Prior to his employment at UCLan David delivered both academic courses and vocational training programmes run with a tour operator. He also taught and held a position as teacher trainer in a private academy in Japan. Before moving into education David worked in the Heritage Industry where he was responsible for historic properties and visitor management. The historic sites he worked at were tourist attractions, event venues and heritage sites, they required conservation and protection as well as the sustainable generation of income.
David teaches and supervises across a range of levels and subjects within the areas of Event Management and Planning, Tourism Management and Development and Tourism Studies. He has run vocational ‘live event’ modules as well as more traditional research-informed academic modules, in which he often adopts an innovative approach to assessment.
David’s research interests revolve around visitor motivation and sense of place but with a focus on the visitor experience. In particular he has considered the visitor experience and sense of place at traditional British seaside resorts. As well as Coastal Tourism he is interested in Nostalgia, Heritage Tourism, Nature Tourism and Sport Event Tourism.