Simon Thomas

 Dr Simon Thomas FHEA 

Senior Lecturer – Research Methods (P/G & Doctoral) 

Researcher – Pilgrimage, Memorial & Tourism Studies

Programme Director – Doctor of Business Administration

Research Lead – Tourism, Hospitality and Events Research Group

South Wales Business School

Dr. Simon Thomas is a Senior Lecturer at the South Wales Business School.  Prior to commencing a career in academia Dr. Thomas worked in Visitor Services Support for Cadw, the Welsh Government body responsible for the historic environment in Wales. Research centers around the two areas of Pilgrimage Touristic Studies and Memorials as Pilgrimage Shrines.  Dr. Thomas has recently published two important articles relating to pilgrimage and memorial studies; 

Article 1 explores the ‘potential for pilgrimage-touristic growth in Wales’ published by Palgrave Macmillan in the textbook 'Heritage and Tourism in Britain and Ireland: Nation, Conservation, Identity’

Article 2 considers the ‘post-postmodern act of pilgrimage at Lourdes in France’ published in the ABS four star Tourism Management Journal. 

Recent consultancy projects include a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) supervision at the ‘Cardiff Story Museum’ rated as excellent by the KTP board, a Colegau Cymru skills analysis project in the retail, tourism and hospitality sector, and two Strategic Insight Projects in the tourism sector.  Dr. Thomas is an experienced journal reviewer and external examiner who has significant experience in quality and franchise arrangements. Dr. Thomas has examined, chaired and supervised Doctoral candidates in a variety of business-related subjects. 

Qualifications 

2007 – 2013

PhD Pilgrimage Tourism (University of South Wales)

2003-2005

Master of Arts in Heritage Tourism (University of Wales, Trinity College Carmarthen)

2001-2003 

Post Graduate Certificate in Education - Tourism (University of Wales Newport)

1998-2001 

BA (Hons) Tourism (and Leisure) Management (University of Glamorgan)

Memberships

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) 

External 

External Examiner MSc International Hospitality and Tourism Management – Coventry University London 2019 – 2023 

External Examiner BA (Hons) Management of Travel and Tourism – Coleg Llandrillo (Bangor University) 2018 – 2022

External Examiner BA (Hons) Heritage Studies – Bishop Grossteste University College Lincoln 2012 – 2017

Internal 

Faculty Research Ethics Committee Member 

Faculty Research and Programmes Committee Member 

Publications 

Forthcoming 

The Dilemma of Pilgrimage. From the Sacred to the Memorial  

Paper 1 – Roadside Memorials as Pilgrimage.

Paper 2 – The Stairway to Heaven. Tracing the Steps of Memory and Pilgrimage.

Dr Simon Thomas

Published

Lloyd-Parkes, E., Deacon, J., Grant, A. & Thomas, S. (2021) Emotional Overload! A Dialogic Autoethnography of Scholar-Participant-Consumer Reactions to the Marketing of Thanatourism in The Qualitative Report Volume 26, Issue 3

DOI: 10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4733

Thomas, B.. Powell, L., & Thomas, S. (2020) An Investigation into Cultural Events and Tourism on the Isle of Man in Land Science, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.30560/ls.v2n2p34

Thomas, S. & Powell, L. (2018) Key factors in the development of tourism-led local innovative heritage entrepreneurship in the South Wales Valleys in ‘Innovation and Social Capital in Organizational Ecosystems’ IGI Global Publications (Edited by Thomas, B & Murphy, L) DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7721-8

Thomas, S., White, G. R. T. & Samuel, A. (2018) To Pray and To Play: post-postmodern pilgrimage at Lourdes, Journal of Tourism Management 68 (2018) 412-422 doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.03.021

White, G. R. T., Samuel, A., Zhou, P., Razak, A. A. & Thomas, S. (2017) Religious Heterogeneity of Food Consumers: the impact of global markets upon methods of production, Journal of Consumer Behaviour 2017; 1–10 DOI: 10.1002/cb.1658

Thomas, S. (2017) Chapter 2: Promoting the sacred: The Potential for Pilgrimage-Touristic Growth in Wales – A Theoretical and Applied Analysis in 'Heritage and Tourism in Britain and Ireland: Nation, Conservation, Identity' Palgrave Macmillan London (Edited by Hooper, G) DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-52083-8

Thomas, B. & Thomas, S. & Powell, L. (2017) The Development of Key Characteristics of Welsh Island Cultural Identity and Sustainable Tourism in Wales in International Journal of Scientific Culture Jan 2017, Vol. 3, No.1 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.192842

Colegau Cymru Research Project (2016) Survey of Skills and Qualifications in Wales: Retail, Tourism and HospitalityDavid Pickernell, Mark Lang, Malcolm Beynon, Celia Netana, Paul Jones, Rachel Bowen, Simon Thomas, Jonathan Deacon

Thomas, B., Powell, L. & Thomas, S. (2013) Heritage Tourism Entrepreneurship Development in An Independent Wales in International Centre for Business Research Vol 2 – Feb 2013

Thomas, B., & Thomas, S. (2012) Cultural Events and Tourism in the Channel Island of Jersey in the International Journal of Research into Island Cultures Vol 6, No 1, pp 55-73

Thomas, S., Thomas, B. & Powell, L. (2011) Chapter 6: Museums and Small Memory Institutions – Multimedia Knowledge Management Systems in ‘Innovation and Small Business Volume 2’ (Edited by Thomas, B. & Miller, C. & Murphy, L.)

Powell, L., Thomas, S. & Thomas, B. (2011) Innovation and heritage entrepreneurship development in the South Wales Valleys in Annals of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Vol 2, No 1

Powell, L., Thomas, S. & Thomas, B. (2010) Regeneration Schemes in South Wales: A Stimulus for Innovative Heritage Enterprise Development in International Business Management 4 (3): 177-188, 2010 ISSN 1993-5250 Medwell Journals. 

Thomas, S., Miller, C., Thomas, B., Tunstall, R. & Siggins, N. (2007) Mastering intrapreneurial behaviour for sustained socioeconomic development: a public service analysis of the south-east Wales heritage tourism attractions sector in The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Special Edition 8 (1), pp 75-83 doi.org/10.5367/000000007780007371

Thomas, S. & Thomas, B. (2005) The south Wales heritage tourism industry and small industrial museums in The International Journal of Applied Entrepreneurship 1 (3), pp 1-9 

Thomas, S. & Thomas B. (2004) New heritage tourism business formats for small museums and other sites in Wales in The International Journal of Applied Entrepreneurship 1 (1), pp 64-76

Thomas, S. & Thomas, B. (2003) A national policy analysis of new heritage tourism business formats and the virtual interface for small museums and other sites in Wales. Welsh Enterprise Institute Working Paper Series No 36. 

Thomas, S., Miller, C., Packham, G. & Thomas, B. (2003) The Welsh heritage tourism industry and entrepreneurship. Welsh Enterprise Institute Working Paper Series No 35

PhD/DBA/MPhil supervision 

Completed 

Dr Julian Zarb (PhD by portfolio)

The Process of Research in Developing an Effective Local Tourism Planning Strategy and Policy – A Community-Based Tourism Model from Malta - Supervisor (with Professor Jonathan Deacon and Professor Andrew Jones)

Dr Christopher House (PhD by publication) 

An evaluation of coastal management and policy implementation: A case study approach – DoS (with Prof. Allan Williams)

Dr Gary Fuller (DBA)

Critical Evaluation of Individual's Perception of Team-working at a Highly Technical Aircraft Engine Overhaul Provider – Supervisor (with Prof. Hefin Rowlands)

Dr Tim Scheuerer (DBA)

Business Modelling based on the future need for funding in the German Mid Cap Market – DoS (with Prof. Thomas Peisl) 

Dr Joe Cudd (DBA)

An evaluation of the significance of Academic Optimism of a sample of Primary schools: A case study approach based in west Wales – Supervisor (with Dr. Catherine Farrell)

Dr Claire Clement (DBA) 

Technological coalescence, recombinant innovation and future work; Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the workforce - Supervisor (with Dr. Gareth White)

Gbolahan Faleye (MPhil)

How Networks and Interaction Drive the Co-creation of Value within the Museums Context – Supervisor (with Prof. Anne Marie Doherty) 

Current 

1. Azley Abd Razak (PhD by publication) 

The Triple Helix model of innovation - Supervisor (with Dr. Gareth White)

2. Christoph Stiel (PhD) 

Network of Corporate Innovation Labs - DoS (with Professor Hefin Rowlands & Professor Tom Peisl)

3. Adeyemi Aromolaran (PhD) 

User Experience and Online Conversion for NGOs - Supervisor (with Dr. Gabor Horvath)

4. Robert Baustel (DBA) 

An inquiry into corporate behaviour of a German MedTech SME focusing on disruptive innovation - DoS (with Professor Dominik Hammer)  

5. Chris Jenkins (DBA) 

Strategic directions for the Commonwealth Games Movement within a professional multi-sport environment - DoS (with Dr. Elizabeth Lloyd Parkes)

6. Shelley Poole (DBA) 

Hearing the Employee Voice: Identifying Opportunities for Reciprocal Learning between Employee Owned Organisations and the Industrial Relations School of Human Resources Management - DoS (with Dr. Hazel Mawdsley)

7. Ewan Savage (DBA) 

Medical Device Regulation 2017/745: Impact, evaluation and practices for change execution - Supervisor (with Dr. Andre Clark)

8. Laura Castles (DBA) 

Public sector motivational practices and their effect on job satisfaction and productivity within Torfaen Training a profit arm of Torfaen County Borough Council in particular the introduction of wellbeing policies - DoS (with Dr. Lauren Thomas)  

9. Kerry Collier (DBA) 

An experiential qualitative study analysing the value of Family Crosspoint from a professional perspective - DoS (with Dr. Jane Prince & Dr. Elizabeth Lloyd Parkes)

10. Balvinder Singh (DBA) 

Chemical Legislation (REACH) Business Impact Analysis on UK Aerospace Industry and Brexit - DoS (with Dr. Andre Clark)

11. Cael Sendell-Price (DBA) 

Caveat Emptor: Developing and maintaining true value in a local government procurement service - Supervisor (with Dr. Ruth Gaffney Rhys & Mr. Stuart Milligan)

12. Bede Chukwuekezie (DBA) Data asymmetry, manipulation and contestation in managing knowledge workers - DoS (with Dr. Gabor Horvath & Mr. Stuart Milligan)

DBA Mentor 

Sian Lyons-Nicholas 

Zoe Grainger 

Emilia Piera Adamczyk

PhD/DBA/MPhil examination 

Nadine Khair (PhD) July 2019 - Exploring the meanings Jordanian consumers allocate to foreign brands: an ethnography on understanding the effect of brand country of origin image on consumption - USW

Maxine Johnson (MPhil transfer) November 2019 - An investigation of marketing strategy in social enterprises – USW 

Daniel Griffiths (MPhil Transfer) February 2020 - How do emotions impact the consumer decision-making process? – USW

Tina Thomas (MPhil Transfer) January 2021 - Parental social identity and the child’s sports-related consumer behaviour: a qualitative study – USW

Bosun Sanusi (PhD) February 2021 - Slum an Urban Tourism Resource in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study of Kalingalinga Informal Settlement – Swansea University

Contact 

T – 07854 164923

E – simon.thomas@southwales.ac.uk – work 

E – st16924@gmail.com – personal