B-3-253  Mackinac Hall
 Grand Valley State University
 1 Campus Drive
 Allendale, MI 49401

 Phone:  (616) 331-2104
 FAX: (616) 331-3115
 Email:  nashro@gvsu.edu

Education:

• Ph.D: Tourism in Peripheral Areas: The Use and Application of Causal Networks and Lesson Drawing as Analytical Methods, Robert Gordon University, UK
• M.Soc.Sc in Leisure and Tourism Management, University of Birmingham, UK
• B.Sc in Hospitality Administration, New Hampshire College, New England, USA
• PgCert in Education, Wolverhampton University, UK
• HND Hospitality Management, University College Birmingham, UK
  

Teaching Areas/Interests:

Rob has taught a range of subjects in several different international institutions and countries including the UK, Switzerland, Finland, USA and Portugal. His main teaching/subject/Interest areas have been

• Tourism and Hospitality management
• Tourism and Hospitality operations/environment
• Destination Development
• Heritage Management
  
• Human Resource Management
• Marketing
• Adventure and Activity management
• Marine and Wildlife management

Experience:

Rob has had an international career in industry as well as in academic institutions. His industrial experience has taken him to several countries as both manager and proprietor. He began his teaching career at University College Birmingham- UK, after several years working in industry. He has worked and studied hospitality administration with the Marriott Corporation and New Hampshire College in the USA and subsequently went on to teach at one of the premier hotel schools in Switzerland: The Institut Hotelier Cesar Ritz.

Rob has a proven track record of working and successfully delivering research and consultancy projects that have supported business in Scotland, Europe and worldwide and several of these projects have involved international collaborations and partnerships - ranging from Rwanda to Iceland. In addition, Rob has also delivered several papers at various local, regional, national and international forums and conferences. His main specialist area is Peripherality, and he has had several successful publications emanating from this research area. Rob was previously involved in research supervision at the MSc and PhD levels.

Research – Book chapters

• Wind Farms as Possible Tourist Attractions in  Perspectives on Tourism in Nordic and Other Peripheral Areas. CABI Publishing. London.
•   A segmentation analysis of the backpacker market in Scotland: A case study of the Scottish youth hostel association’, in Thyne, M. and Laws, E. (Eds) Hospitality, Tourism, and Lifestyle Concepts - Implications for Quality Management and Customer Satisfaction, Haworth Press, New York

• An evaluation of the potential to develop the in-bound Japanese market to North East Scotland using the Blake Glover connection. International Journal of Tourism research.
• Backpacking: An exploratory investigation into the consequential effects post-University, backpacker travel can have on graduates’ future employment. Tourism Management (Pending).
• Impact of EU funding on Tourism in the Grampian Region. International Journal of Tourism Research, 8 (4) 2006.
• The use and application of Causal Network methodology in peripheral areas of Scotland. Annals of Tourism Research, 33 (4) 918-938, 2006.
• An investigation into customer satisfaction levels in the budget accommodation sector in Scotland: a case study of backpacker tourists and the Scottish Youth Hostels Association. Tourism Management, 27 (3) (2006).
• The Use and Application of Rose’s Theory of Lesson Drawing in peripheral areas of Scotland. International Journal of Tourism Research, 5, 133-145 (2003).
• Tourism in Peripheral areas – the Challenges for Northeast Scotland. International Journal of Tourism Research, 5, 161-181 (2003).

• Tourism Management Institute (TMI)
•  Institute of Hospitality (IH)
• European Union of Tourist officers (EUTO)
•  Scottish Association of Tourist Officers (SATO)