Starting a PhD: Mapping the Journey from Tourism Practice to Academic Insight

 

This January marks the beginning of a long journey I’ve been preparing for over many years. I’ve officially started my PhD, and as part of the process, I’ve committed to documenting the road ahead. This is not just for myself but also for others working in tourism, place-making, and digital strategy. This isn’t a formal progress report. It’s more like a public journal entry that reflects what it means to transition from full-time practitioner to part-time researcher without stepping out of the professional role.

My research focuses on how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in tourism in a way that respects local values, strengthens regional governance, and builds trust among both visitors and residents. To make that concrete, I’m developing something called the AI Readiness and Ethical Targeting Toolkit, or AIRETT. The goal is to support destination marketing organisations (DMOs), especially those in rural  regions like Northern Finland, in making informed, ethical, and locally appropriate decisions when using AI tools for behavioural targeting and personalisation.

This idea didn’t come out of nowhere. Working in tourism development for over two decades has shown me how quickly digital tools have changed the game. At the same time, many regional organisations struggle with uneven access to data, limited internal capacity, and unclear ethical guidelines. AI is already shaping what people see, what they click, and where they go. But how well do we actually understand what that means for tourism destinations like ours? What gets amplified? What gets ignored? Who decides?

These are not just technical questions. They are social, cultural, and political. And they’re especially important in regions like Northern Finland, where tourism is both a lifeline and a responsibility. That’s where the research comes in. And that’s also where the learning curve begins.

Over the past few months, I’ve started to build the academic tools I need to carry this work forward. I’ve been learning how to organise my research with Notion, track and manage references with Zotero, and explore related academic literature using Litmaps. None of these are tourism-specific platforms. But together, they form a working system that allows me to collect, connect, and reflect on what I’m reading and learning. For someone used to leading strategy and operations, slowing down and building this research infrastructure has felt demanding but also constructive. I now see it as a way of designing space for long-term thought.

The University of Gloucestershire, where I’m enrolled, has suggested for a practice-led approach. This means that the research is grounded in my ongoing leadership work. It doesn’t just analyse the tourism system from the outside. It reflects on and within it. Over the next few days, I’ll be writing a 5,000-word scoping document to describe my current practice as CEO of Visit Oulu and the broader Visit Northern Finland network. That will be followed by a 360-degree review, not only to assess impact but to make sense of how tourism governance, stakeholder collaboration, and AI readiness actually work in the field.

If there is a theme running through all of this, it’s alignment. How can we align new technologies with local needs and values? How can we build capacity in places that are often on the margins of global digital change? How can we ask better questions as tourism professionals before accepting the tools we’re offered?

I’ll be using this blog to continue writing about that process. Sometimes I’ll reflect on a practical challenge. Sometimes I’ll share a thought on research methods or governance. Sometimes I might just write to clear my head.

And as always, this work is situated. It starts in Oulu, in the context of a real region, real people, and real decisions. That’s where AIRETT will be developed. And that’s where, hopefully, some new knowledge will take root.