Nika Balomenou

Dr. Nika Balomenou is an Associate Professor in Tourism and Visual Sociology at Swansea University's School of Management. She holds leadership roles as co-chair of the Visual Methods in Tourism Research Special Interest Group (Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research) and as Programme Director of the MSc International Tourism Management. Previously, she spent 12 years at the University of Hertfordshire, leading the Enterprise and Value Research Group and acting as Research Tutor for the Hertfordshire Business School.

Her research focuses on visual methodologies, particularly participant-generated imagery, to empower host communities in tourism contexts. Key areas include strategic tourism planning, national park management, and host-guest interactions. She contributes to prestigious journals like Tourism Management and serves on editorial boards for Destination and Marketing Management and Tourism Planning and Development.

Recent work explores tourism's dual impacts through longitudinal studies (e.g., Kavos, Corfu) and innovative visual research methods such as volunteer-employed photography (VEP). Her publications bridge sociological insights with practical tourism planning strategies.

Dr. Balomenou supervises PhD candidates in tourism-related topics and teaches modules on strategic tourism planning, experiential design, and research methods. She actively collaborates with industry and policy stakeholders to apply academic findings to real-world challenges.