Member Article

Wae Employee Wins ITT Award for PhD Study

Zornitza Yovcheva awarded by The Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) for her innovative user centred design research around augmented reality for tourism, nominated by Bournemouth University

13th July 2015, London – wae, a leading global service consultancy is delighted to announce that one of its employees, Zornitza Yovcheva, has been awarded the prestigious ITT PhD Research Student of the Year Award.

As part of her PhD, Zornitza undertook the first user-centred design study that uses geospatial cognitive theory and investigates how to improve the design and information delivery for tourists in order to enhance their overall on-site experience. Bournemouth University nominated this study, on behalf of Zornitza, to the Institute of Travel and Tourism for Best UK PhD Research Student of the Year.

ITT is committed to supporting and celebrating high quality research undertaken in British universities. This is reflected by its continued support for this unique and prestigious award which recognises the travel industry’s up ‘and coming talent. In the past, the award has been won by students who have undertaken a variety of projects, not all of which have been directly relevant to businesses in the way that Zornitza’s research will help wae to further strengthen its stronghold in travel and tourism.

Commenting on Zornitza’s award, Claire Steiner, ITT Director and Chair of Education and Training says: “The ITT Student awards celebrate the very best in emerging talent in our sector and every year the PhD award showcases just some of the incredible and innovative research that is being undertaken. We congratulate Zornitza on her achievement – she is a worthy winner!”

Exposure to new and unfamiliar environments is a necessary part of everyone’s life, especially tourists. However, effective communication of location-based information has become a key concern for travel and tourism companies and as a result much attention is being directed towards Augmented Reality (AR) interfaces. Smartphone AR browsers deliver information about physical objects through spatially registered virtual annotations and can function as an interface to (geo)spatial and attribute data. Such applications have considerable potential for tourism and studies discussing their design have increased considerably.

Considering the wide popularity of AR applications, and the significant potential of such tools to enhance the experience of tourists, the topic is likely to gain even more traction and prominence in both academia and industry. Zornitza’s research project contributes to the topic and identifies the direction for further development within the field.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, Bournemouth University comments: “Zornitsa’s research is cutting edge and I am glad her work is being recognised by ITT. Augmented reality will change the way we consume tourism and will be instrumental in the co-creation of memorable tourism experiences. Zornitza’s work sets the basis for the presentation of information in the augmented reality environment and illustrates how we can enhance traveller experience.”

Zornitza’s research has already received a lot of attention from both industry and academia. In 2013, the findings were awarded Best Paper Award at the Designing Mobile Augmented Reality workshop, part of the widely recognised Mobile Human Computer Interaction Conference which takes place in Munich, Germany. Commenting on the award Zornitza concludes: “I am delighted that I can continue applying my knowledge and skills and put this into practice at wae. I am excited about my current work with clients like Transport for London, where I can continue to push the boundaries and help travel brands gain the attention of time-pressured tourists, in this highly competitive industry.”

The award ceremony will be held at the ITT Summer Party which takes place in the unique Thames-side setting of the Terrace Pavilion at The House of Commons.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Hindle .