Stefania Ntregka
Stefania Ntregka (PhD) was born is Greece and developed an early interest in tourism. She is a Lecturer in Research Methods and Guest Experience at Hotelschool The Hague. She studied Hospitality and Tourism Management at Technological and Educational Institute of Larisa, Greece and continued with postgraduate studies (MSc) in Communication and Public Relations at Ulster University in Northern Ireland. In 2017 she obtained her PhD from Ulster University focusing on destination community empowerment in tourism planning. Stefania worked in hospitality and consultancy in Greece, the UK and Spain and started her teaching career in the UK.
Research interests
PhD Thesis: Empowering island communities regarding tourism development: The case examination of Sporades Islands in Greece.
Currently working on postdoctoral research: Community empowerment in tourism decision-making processes in urban destinations. Different urban destinations in the Netherlands, Spain and Greece are studied in order to understand how local empowerment in tourism decision-making can shape up a sustainable future for the destinations.
“Since the beginning of my career in hospitality I started realising the gap between visitors and locals, the industry and the destination community. Therefore, I have focused my research on creating pathways that facilitate local communities to find their voice in tourism decision-making. Throughout this journey I have had the opportunity to work closely with private and public sector officials in building collaborations amongst stakeholders within destinations and I hope my research will allow me to work with more destinations in fostering trusting relationships that enable locals to participate in tourism development actively.’’