معرفی
Maria Lexhagen is a Professor in Tourism Studies at Mid Sweden University, where she is employed in the Department of Economics, Geography, Law and Tourism (EJT) and affiliated with the European Tourism Research Institute (ETOUR). Her research focuses on marketing and consumer behavior in tourism, destination management and development, digitalization and social media, popular culture tourism, and business intelligence for destination development.
Lexhagen holds a doctoral degree in business from the School of Business, Economics and Law at Gothenburg University. Her academic journey has positioned her as a leading expert in tourism studies, particularly in the intersection of digital technologies and tourist experiences.
Her research interests span multiple dimensions of contemporary tourism. She investigates customer perceived value in relation to tourist experiences, particularly with sustainability aspects. She has conducted extensive research on popular culture tourism, examining both what it means for fans to travel to destinations associated with popular culture phenomena and the implications for destination development. Her work on destination branding explores value creation in relation to sustainability, while her research on business intelligence focuses on gathering customer-based knowledge for destination management. She has also made significant contributions to understanding visual aspects of tourist experiences, particularly digital visual aspects through social media platforms.
Lexhagen's recent publications reveal a strong trend toward integrating digital technologies, sustainability, and popular culture in tourism research. Her work increasingly focuses on sustainable tourism practices through behavioral interventions like carbon labeling in restaurants. She has pioneered research in popular culture tourism, examining phenomena ranging from Twilight tourism to ABBA pilgrimage. Her methodological approaches combine traditional tourism research with big data analytics, social media analysis, and experimental field studies, reflecting the evolving digital landscape of contemporary tourism.
- Associate editor for Consumer Behaviour in Tourism and Hospitality
- Board member of Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
In her academic leadership roles, Lexhagen has supervised numerous PhD students in tourism studies and has been actively involved in quality evaluation of education and research. She regularly conducts expert evaluations for other universities and participates in reference groups for various tourism projects. Her research has been supported through multiple projects focusing on attractiveness and green transition, reduced climate footprint at winter destinations, and business intelligence in tourism.
Lexhagen leads research within the European Tourism Research Institute (ETOUR), where she has been instrumental in developing the Knowledge Destination research program. Her work often involves interdisciplinary collaboration with researchers in business, geography, and environmental studies to address complex challenges in sustainable tourism development.
.jpeg)
