Dr Konstantinos Tomazos

Senior Lecturer

Work, Employment and Organisation

Contact

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Personal statement

Kostas is the Director of Teaching and Learning for UG Hospitality and Tourism Studies and he is interested in the temporal dynamics of different tourism market niches and tourism counter cultures. Most notably Kostas is an expert in the field of volunteer tourism and he has investigated both the demand and supply for such experiences. In terms of the demand he has published on the motivations, expectations and outcomes for volunteer tourism participants, creating his own conceptualization of the ‘heroic’ volunteer tourist and the balancing act which is intrinsic to the volunteer tourist’s experience. In the process he has written and published on the role of altruism, instrumentalism and expected outcomes in terms of the possible motivations of the participants and the possible analogies and implications of this in terms of the management of volunteer tourists as reflexive volunteers. The investigation into the supply for volunteer tourism has led him into the field of social enterprise and the role that the third sector has played into the development of contemporary volunteer tourism. From small beginnings to the phenomenon that it is today, volunteer tourism has undoubtedly been shaped by individual initiative creating social goods where the public sector had failed. This drive to turn a vision into reality has opened a research path into transforming leadership and he has written about the way such organisations and their management have succeeded in selling their vision and mission and turning themselves into financially viable business entities. This relationship between businesses for profit within the context of the not for profit sector along with its possible ethical implications has been the thrust of his most recent research.

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Research Interests

My main research interests lie in the study of volunteering, volunteer tourism and other tourism niches. I would welcome post graduate students interested in the study of both the demand and supply for volunteering and volunteer tourism experiences but also the study of tourism niches and countercultures and how perhaps more deviant, non-conformist social activities, gradually find their way into the mainstream. More specifically I am very interested in the motivations, expectations and outcomes of various tourism niches.

 I would strongly encourage students who are interested in investigating the role of altruism, instrumentalism and expected outcomes in terms of the possible motivations of volunteers as this is a very fertile ground for future research as reflexive volunteering is a relatively new concept and we need to learn more about its implications on the recruitment, training and management of volunteers.

I would also encourage applications from students who would seek to study volunteer tourism as a social enterprise and investigate the role that the third sector has played into the development of contemporary volunteer tourism. From small beginnings to the phenomenon that it is today, volunteer tourism has undoubtedly been shaped by individual initiative creating social goods where the public sector had failed. This drive to turn a vision into reality opens research paths into transforming leadership and how such organisations and their management have succeeded in selling their vision and mission and turning themselves into financially viable business entities. The evolution of the phenomenon is also interesting from an institutional theory perspective as a socio-cultural phenomenon as volunteering and helping others has become highly commoditised and homogenised due to market forces.

Perspective students are more than welcome to drop me a line with their ideas or questions at k.tomazos@strath.ac.uk

Professional Activities

RGS-IBG annual conference: Understanding the Complexities of Volunteer Tourism
Participant
27/8/2013
Giving a Voice to the Homeless
Participant
7/2012
The Institutionalization of Volunteer Tourism: Where do we go from here?
Invited speaker
2/11/2015
Advising the Bothy Project
Consultant
15/9/2023
INTECHopen (Publisher)
Peer reviewer
17/3/2023
ESRC Seminar on International Volunteering
Participant
20/4/2016

More professional activities

Projects

Gambia Sustainable Energy for Development
Tomazos, Konstantinos (Academic)
I have supervised the KE activity of a group of students travelling to Gambia and acting as business consultants to the another university faculty working on the installation of solar panels
10-Jan-2012 - 01-Jan-2014
Neurodiversity and Teaching Excellence: Improving the outcomes and employability prospects of Breaking Barriers graduates
Tomazos, Konstantinos (Principal Investigator) Bourkel, Tom (Co-investigator) Smith, Marisa (Co-investigator) Mcdougall, Natalie (Co-investigator)
The main aim of this project is to explore ways to improve student experience by better understanding the needs of people with neurodiversity
01-Jan-2024
Addressing risks and misconceptions of insect use in the hospitality industry: Are hospitality practitioners ‘gatekeepers’ of entomophagy?
Murdy, Samantha (Principal Investigator) Tomazos, Konstantinos (Principal Investigator) Bourkel, Tom (Co-investigator)
This research highlights some of the misconceptions held by practitioners, such as the belief that insects are unsanitary or toxic,, and propose a range of strategies to encourage the responsible consumption of insects in the hospitality industry.
01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2024
Pathways to Inclusion: A Neurodiversity Employment Co-Production Workshop
Tomazos, Konstantinos (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2028
Understanding the phenomenon of Beg- Packing: Travelling with out Money- Opportunism or Ideology
Tomazos, Konstantinos (Principal Investigator) Murdy, Samantha (Principal Investigator)
The controversial phenomenon of travelling without money, known as ‘beg-packing’, challenges conventional notions of travel. Our study explores the evolving landscape of beg-packing, including its digital manifestation as ‘e-beg-packing’. We explore the connection between drifters and beg-packers, emphasizing strategies like selling photos, staying with locals, and eliciting sympathy. To do so, we delve into how beg-packers construct narratives on crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and the public perception of the practice on Instagram
20-Jan-2022 - 23-Jan-2023
Faith-Based Volunteer Tourism in Street-Aid Contexts: Motivations and Meaning in a Secular Age
Tomazos, Konstantinos (Principal Investigator)
This project investigates the intersection of volunteer tourism and religion by focusing on the emerging micro-niche of Faith-Based Volunteer Tourism (FBVT), particularly within street-aid contexts. Building on recent academic momentum in this area, the study uses qualitative research methods to explore the practices of three international organisations and their volunteers.

Using the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) as a framework, the project examines the motivations of faith-based volunteer tourists and considers how these motivations operate within increasingly secular societies.
14-Jan-2022 - 11-Jan-2023

More projects

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Contact

Dr Konstantinos Tomazos
Senior Lecturer
Work, Employment and Organisation

Email: k.tomazos@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3846