Key details
Dr Maria Gebbels
Academic Portfolio Lead – Hospitality and Tourism | Associate Professor in Hospitality
Dr Maria Gebbels joined the University of Greenwich in August 2016. She was awarded a PhD for a study entitled, "Career Paths in Hospitality: A Life History Approach" at the University of Brighton. She had previously gained an MSc in Food services and Wellbeing Management and holds a BA (Hons) in International Hospitality Management from the University of Brighton.
Before joining Greenwich, Maria was a lecturer at the School of Sport and Service Management, University of Brighton teaching a range of undergraduate modules.
She is a long-standing Member of the Institute of Hospitality (MIH) and Vice-Chair for a working group, IoH Future Forum. Maria is also an Honorary Treasurer for the Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME), and an executive committee member of the Association for Tourism in Higher Education (ATHE). These demonstrate her continuous commitment and engagement with the tourism and hospitality industry and a strong belief in sharing best practices in scholarship and pedagogy. She is also a Senior Fellow of AdvanceHE. In 2017 Maria was awarded the Institute of Hospitality Award for Best Conference Paper.
Besides her work in academia, Maria had worked in the hospitality industry for 10 years in operational and leadership roles in various sectors of the industry.
Responsibilities within the university
Maria is an Academic Portfolio Lead for the hospitality and tourism programmes. She is also a programme leader for MA International Tourism and Hospitality Management, and a course leader on a range of modules at the School of Management and Marketing.
Awards
2022 – Nominated: Most Collaborative Colleague, Greenwich Business School Staff Awards.
2021 – Nominated: Lecturer of the Year Award, Student Led Teaching Awards University of Greenwich.
2021 – Nominated: Outstanding Personal Tutor, Student Led Teaching Awards University of Greenwich.
2018 – Nominated: Faculty Star Award, Student Led Teaching Awards University of Greenwich.
2017 – Winner: Institute of Hospitality Best Paper Award, Council for Hospitality Management Education Annual Research Conference, Aalborg.
Recognition
Senior Fellow of AdvanceHE
Long-standing Member of the Institute of Hospitality (MIH)
Honorary Treasurer: Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME)
Executive Committee Member: Association for Tourism in Higher Education (ATHE)
Reviewer on a number of international tourism and hospitality journals.
Research / Scholarly interests
Maria’s research focuses on gender issues and career development in hospitality, professionalism, in-prison fine dining, hospitality in adventure tourism, and critical hospitality as a lens to understand social relations. She has been collaborating on research projects with colleagues from the UK, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Maria also works closely with the hospitality industry as a consultant advising on broader ED&I concerns. She recently led an industry project which culminated in a white paper on understanding Gen Z’s perceptions of hospitality as a career choice. Her current projects are about breaking the taboo of menopause in workplaces, in-prison training restaurants as vehicles to reduce reoffending rates, and female empowerment
Key funded projects
2022: External Consultancy Project with Umbrella Training, (Principal Investigator) ‘Perceptions of hospitality as a career choice for young adults in the UK (14–21-year-old)’, (£4964.85).
2018: Internal HEIF Seedling Fund, ‘Developing a Female Leadership Programme for the Tourism Industry’, University of Greenwich, (£4,678.72).
Media activity
Maria’s research and projects made headlines in many specialist industry press, including The Caterer, HR Magazine, Personnel Today, Hospitality and Catering News, and Stuff NZ.
Recent publications
Article
Gebbels, Maria and , (2023), M is for Menopause. Institute of Hospitality. In: , , , . Institute of Hospitality, Institute of Hospitality, 4 (1) . pp. 24-25 ISSN: 2755-7774 (Print), (doi: https://flickread.com/edition/html/63e60e19b930d#24) NB Item availability restricted.
Aksenova, Diana , Cai, Wenjie, Gebbels, Maria (2022), Multisensory prosumption: how cooking classes shape perceptions of destinations. Emerald. In: , , , . Emerald, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 34 (9) . pp. 3417-3439 ISSN: 0959-6119 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2021-1117).
Cai, Wenjie , Gebbels, Maria, Hafiz Zainal-Shukri, Wan (2021), Performing authenticity: independent Chinese travellers’ tourism dining experiences in Europe. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Tourism Management, 86: 104339 ISSN: 0261-5177 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104339).
Gebbels, Maria , McIntosh, Alison, Harkison, Tracy (2021), Fine-dining in prisons: Online TripAdvisor reviews of The Clink training restaurants. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 95: 102937 ISSN: 0278-4319 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.102937).
Calinaud, Valentine , Kokkranikal, Jithendran, Gebbels, Maria (2020), Career advancement for women in the British hospitality industry: The enabling factors. SAGE. In: , , , . SAGE, Work, Employment and Society, 35 (4) . pp. 677-695 ISSN: 0950-0170 (Print), 1469-8722 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017020967208).
McIntosh, Alison , Gebbels, Maria, Harkison, Tracy (2020), Serving time: how fine dining in jail is helping prisoners and satisfying customers. In: , , , . , The Conversation (doi: https://theconversation.com/serving-time-how-fine-dining-in-jail-is-helping-prisoners-and-satisfying-customers-149161).
Gebbels, Maria , Gao, Xiongbin, Cai, Wenjie (2020), Let’s not just ‘talk’ about it: reflections on women’s career development in hospitality. Emerald. In: , , , . Emerald, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32 (11) . pp. 3623-3643 ISSN: 0959-6119 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-05-2020-0385).
Gebbels, Maria , Pantelidis, Ioannis S., Goss-Turner, Steven (2019), Conceptualising patterns of career commitment: the leaving process in hospitality. Emerald. In: , , , . Emerald, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32 (1) . pp. 126-147 ISSN: 0959-6119 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2019-0338).
Gebbels, Maria and , (2019), Transforming hospitality. Institute of Hospitality. In: , , , . Institute of Hospitality, HQ: Hospitality Quarterly, 53 (3) . pp. 50-51 (doi: https://flickread.com/edition/html/5d931e50cb435#50).
Gebbels, Maria , Pantelidis, Ioannis S., Goss-Turner, Steven (2019), Towards a personology of a hospitality professional. Intellect. In: , , , . Intellect, Hospitality & Society, 9 (2) . pp. 213-234 ISSN: 2042-7913 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/hosp.9.2.215_1).
Gebbels, Maria and , (2019), What makes a hospitality professional?. Auckland University of Technology Library. In: , , , . Auckland University of Technology Library, Hospitality Insights, 3 (2) . pp. 5-6 ISSN: 2537-9267 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.24135/hi.v3i2.58).
Gebbels, Maria and , (2018), Re-engineering challenging and abstract topics using Kahoot!, a student response system. Educational Development Unit, University of Greenwich. In: , , , . Educational Development Unit, University of Greenwich, Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, 11 (2) . pp. 1-12 ISSN: 2044-0081 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v11i2.844) NB Item availability restricted.
Gebbels, Maria , Planday, Institute of Hospitality (2018), What the government can do to help the hospitality industry before and after Brexit?. In: , , , . , Brexit Survival Guide: Practical Tips for Hospitality Businesses . pp. 25-25 (doi: https://cdn.marketing.planday.com/website/uploads/2018/06/18124536/Brexit-Hospitality-Survival-Guide.pdf).
Book
Farkic, Jelena and , Gebbels, Maria (2022), The adventure tourist: being, knowing, becoming. Emerald Publishing. In: , , , . Emerald Publishing, Bingley (1st) . ISBN: 9781800718500; eISBN: 9781800718494 (doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-849-420211007).
Book section
Gebbels, Maria and , (2024), Towards a gender-conscious tourism curriculum: lessons from the classroom. Routledge. In: , , In: Magdalena Petronella (Nellie) Swart, Wenjie Cai, Elaine Chiao Ling Yang, Albert Nsom Kimbu (eds.), Routledge Handbook on Gender in Tourism: Views on Teaching, Research and Praxis. Routledge, London (1st) . pp. 15-28 . ISBN: 9781003286721; 103226134X; 9781032261348 (doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003286721) NB Item availability restricted.
Gebbels, Maria , McIntosh, Alison, Harkison, Tracy (2023), Leading social change through prison fine dining as a new form of global tourism. Routledge - Taylor & Francis. In: , , In: Alastair M. Morrison, Dimitrios Buhalis (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Trends and Issues in Global Tourism Supply and Demand. Routledge - Taylor & Francis, London (1st) . pp. 373-382 . ISBN: 9781003260790 (doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003260790) NB Item availability restricted.
McIntosh, Alison , Gebbels, Maria, Harkison, Tracy (2022), In focus 4: fine dining in a prison. The Clink restaurants in the UK. Edward Elgar. In: , , In: Marina Novelli, Joseph M Cheer, Claudia Dolezal, Adam Jones, Claudio Milano (eds.), Handbook of Niche Tourism. Edward Elgar, Milano (1st) . pp. 278-280 . ISBN: 9781839100178; 9781839100185 (doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839100185.00034).
Gebbels, Maria and , (2022), Personology. Edward Elgar Publishing. In: , , In: Dimitrios Buhalis (ed.), Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham and Camberley, UK ; Northampton, Massachusetts, USA (1st) . pp. 1-3 . ISBN: 9781800377479 ; 9781800377486 (doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800377486).
Gebbels, Maria and , (2022), The boys’ club: gender bias in hospitality hierarchies. Routledge. In: , , In: Conrad Lashley (ed.), Prejudice and Discrimination in Hotels, Restaurants and Bars. Routledge, London (1st) . ISBN: 9781032030449 (doi: https://www.routledge.com/Prejudice-and-Discrimination-in-Hotels-Restaurants-and-Bars/Lashley/p/book/9781032030449) NB Item availability restricted.
Gebbels, Maria and , (2019), Career paths in hospitality.. Routledge. In: , , In: Michael J. Boella, Steven Goss-Turner (eds.), Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry : A Guide to Best Practice. Routledge, (10th) . pp. 459-476 . ISBN: 9780429805950 (doi: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=AuemDwAAQBAJ) NB Item availability restricted.
Conference item
Gebbels, Maria and , (2018), Re-engineering challenging and abstract topics using a student response system. In: SHIFT 2018: Annual Conference of Learning, Teaching & Assessment, Friday, 5th January 2018, Greenwich Maritime Campus, Queen Anne Court , . , (doi: ).
Gebbels, Maria , Dr Ioannis S. Pantelidis, Dr Steven Goss-Turner (2017), Towards a Personology of a Hospitality Professional. In: 2017 Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) Research Conference, 16-19 May 2017, Aalborg, Denmark , . , (doi: ) NB Item availability restricted.
Conference proceedings
Gebbels, Maria , Cai, Wenjie, Gao, Xiongbin (2019), Gender issues in tourism and hospitality organisations: how to bridge the gap between gender awareness and organisational support?. Digital Commons @ TRU Library. In: , , , Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings. Digital Commons @ TRU Library, , 2019 (1) . pp. 62 . ISBN: 9780991687121 (doi: https://digitalcommons.library.tru.ca/cts-proceedings/vol2019/iss1/62/).
Monograph
Gebbels, Maria , Umbrella Training, BusinessLND (2022), Perceptions of hospitality as a career choice for young adults (aged 14-21 in the United Kingdom). Umbrella Training - University of Greenwich - Business LDN. In: , , , . Umbrella Training - University of Greenwich - Business LDN, Kent and London (1st) (doi: https://www.umbrellatraining.co.uk/white-paper-2022).
Other
Gebbels, Maria and , Kahoot! (2018), University story: putting theory into practice with Kahoot!. Kahoot!. In: , , , . Kahoot!, (doi: https://kahoot.com/blog/2018/03/06/university-putting-theory-into-practice-kahoot/).