Dr Steven Jakes
Profiles

Dr Steven Jakes

Lecturer in Tourism, Hospitality & Events Management (Education)

Plymouth Business School (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business)

Hi, my name is Steve Jakes. I am a Lecturer in Tourism and Events Management and my main teaching interests are oriented around geographical and sociological themes and their relation and application to leisure, tourism and events. I also specialise in teaching research methods, especially quantitative methods and statistics, to students at Plymouth University and our partner institution in Sri Lanka. My role also involves some academic management and leadership responsibilities, including the role of Senior Personal Tutor.

Past roles have included:

2015 - the present : Lecturer in Tourism and Events Management, School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Plymouth.     
            
2014-2015: Research Assistant, School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Plymouth.

2010-2014: Associate Lecturer, School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Plymouth.

2010-2013: Teacher of Tourism, Plymouth University International College.

2010-2012: Teacher of Academic Study Skills and Communication, Plymouth University International College.



Qualifications

2016: PGCert. Academic Practice, University of Plymouth.
2015: PhD. Social Exclusion, Resort Decline and the English Seaside, University of Plymouth.
2008: MSc (with Distinction). Tourism, Development and Policy, University of Exeter.
2006: BA (First Class Hons.). Tourism Studies and Geography, University of Exeter.

Professional membership

Member of the Tourism Research Information Network
Member of the Tourism Management Institute
Member of the Regional Studies Association

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Teaching interests

My main teaching at undergraduate level includes:

Stage 1

  • Tourism Environments and Tourist Behaviour (module leader)
  • Tourism Geographies (module leader)
  • International Event Destinations (module leader)
  • Special Interest Tourism (module leader)

Stage 2

  • Tourism, Development and Culture (module leader)
  • Research Methods

Stage 4

  • Crime and Sustainable Tourism
  • Contemporary Issues in Events Management
  • Dissertation Research Project (Plymouth)
  • Dissertation Research Project (Sri Lanka) (module leader)


My main teaching at postgraduate level includes:

  • Research Methods
  • Dissertation Research Project

Research interests

My long-standing interests are in the broad field of issues of economic change, spatial development and social disadvantage in developing and developed countries.These interests have also drawn me into specific work on relationships between resort decline and social exclusion and on dynamics and processes of change within the economies of English seaside resorts and deprived neighbourhoods. The core concern of my research is to improve understanding of the range of factors influencing area-based deprivation in English seaside resorts and to promote their integration into regeneration policy and practice. My interest is also in examining spatial concentrations of deprivation in seaside resorts, at the neighbourhood level, and the extent to which they can have a compounding effect upon residents of deprived areas and contribute to social exclusion. My main analytical approach is the use of quantitative methods. I have created a national seaside resort database comprising an extensive range of social, economic and demographic measures for seaside regions, districts, wards and neighbourhoods. My PhD research resulted in the construction of said database, which is composed of time-series data drawn from an array of sources. No other database of this nature has ever existed in the UK. The national seaside resort database therefore constitutes a significant and valuable academic resource. I have a research agenda on social and economic change in English seaside resorts and am currently crafting papers for publication.

In addition to understanding causes, aspects/directions and consequences of English seaside resort change, I have other research interests and act as advisor on a number of dissertation projects concerning the following:

  • Social and economic change in urban, rural or coastal contexts: an analysis of poverty, deprivation or social exclusion in destination areas
  • Tourism development in the coastal zone: an analysis of tourism impacts on coastal environments and their inhabitants
  • Deviant behavior and tourism: an investigation into dark leisure or some aspect of tourist deviant behaviour (e.g., drug use, gambling, prostitution)
  • Community-based tourism: an investigation into some aspect of community-based tourism either a developing or developed country
  • Strategic use of events: an analysis of the role of events or tourism in urban regeneration
  • Animals and tourism: an investigation into some aspect of wildlife tourism, morals and ethics
  • Animals and tourism: an investigation into the challenges and prospects for pets in tourism, especially dogs
  • Wilderness tourism: an investigation into tourism development in wilderness areas (e.g., mountainous regions, deserts, rainforests, the arctic)
  • Social tourism: an analysis of the production, consumption or distribution of social tourism in Europe

Other research

2008: My MSc thesis concerned the effects of wilderness on military personnel's attitudes toward nature. This distinction level work points to my perseverance as well as persuasion, working as I did on a tricky topic with difficult subjects. A report detailing the findings of the survey of military attitudes and behaviours towards the environment was requested by the Ministry of Defence for their environmental awareness training component.

2006: Worked as independent researcher for Tamar Housing Society, Plymouth. Conducted a social survey of and in-depth interviews with people living in socially deprived areas of Plymouth to identify the level and extent of housing need. I analysed all data arising from the survey (n=600) and the in-depth interviews (n=62) before producing a report to inform local policy and delivery to better target resources and support.

2006: Worked as researcher for Okehampton Town Council, West Devon. Conducted a survey/public consultation exercise on the change of use of the market in Okehampton. The report that I produced was presented to the Council's Property Committee, examined and endorsed as a working paper for the future of the market.

Grants & contracts

Inward migration to English seaside towns and its influence on deprivation - with Professor Sheela Agarwal (University of Plymouth) and Professor Stephen Page (University of Hertfordshire) Total: £5000 (£3000 from UoP Faculty of Business Research Facilitation Grant, £2000 from UoH Business School)

Journals

Agarwal, S. Jakes, S. Essex, S. Page, S. & Mowforth, M. (2018) 'Disadvantage in English seaside resorts: A typology of deprived neighbourhoods'. Tourism Management. 69: 440-459 (ABS4*)

Conferences organised

2006: I was a member of the Programme Committee who organised the International Conference on Periphery and Policy at New County Hall in Truro, Cornwall on 21-22 April. My contribution to the conference received recognition from the Royal Anthropological Institute and Cornwall County Council.