Jo-Anne Lester

Jo-Anne Lester is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Brighton, affiliated with The Learning and Teaching Hub and the Tourism, Inclusion, Events and Society Research Excellence Group. Her work bridges cultural geography, tourism studies, visual culture, and maritime heritage.

Her research centers on the interplay between space, place, and culture, with a focus on embodied and performative experiences in everyday life. Key areas include the sea and coast, cruise ships, tourism, film, photography, and art. She explores how people imagine, engage with, and experience material, virtual, and simulated spaces.

Her research is characterized by a strong commitment to qualitative and visual methodologies. She investigates how visual and material culture shape identities and meanings in liminal environments such as coastal zones and cruise liners. Her work also critically examines the socio-cultural impacts of cruise tourism on coastal destinations.

The recent publications reflect a consistent trajectory in tourism and cultural studies, particularly on cruise tourism, risk perception, hospitality culture, and the mediation of tourist experiences. Themes of visuality, embodiment, materiality, and narrative construction recur across her scholarly output.

Scientific Awards:

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Jo-Anne Lester has served as a supervisor for PhD research, including the project Navigating uncertainty: Tourists' perceptions of risk in ocean cruising (2015–2019). She welcomes research students using qualitative and visual methods in areas aligned with her expertise. While no specific grants are mentioned, her sustained research output suggests ongoing scholarly activity and potential funding support. She is actively engaged in publishing and academic supervision.

She has contributed to collaborative research networks, particularly in tourism and hospitality, with recent collaborations in the UK and internationally. Her work appears in journals such as Hospitality and Society, International Journal of Tourism Research, and Journal of Homosexuality, as well as in edited books on cruise tourism and tourist experience.