The University of West London

Leading academic to direct the London School of Hospitality and Tourism's International Centre for Hotel and Resort Management

Thursday 28 June 2012

The University of West London is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Angela Roper as the academic lead and Director of the newly established International Centre for Hotel and Resort Management.  

The Centre is part of the University's London School of Hospitality and Tourism, and under Professor Roper’s leadership, will actively address the needs of the industry to develop gifted, talented and educated graduates aspiring to lead the future development of major corporate players.  It will also meet a research gap by looking critically at issues likely to affect the corporate management of hotels and resorts in the future.

The Centre has been set up with the support of industry leaders who include the University's Chancellor, Laurence Geller of Strategic Hotels and Resorts, and executives in Hilton Worldwide and the Intercontinental Hotels Group.

Professor Roper has lots of ideas that will give the University's students the edge in an ever competitive job market.  They include enhancing the curriculum and introducing a range of new specialist executive masters programmes.

Professor Roper’s career academically and in the industry is impressive.  Having gained her PhD at the University of Huddersfield she then held senior academic positions at Oxford Brookes University and, most recently, the University of Surrey.  Her expert knowledge is due to more than 20 years of research experience that has resulted in the publication of over 70 academic papers.

Professor Roper also worked as a Hotel and Leisure Analyst in the City, and has been a Visiting Scholar at universities in Norway, Italy and the USA and sits on six editorial boards.

Commenting on her appointment, Professor Angela Roper, Director of the University's International Centre for Hotel and Resort Management, said:

‘The global hotel market is estimated to be close to 20 million rooms and as such hotels and resorts are key drivers of the global service economy.  With this in mind, I am delighted to be heading up the first research centre in the UK focused on the hotel and resort sector.  The University already has fantastic links with industry and the establishment of the Centre further cements the latter’s involvement in curriculum development and research going forward.  The appointment consolidates my more than 20 years research into the internationalisation and strategic development of the major hotel companies and is an indication of the benefits applied research can bring to academia. The Centre will seek to develop corporate managers of the future and ground breaking research.’