Something is shifting in hospitality and tourism research, and the implications reach far beyond the lecture hall.
At THE INC 2026, the Tourism, Hospitality & Events International Conference held in Faro, Portugal, this shift was impossible to ignore. Around 150 papers from researchers across the globe converged on a single theme: Personalisation and Immersive Experiences in Tourism, Hospitality and Events. But the conversation that emerged went deeper than the theme suggested.
In discussions with editors of leading hospitality and tourism journals, a clear message surfaced: the era of research conducted for its own sake is giving way to something more demanding and more valuable. Theoretical rigour and methodological strength remain non-negotiable. But they are no longer enough on their own. Editors are increasingly asking a harder question: so what? What does this research mean for industry? For communities? For the next generation of hospitality professionals?
"The era of research conducted for its own sake is giving way to something more demanding and more valuable."
For Hotelschool The Hague, that question sits at the heart of what we do.
"Research needs to be academically rigorous, but it also needs to connect to the real challenges facing hospitality organisations, communities and the people working in them," says Anna de Visser-Amundson, Professor of Responsible Consumption. "The message from Faro confirmed what we already believe at HTH."
"Research needs to be academically rigorous, but it also needs to connect to the real challenges facing hospitality organisations, communities and the people working in them."
ANNA DE VISSER-AMUNDSON, PROFESSOR OF RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION
Dr. De Visser-Amundson attended the conference as a researcher and returned with more than observations. Her paper, Have it your way: Design your own green stay, was awarded Best Hospitality Paper, of all competitive submissions from the hospitality track. The award criteria focused on academic innovation, methodological rigour, and impact.
The paper itself sits precisely at the intersection the field is moving towards. It explores what happens when hotels give guests genuine agency over the sustainability choices that shape their stay, not as a marketing gesture, but as a structural shift in how sustainable hospitality is designed and experienced. At a moment when the industry is under pressure to move beyond surface-level green credentials, the research asks a harder question: what does it actually take to make sustainable choices the obvious ones?
It is the kind of work that speaks to multiple audiences at once. For industry, it offers a framework for rethinking guest experience design. For students and future professionals, it reflects the values-driven approach to hospitality that HTH has long championed. And for the research community, it demonstrates that academic quality and real-world relevance are not in tension, they are stronger together.
Hotelschool The Hague has a longstanding connection to THE INC. In 2024, HTH hosted the conference in Amsterdam, which made the return to Faro and the continuation of those academic relationships particularly meaningful.
The recognition in Faro is a signal worth noting: not just for one researcher, but for an entire approach to what hospitality education and research can be.
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About Anna de Visser-Amundson
Anna de Visser-Amundson is Professor of Responsible Consumption at Hotelschool The Hague. She studied International Hospitality Management at Les Roches and holds an MSc and PhD from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research focuses on sustainable consumption behaviour and circular food systems, for which she received an NWO grant and an Erasmus+ Capacity Building project. She publishes in international journals including the Journal of Marketing Research and Journal of Sustainable Tourism, and works closely with companies and students to bring sustainable food concepts into practice.
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