SVETLANA STEPCHENKOVA, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Ph.D in hospitality and tourism management, Purdue University
M.S. in hospitality and tourism management, Purdue University
B.S. in applied mathematics, Moscow State University
Curriculum Vitae

Biography:

Svetlana Stepchenkova, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management at the University of Florida. The area of her research interests is destination management, marketing, and branding, with the focus on quantitative assessment of destination image using qualitative data. She is especially interested in influence of media messages on image formation, and destination image as a factor in explaining destination choice. Svetlana also studies applications of information technologies in travel and tourism, particularly virtual travel communities, destination websites, and user-generated content as a means of obtaining a competitive advantage in destination marketing and management.

Currently Svetlana is leading a three-year international project "Capacity Building Partnership to Improve Tourism Education, Research, and Industry Outreach: University of Florida, USA and the State University of Nizhni Novgorod, Russian Federation" sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

Svetlana publishes her research in the Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, as well as CyberPsychology & Behavior and Computers in Human Behavior. In 2011 Svetlana joined the Editorial Review Board of Journal of Travel Research. She also serves as a reviewer for Tourism Management, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, and Current Issues in Tourism.

Research Interests:

• • Destination image as a competitive factor in destination management, marketing, and branding
• • Effect of media messages and user-generated content on tourism behavior and destination demand
• • Websites and online communities as a marketing tool for Destination Marketing Organizations
• • Cultural issues in tourism research

Classes:
LEI 3836 Hospitality Management
HLP 6515 Evaluation Procedures
HLP 6535 Research Methods