Research Associate, Tourism Crisis Management Institute
University of Florida
United States
Ashley Schroeder, M.S. is a Research Associate of the Tourism Crisis Management Institute at the University of Florida and a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Tourism in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management and is the recipient of a Grinter Fellowship at the University of Florida, which is awarded to one exceptional graduate student entering the Ph.D. program in Tourism annually.
Ashley received her Bachelor’s in Business Administration (2007) and her Master’s in Tourism (2012) from the University of Florida. Ashley’s Master’s thesis, Caught in a Crisis: International Travelers’ Likelihood of Social Media Use, serves as one of the first empirical studies to examine international tourists’ potential use of social media to seek information if a crisis were to occur while traveling. Her thesis work was also recognized by the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism(IFITT) as the third most innovative and rigorous Masters of Ph.D. theses internationally in the field of tourism and technology for the 2011-2012 academic year.
Under the advisement of Dr. Lori Pennington-Gray, Ashley is dedicated to researching the role of social media and technological adoption in crisis communications. In addition, Ashley also studies various aspects of tourism crisis management, including risk perceptions, risk information search behaviors, Tourism Area Response Networks and the development of tourism crisis management certifications. In the area of tourism crisis management, Ashley has presented her research at numerous regional and international conferences and authored and co-authored several research manuscripts that have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals.
2013
Breakout session: The Development of a Tourism Area Response Network in Machu Picchu, Cusco Region, Peru
Recent crises in Machu Picchu, an internationally renowned tourism attraction, have highlighted opportunities and challenges. Primary challenges included the lack of consensus on which stakeholders are responsible for crisis response, as well as communication breakdowns due to complex organizational hierarchies. These challenges, however, underscore an opportunity for better planning for and management of future crises. This study extends Collaboration Theory to the development of a Tourism Area Response Network (TARN) in Machu Picchu. The TARN is offered as a collaboration approach to foster stronger relationships among stakeholders in tourism crisis management and communication and can be adapted for other communities.
*Ashley Schroeder, Lori Pennington-Gray and Carla Barbierie are the authors of this paper. Ashley Schroeder and Lori Pennington-Gray co-presented.
2012
Breakout session: International Tourists’ Perceptions of Safety of the Top Ten U.S. Destinations
* Ashley Schroeder and Lori Pennington-Gray co-presented.