Dr. Clare Weeden is a Principal Lecturer in Tourism and Marketing at the School of Business and Law, University of Brighton. After twelve years in the international hospitality industry, and on completion of an MBA, Clare was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Brighton. She later completed her PhD at the University of Glasgow, which explored the holiday choices of ethical consumer using the personal values construct. Clare teaches subjects related to ethics and social responsibility, in contexts such as cruise tourism, impacts of tourism, consumer behaviour and destination marketing. Her research interests are broadly in these areas, and in 2013 she  published her monograph Responsible Tourist Behaviour (Routledge). Clare also co-edited ‘Managing Ethical Consumption in Tourism' (2014, Routledge). Her latest book is Cruise Ship Tourism (2nd ed.) (2016, CABI). She is the  Editor for Tourism and Hospitality Research, and a member of the editorial boards of Tourism and Marine Environments, CABI's Tourism Cases, Frontiers in Tourism and Tourism Recreation Research.

I am a social psychologist. This means I am fascinated by people and their behaviour – particularly the ethical choices they make in life and how these connect with their personal values. While this interest is mostly explored in the context of tourism, for example, understanding responsible tourist behaviour I believe it is also important to challenge business to make ethical and responsible decisions.  This latter research tends to focus on the cruise industry, where I look into the impact of cruise tourism on destinations, and the environment, the industry’s human resource policies, and its strategic priorities. Underpinning my research is a strong sense of personal agency, and I especially enjoy working on projects that enable me to advocate for people, animals, and organisations that seek outcomes in support of social justice.

I am an experienced PhD supervisor, and welcome enquiries from potential candidates interested in these and similar areas within the nexus of ethics, tourism, consumer behaviour, marketing and critical cruise studies.

My specialist areas of teaching are ethics and social responsibility, tourist behaviour, cruise management, impacts of tourism, and destination marketing. I like to involve students in the classroom so tend not to conduct many lectures, preferring instead to deliver workshops where everyone learns together. I like to teach in a way that helps students to challenge their own assumptions and to be more critical of what they read, hear and say in their everyday lives. It is important to me that students learn alongside me, rather than passively listening to lectures.

I grew up in a hotel on Eastbourne seafront, but managed to ‘escape’ my home town between the ages of 18 and 32 years, during which time I worked extensively in the hospitality industry in London, the USA, Israel, Amsterdam and Scotland. My preferred role in sales and marketing largely took me to 5 star luxury city centre hotels but I also worked as Bar Manager for Bruce’s Brewery in London – a very early version of what we now call micro-breweries.  

Growing up and working in the hospitality industry has taught me most of all about people, that everyone has a story to tell, whether they work in potwash, housekeeping or senior management.  People’s lives sometimes work out as planned, but often they don’t, and some of the loveliest people I have worked with have had to endure the greatest challenges. Knowing these people has been fundamental in shaping the way I approach my work as a lecturer and course leader, and how I treat students during their studies. I especially enjoy mentoring those who need a little extra support and encouragement to reach their goals and it is their success that helps sustain my interest and passion in my role at the University.