Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management
I am a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management. My research focuses on outdoor recreation and adventure tourism, including the experiences of outdoor adventure participants, gendered experiences, adventure media, and employment and governance of the sector.
My academic background lies in tourism and recreation studies I have taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels on tourism, recreation, and management modules. My research focuses on the experiences of adventure tourists and adventure recreationalists, particularly in relation to gender. Projects include an investigation of women’s barriers to climbing and mountaineering and the benefits they gain from participation; women’s representation in adventure media and women’s user-generated content of their adventurous experiences; the impact of adventure activities on women’s wellbeing; and women’s entrepreneurship in the outdoor sector. Additional projects include the supply and demand for charity challenge events and precarious employment in the outdoor sector. I employ a range of methodologies, including survey research, interviews, focus groups, ethnography, social media research and systematic literature reviews.
I was previously a snowboard instructor in America, and I am an enthusiast of the outdoors, which has inspired my research. I am a committee member of the Adventure Tourism Research Association, an organisation that seeks to bring together academics, adventure professionals and commercial operators. I am also a committee member of the Outdoor Recreation Research Group, which is a group of Sheffield Hallam University researchers with expertise in diverse areas of the outdoor recreation sector. Recently we worked with Sheffield City Council on a project to develop adventure-based city breaks designed to attract international sports enthusiasts. The project was awarded by VisitBritain and their Discover England fund. I am also a member of the British Mountaineering Council’s Equity Steering Group and I lead the Gender Equity sub-group.
Research interests
If you are an organisation, academic or student interested in these areas or other aspects of outdoor recreation and tourism, please get in touch. I am happy to discuss any ideas you have.
Department of Service Sector Management
Business, Technology and Enterprise
Tourism and Hospitality Management.
- An examination of the relationship between adventure sports participation and women's wellbeing.
- Conceptualising charity challenge tourism and developing a tourist typology.
- Investigating precarious employment within the outdoor recreation/adventure tourism sector.
- An assessment of sensory ethnography as a method of data collection and analysis.
- An examination of embodiment in women's adventure entrepreneurship.
2019: A growth strategy for the Outdoor Recreation Research Group, Sheffield Hallam University Creating Knowledge Implementation Plan (CKIP) Strategic Investment Fund.
Doran, A., & Hall, J. (2020). Researching Women in Mountaineering, UK. Unpublished.
Low, T., Maggie, M., Doran, A., & Hardwick, L. (2020). Women’s outdoor adventure experiences on Instagram: Exploring user-generated content. Annals of leisure research. http://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2020.1815068
Doran, A., Schofield, P., & Low, T. (2020). Women's mountaineering: accessing participation benefits through constraint negotiation strategies. Leisure Studies. http://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2020.1763439
Doran, A., & Pomfret, G. (2019). Exploring efficacy in personal constraint negotiation: an ethnography of mountaineering tourists. Tourist studies. http://doi.org/10.1177/1468797619837965
Doran, A., Schofield, P., & Low, T. (2018). Women's mountaineering tourism: an empirical investigation of its theoretical constraint dimensions. Leisure Studies, 37 (4), 396-410. http://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2018.1452283
Doran, A. (2016). Empowerment and women in adventure tourism : a negotiated journey. Journal of Sport and Tourism, 20 (1), 57-80. http://doi.org/10.1080/14775085.2016.1176594
Schofield, P., Doran, A., & Nolan, R. (2017). Assessing the walkability of urban public space with GIS technology: The hidden dimensions of security and community heritage. In The Routledge international handbook of walking. (pp. 369-378). Abingdon, Oxford: Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Walking/Hall-Ram-Shoval/p/book/9781138195349
Pomfret, G., & Doran, A. (2015). Gender and mountaineering tourism. In Musa, G., Thompson-Carr, A., & Higham, J. (Eds.) Mountaineering Tourism. (pp. 138-155). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315769202
Gregory, M., Pomfret, G., & Doran, A. (2020). The Outdoor City Adventure Breaks - Evaluation Report.
Doran, A. (2019). Women's mountaineering tourism experiences: The constraint negotiation process and benefits of participation. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Pomfret, G. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00203
Pomfret, G., & Doran, A. (2014). The role of gender in mountaineering tourism. Presented at: Adventure Tourism Research Association Seminar, Sheffield Hallam University
Harriet Wingfield (PhD): An investigation of the relationship between cycling tourists and wellbeing
Emily Pitts (PhD): Social capital and career progression in mountain leadership
James Westgarth (DBA): Heuristics and biases: A predictive framework for business travel managers
Nafisa Suliman (DBA): Impact of value chain governance of a tourism cluster on its stakeholders: a case study from Oman
If you are interested in undertaking a doctorate in any aspect of outdoor recreation/adventure tourism, for example, participants, media and marketing, sustainability, employment, and adventure management and operations, please get in touch. I am happy to discuss any ideas you have.
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