May Kristin Vespestad

May Kristin Vespestad is a Professor at the School of Business Administration within UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Her primary research focuses include experiential tourism, nature-based tourism, and experience economy, with significant contributions to sustainable tourism marketing and cross-cultural educational practices. She actively teaches courses such as BED 2117 Experience Economy and Social Media Marketing and BED-3032 Service- and Experience Design.

Her research interests span:

• Experiential Marketing in adventure tourism
• Value Co-Creation in tourism experiences
• Escapism and tourist well-being
• Sustainability Communication in tourism branding
• Automated Tourism and hospitality innovation

Recent publications analyze automated tourism futures (2024), moral muteness in sustainability communications (2023), and cross-cultural education practices (2019). She serves on the Arctic Innovative Experience Management (ArIEM) research group and holds editorial roles at the European Journal of Tourism Research and Social Science and Humanities Research Association (SSHRA) advisory board.

Her teaching portfolio includes:

• Project work with research methods (TRAPRO)
• Experience economy principles (BED 2117)
• Service design (BED-3032)
• Research methodology (2014-2024)

She has supervised collaborative projects with institutions like Clarion Hotel The Edge and led international research initiatives across Europe.