Nicky van Es

Nicky van Es is a Lecturer at the Department of Arts and Culture Studies, Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is also a PhD candidate at the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture (ERMeCC), engaged in the NWO-funded interdisciplinary project 'Locating Imagination: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Literary, Film and Music Tourism' under the supervision of Dr. Stijn Reijnders.

His educational background includes a BA in Sociology and a Research Master in Sociology of Culture, Media and the Arts, both from Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research explores the intersections of media, popular culture, and tourism, with a focus on how narratives in literature, film, and music inspire real-world travel and shape cultural experiences.

His research interests include literary tourism, film tourism, music tourism, national identity in digital spaces, and urban tourism. His work investigates how tourists emotionally and imaginatively connect with fictional worlds and how local stakeholders construct and market these experiences.

The recent publications reflect a strong focus on interdisciplinary cultural analysis, particularly in how popular narratives influence tourist behavior. Key themes include the emotional engagement with fictional cities, the persistence of national identity in virtual worlds, and the cultural dynamics of crime fiction tourism in global metropolises.

• Chronicles of Film Tourism: An Integrative Review and Future Research Directions (2025)
• Locating Imagination in Popular Culture: Place, Tourism and Belonging (2021)
• Introduction: Locating Imagination in popular culture (2020)
• Making sense of capital crime cities (2016)
• Chasing sleuths and unravelling the metropolis (2016)

Nicky van Es actively participates in public engagement, including media appearances such as a 2013 radio interview discussing his research. He has no listed scientific awards or formal advisees, but his collaborative research output demonstrates strong academic engagement. He is affiliated with research networks exploring tourism, media, and cultural identity, contributing to both academic and public discourse.