Maria Teresa Simone-Charteris

Maria Teresa Simone-Charteris serves as a Lecturer in Travel & Tourism Management within the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Ulster University Business School, Coleraine campus. Her academic role focuses on undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in tourism, transport, and management disciplines while serving as Placement Tutor for international degree students.

• BSc Hons Travel and Tourism Management, Ulster University (2005)
• Level 2 Intermediate Certificate in Wines and Spirits, WSET England (2006)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice (PGCHEP), Ulster University (2016)
• PhD in progress: Interconnections between religious and political tourism in Northern Ireland

Her research centers on pilgrimage & religious tourism, dark and political tourism, and peace reconciliation through tourism, with significant focus on Northern Ireland's post-conflict landscape. She examines how tourism can transform political murals, memorial sites, and religious heritage into catalysts for community engagement and economic regeneration while navigating ethical sensitivities. Her work integrates food and wine tourism with broader destination development strategies, particularly examining craft distillery tourism's regional impact.

Analysis of her publication record reveals consistent thematic focus on Northern Ireland's tourism evolution, with increasing sophistication in examining generational differences in dark tourism consumption, digital experience enhancement, and policy implications for heritage reinterpretation. Her work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical industry applications across religious, political, and dark tourism domains.

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
• Enhancing Academic Practice in the Disciplines award by SEDA (2016)

As Placement Tutor for international travel and tourism management students, she facilitates professional industry experience while maintaining active external roles as journal reviewer for Tourism, Journal of Management Spirituality & Religion, and International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. Her industry engagement spans 14+ years across diverse roles including tour guiding, hospitality management, and wine education. She contributes to academic discourse as visiting lecturer at HTMi Switzerland and subject reviewer for CABI.

Her research integrates with Ulster University's Business and Management Research group, focusing on tourism's role in sustainable development goals related to peace, industry innovation, and sustainable communities, particularly examining how tourism can transform conflict legacies into cooperative economic assets.