Emmanuel Adu-Ampong

Emmanuel Adu-Ampong is an Associate Professor in the Cultural Geography group at Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands. He also serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Tourism Planning and Development journal and is a Senior Research Associate at the School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research focuses on tourism geographies of slavery and heritage, particularly the intersection of cultural memory, colonial heritage, and societal narratives. Funded by prestigious grants like the ERC Starting Grant (2025–2030) and NWO Veni Grant (2021–2024), his work explores how tourism transforms historical sites into heritage tourism places, challenging established narratives of identity and belonging.

Education & Career Path: Prior to Wageningen, he held roles including Assistant Professor (2020–2024) at Wageningen, Senior Lecturer (2017–2019) at Sheffield Hallam University, and Lecturer positions at the University of Lincoln and Sheffield Hallam University. His interdisciplinary background includes sociology, development studies, and urban planning.

Research Interests: His projects, such as Frictions of Space and Embodied Absence of the Past, examine slavery heritage in Ghana, Suriname, and the Netherlands. He emphasizes the role of tourism in raising awareness of contested histories and informing policy debates on remembrance in diverse societies.

Awards & Grants: Recognized with the NWO Veni Grant (2021) and ERC Starting Grant (2024), he also received the Emerging Scholar of Distinction Award (2024) from the International Academy for the Study of Tourism. His research has been featured in journals like Annals of Tourism Research and Tourism Geographies.

Outreach & Impact: A founder of Adamfo Ghana, a foundation aiding vulnerable youth in Ghana, he bridges academic and community engagement. He leads a team of 3 PhD candidates and a Postdoc, focusing on tourism’s role in societal memory and heritage politics.