Professor Brent Ritchie

Head of School

School of Business
Faculty of Business, Economics and Law
b.ritchie@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 68122

Overview

Professor Ritchie's research interests are associated with tourism risk management. His research has focused on understanding risk from an individual and organisational perspective. His work on organisations explores risk attitudes and response strategies to effectively respond and recover from crises and disasters. He also explores tourist attitudes to risk and their risk reduction behaviour, including beach goers, Australian outbound travellers and potential travellers to the Middle East and in Indonesia. His research projects also examine the factors that influence the formation of risk attitudes and behaviour by using social and organisational psychology theory and concepts. Recently his interests have expanded to include carbon offsetting to understand consumer preferences and adoption of carbon offseting in an aviation context. He currently holds an ARC Discovery Grant and an ARC Linkage grant on this topic area. He has given keynote speeches at over ten international conferences and has supervised 15 PhD students to completion. Brent is currently unable to advise any PhD students.

Professor Ritchie has coordinated several research projects including Sustainable Tourism CRC and consultancy work for a number of tourism organisations in the public and private sector in Australia, England, Vietnam and New Zealand. He has also published extensively in academic journals including Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing and Current Issues in Tourism. He was former editor of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management and is on the editorial board of eight international journals including the Journal of Travel Research. Professor Ritchie is also a Distinguished Professor and member of the Center for Tourism Research at Wakayama University, Japan and an Affiliate of the Tourism Crisis Management Instiute at the University of Florida, USA.

Professor Ritchie joined the School of Tourism in June 2008, having previously worked as the head of the tourism discipline and the research area at the University of Canberra. Professor Ritchie has also previously worked at the School of Service Management at the University of Brighton UK. He has a PhD from the University of Otago, New Zealand graduating in 2000

Research Impacts

Research on tourism risk issues can assist businesses and tourism destinations better prepare for, and manage risk from crises and disasters, and so protect the future viability of an important industry. The research also provides an evidence base for industry and government to develop more effective risk communication strategies and interventions to improve tourist safety. Research on carbon offsetting can help develop policy responses and carbon offset experiences that meet consumer needs and help increase the number and value of carbon offsetting.

Publications

View all Publications

Available Projects

  • Understanding public and community responses to large scale ecological restoration of the Great Barrier Reef. This project draws on existing and future large scale quantitative surveys to document public attitudes and expectations about restoration and how it is managed. This includes identifying key drivers of trust and tracking key influences of those attitudes and expectations over time. Supervisors: Prof Brent Ritchie, UQ; Dr Justine Lacey, CSIRO.

    The student would be part of five proposed projects aligned with the social dimensions of reef restoration as part of the Reef Restoration and Adptation Program. The Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) brings together Australia’s leading experts to help the Great Barrier Reef resist, adapt to, and recover from the impacts of climate change.

    An outstanding PhD candidate is sought to join a multi-institutional team of social scientists from the University of Queensland and CSIRO contributing to the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), Stakeholder and Traditional Owner Engagement Subprogram. RRAP is believed to be the world’s largest research and development program dedicated to helping a major ecosystem survive climate change.

    The Stakeholder and Traditional Owner Engagement Subprogram aims to facilitate the design and implementation of best-practice, place-based, engagement opportunities for Reef Traditional Owners, communities and stakeholders while, at the same time, building understanding of public perceptions of reef restoration and adaptation, the distribution of risks and benefits arising from intervention R&D and implementation, and opportunities to deliver positive community and stakeholder impacts.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

  • Andreassen, Tor W., Archibald, Gordon, Beekhuyzen, Jenine, Bongiovanni, Ivano, Brea, Edgar, Breidbach, Christoph, Burchill, Keith, Burgers, Henri, Cao, Selina, Coote, Len, Coram, Brendan, Cunningham, Claire, Feast, George, Field, Mitch, Ford, Jerad, Fouche, Leon, Gain, Alexandria, Gooding, Glen, Goyeneche Ramirez, David, Green, Teegan, Gschwind, Daniel, Hall, Thomas, Hartley, Nicole, Heinz, Daniel, Hine, Damian, Indulska, Marta, Kapernick, Brett, Kastelle, Tim, Ko, Ryan ... Zhang, Wenlu (2023). Digital Service Transformation: Pathways to human and economic wellbeing White Paper. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland Business School - Service Innovation Alliance. doi: 10.14264/aed4918

  • SIe, Lintje, Ritchie, Brent W. and Lockie, Stewart (2022). Australian attitudes toward the protection and restoration of the Great Barrier Reef: Summary Findings. Brisbane, QLD Australia: Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program.

  • Sie, Lintje, Ritchie, Brent W. and Lockie, Stewart (2022). Australian attitudes toward the protection and restoration of the Great Barrier Reef: Technical report. Brisbane, QLD Australia: Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program .

  • Franco, Isabel B., Fidelman, Pedro, Maher, Ray, Ritchie, Brent, Yarnold, Jennifer, Derbyshire, Ellen, Foster, Rose and Ulhmann, Kora (2021). The future of sustainability solutions. Conversation Series Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland.

  • Taylor, B, Vella, K, Maclean, K, Newlands, M, Ritchie, B, Lockie, S, Lacey, J, Baresi, U, Barber, M, Siehoyono Sie, L, Martin, M, Marshall, N and Koopman, D (2019). Stakeholder, traditional owner and community engagement and assessment. The RRAP Investment Case and Concept Feasibility Study Reports

  • Taylor, B., Hussey, K. , Fidelman, P. , Vella, K. , Maclean, K. , Newlands, M. , Ritchie, B. , Lockie, S. , Lacey, J. , McGrath, C. , Baresi, U. , Barber, M. and Koopman, D. (2019). Reef restoration and adaptation program: engagement and regulatory dimensions. Townsville, Australia: Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

Completed Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • Understanding public and community responses to large scale ecological restoration of the Great Barrier Reef. This project draws on existing and future large scale quantitative surveys to document public attitudes and expectations about restoration and how it is managed. This includes identifying key drivers of trust and tracking key influences of those attitudes and expectations over time. Supervisors: Prof Brent Ritchie, UQ; Dr Justine Lacey, CSIRO.

    The student would be part of five proposed projects aligned with the social dimensions of reef restoration as part of the Reef Restoration and Adptation Program. The Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) brings together Australia’s leading experts to help the Great Barrier Reef resist, adapt to, and recover from the impacts of climate change.

    An outstanding PhD candidate is sought to join a multi-institutional team of social scientists from the University of Queensland and CSIRO contributing to the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), Stakeholder and Traditional Owner Engagement Subprogram. RRAP is believed to be the world’s largest research and development program dedicated to helping a major ecosystem survive climate change.

    The Stakeholder and Traditional Owner Engagement Subprogram aims to facilitate the design and implementation of best-practice, place-based, engagement opportunities for Reef Traditional Owners, communities and stakeholders while, at the same time, building understanding of public perceptions of reef restoration and adaptation, the distribution of risks and benefits arising from intervention R&D and implementation, and opportunities to deliver positive community and stakeholder impacts.