Itzel San Roman Pineda, PhD student at the Geography Department of The University of Sheffield, participated in the third edition of the Tourism Research Network PhD/ECR Symposium 2018 hosted by Sheffield Hallam University. Itzel gave a talk about her research that seeks to explore the adaptation of cluster theory as a strategy for inequality reduction in touristic contexts.
Itzel was one of the selected students and early career researchers chosen from across UK and Europe to speak at the two-day event about tourism, leisure, events and hospitality. This Symposium gave attendees the opportunity to: discuss and reflect on future professional development, present research and meet and network with other PhD students, ECRs and established academics (TouRNet, 2018).
Itzel’s research focuses on exploring the adaptation of cluster theory for its application in rural and poor-urban regions in the vicinities of consolidated mass tourism destinations in the Yucatan Peninsula, acknowledging the existence of and, including subsistence firms in alternative clusters models, as strategy for inequality reduction and empowerment of communities to participate in the control of their development.
Itzel has conducted research over a decade on one of the most important touristic regions in the globe: The Yucatan Peninsula, where Cancun, Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Merida and other important destinations are located. Now, Itzel San Roman Pineda is a first-year PhD student and is sponsored by the Mexican Government through a CONACYT scholarship.