business studies lecturer and as a consultancy researcher.
I am affiliated as an associate researcher with the School of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, where I held a post-doc position and also completed my PhD.
Prize And Awards
- TWAS/DFG Collaborative Visit Grant
- Recipient
- 2019
- Newton Mobility Grant
- Recipient
- 2018
- NRF researcher rating
- Recipient
- 2018
- Scarce Skills Doctoral Scholarship
- Recipient
- 2012
- Young researcher excellence award
- Recipient
- 2010
- Best student in course work: Masters in Development Studies
- Recipient
- 2008
Qualifications
PhD Geography, University of Johannesburg, 2015
Masters in Development Studies, University of the Free State, 2008
Post-graduate Certificate in Education, University of Pretoria, 2002
B.Com Tourism Management, University of Pretoria, 2000
Publications
- Evaluating fair hospitality work in Scotland : a benchmarking, sector-focused analysis
- Hadjisolomou Tasos, Booyens Irma, Cunningham Tayler, Nickson Dennis, Baum Tom
- Employee Relations (2026)
- Reframing creativity in the city : on the emergence of contemporary township creativity
- Booyens Irma
- Regional Studies Vol 59, pp. 1-15 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2025.2495797
- The mobilities of visual artists : the case of South Africa
- Hracs Brian J, Booyens Irma, Comunian Roberta, Brydges Taylor
- Environment and Planning A Vol 57, pp. 794-809 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X251347429
- Hospitality employment : historical analysis
- Williamson David, Booyens Irma, Baum Tom
- Unpacking Hospitality Work Realities Insights and Advocacy from the Global Hospitality Research Alliance (2025) (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.23912/978-1-917433204-5836
- The paradox of workplace abuse and dignity in the Scottish hospitality sector
- Hadjisolomou Anastasios, Cunningham Tayler, Booyens Irma, Nickson Dennis, Baum Tom
- Unpacking Hospitality Work Realities Insights and Advocacy from the Global Hospitality Research Alliance (2025) (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.23912/978-1-917433204-5836
- Futures for hospitality work and call to action
- Booyens Irma, Linge Tone Therese, Gjerald Olga, Robinson Richard
- Unpacking Hospitality Work Realities Insights and Advocacy from the Global Hospitality Research Alliance (2025) (2025)
Teaching
Tourism and business studies lecturing and supervision
Research Interests
My research interests include social innovation; innovation measurement; tourism innovation; tourism sustainability; tourism livelihoods, employment and workplace issues; creative industries - employment and spatial perspectives.
Professional Activities
- Scotland Beyond Net Zero project, “Supporting sustainable tourist transport in Scotland”, Stakeholder workshop 2 - Aberdeen
- Organiser
- 31/3/2026
- Scotland Beyond Net Zero project, “Supporting sustainable tourist transport in Scotland”, Stakeholder workshop 1 - Glasgow
- Organiser
- 17/3/2026
- Assessing Fair Hospitality Work: Scotland in a Multi-Country Comparative Perspective
- Contributor
- 1/5/2025
- The Employment Experiences of South African Visual Artists
- Speaker
- 2/4/2025
- Cultivating Sustainable Research Cultures Programme: a series of five workshops
- Participant
- 1/1/2025
- Innovation for Tourism Sustainability: A Focus on Social Innovation
- Speaker
- 11/6/2024
Projects
- Unpacking the tourism-transport nexus in sustainability transitions
- Niewiadomski, Piotr (Principal Investigator) Beecroft, Mark (Co-investigator) Booyens, Irma (Co-investigator) Ferguson, Neil (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 30-Jan-2026
- Fair Hospitality Work: Engagement with Employers
- Booyens, Irma (Principal Investigator) Hadjisolomou, Tasos (Principal Investigator)
- This project was funded by the Strategic Themes
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2024
- Impact Development Fund: Fair Hospitality Work: Engagement with Employers
- Booyens, Irma (Principal Investigator) Hadjisolomou, Tasos (Principal Investigator) Moghadas, Shayesteh (Researcher) Butler, Joanna (Academic)
- This study aims to stimulate conversations with industry representatives on the role of management and transformational leadership for fair hospitality work.
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
- Sustainability transitions: tourism and energy in South Africa
- Booyens, Irma (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2023
- Confronting customer abuse and harassment during the Covid-19 crisis? Evidence from Scotland’s hospitality industry
- Hadjisolomou, Tasos (Principal Investigator) Baum, Thomas (Co-investigator) Booyens, Irma (Co-investigator) Nickson, Dennis (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2022
- Employment Experience of Hospitality Workers in Scotland - 2020 Survey
- Booyens, Irma (Principal Investigator) Hadjisolomou, Tasos (Co-investigator) Nickson, Dennis (Academic) Baum, Thomas (Academic) Cunningham, Tayler (Researcher)
- Employee survey - Scottish hospitality workers
- 01-Jan-2020 - 30-Jan-2021
Contact
Dr
Irma
Booyens
Senior Lecturer
Work, Employment and Organisation
Email: irma.booyens@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 553 6109