Dr K Thirumaran ~ Academic Head, JCU Singapore Business School

Discovering Realities, Contributing Knowledge

Dr. K Thirumaran is a tourism and hospitality management specialist with James Cook University Singapore. He is the key organizer of the World Luxury Destinations conference 2018 and coined the term affinity tourism.

Thiru’s research focuses on service excellence, cultural and luxury tourism. He is interested in questions related to modern developments and their impact on emerging destinations’ cultural values and the use of virtual and augmented reality to improve training programs in the industry.

Some of his major projects that he is working on are related to MICE activities in emerging economies, service expectations in rural tourism, the value of tourism in the few remaining communist-capitalist states and luxury travel experiences. Prospective MPhil and PhD students are welcome to extend their education and explore these topics with Thiru.

Interests

Research

• Luxury Tourism; Cultural & Heritage Tourism; Service Excellence in Hospitality; Training & Technology in Hospitality

Experience

• 2016 to present - Academic Head, JCUS Business School, James Cook University (Singapore)
• 2008 to 2016 - Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, James Cook University (Singapore)
• 2007 to 2008 - Lecturer, Temasek Polytechnic (Singapore)
• 2003 to 2006 - Phd Candidate, National University of Singapore (Singapore)

Research Disciplines

• Tourism (3508)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Tourism services (1104)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Thirumaran K, Chawla S, Dillon R and Sabharwal J (2021) Virtual pets want to travel: engaging visitors, creating excitement. Tourism Management Perspectives, 39, Article: 100859, DOI:10.1016/j.tmp.2021.100859..
• Thirumaran K, Mohammadi Z, Pourabedin Z, Azzali S and Sim K (2021) COVID-19 in Singapore and New Zealand: newspaper portrayal, crisis management. Tourism Management Perspectives, 38, Article: 108849, DOI:10.1016/j.tmp.2021.100812.
• Thirumaran K and Eijdenberg E (2021) Conceptualising destination membership cards for elite travellers. Zeitschrift für Tourismuswissenschaft, 13 (1), DOI:10.1515/tw-2021-0001.
• Thirumaran K, Jang H, Pourabedin Z and Wood J (2021) The role of social media in the luxury tourism business: a research review and trajectory assessment. Sustainability, 13 (3), Article: 1216, DOI:10.3390/su13031216.
• Wang P, Kuah A, Lu Q, Wong C, Thirumaran K, Adegbite E and Kendall W (2021) The impact of value perceptions on purchase intention of sustainable luxury brands in China and the UK. Journal of Brand Management, 28, pp. 325-346, DOI:10.1057/s41262-020-00228-0.

Book Chapters

• Scarinci J, Pryce J and Thirumaran K (in press) A New World during COVID-19: employability skills in tourism, hospitality and events. In: Domestic Tourism and Hospitality Management: issues, scope, and challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Apple Academic Press
• Fiala S and Thirumaran K (2021) Hospitality and tourism management: adopting Lean Six Sigma, achieving service excellence. In: Service Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality: insights from Asia. Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management. Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 167-176
• Goh S, Sabharwal J and Thirumaran K (2021) A paradigmatic shift in a hallmark event extending well-being to a non-host city: "One people one nation, one Singapore". In: Events and Well-being. Routledge Critical Event Studies Research Series. Taylor & Francis, London, UK, pp. 70-88
• klimkeit D, Tang C and Thirumaran K (2021) Introduction: Service excellence in Asian tourism and hospitality. In: Service Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality: insights from Asia. Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management. Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 1-7
• Selvaraj R, Xuan Dam M, Dubos L, Jang H and Thirumaran K (2021) A political economy perspective: attracting foreign direct investments into Sri Lanka and Vietnam. In: Tropical Constrained Environments and Sustainable Adaptations: businesses and communities. Managing the Asian Century. Springer Nature, Singapore, pp. 151-166
• Azzali S, Kamble Z, Thirumaran K, Wong C and Wood J (2020) Mitigating impact from natural disasters, building resilience in tourism: the case of Kerala. In: Economic Effects of Natural Disasters: theoretical foundations, methods, and tools. Elsevier, London, UK, pp. 119-129

Conference Papers

• Sabharwal J, Goh S and Thirumaran K (2021) Sequential exploratory mixed methods and scale development: investigating transformational tourism readiness. Promoting Creative Tourism: current issues in tourism research: proceedings of the 4th International Seminar on Tourism. In: ISOT 2020: 4th International Seminar on Tourism, 4-5 November 2020, Bandung, Indonesia

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 47+ research outputs authored by Dr K Thirumaran from 2004 onwards.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• A Comparative Study of the Circular Economy in Asian Setting: The Experiences of Singapore, Shanghai and Seoul (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Micro Businesses and Cultural Heritage in Singapore: Sustainability, Custodianship and Society. (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• The study of tourism impact in the staging of Dai dance: protection, commercialization and sustainability. (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Towards the Development of Quality Tourism Workforce: The Case of Vietnam (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Luxury Tourism (PhD , Primary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.