Education

Ph.D., Health and Human Performance (Concentration in Recreation, Parks and Tourism), University of Florida
M.S., Recreation, Parks and Tourism, University of Florida
B.A., Business Administration (Specialization in Mass Communication Studies), University of Florida

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Background

Ashley Schroeder is an assistant professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of South Carolina. She also serves as the research lead of the Crisis Management Working Group in the Richardson Family SmartState Center for Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development. Prior to joining the University of South Carolina, Schroeder was an assistant professor at The Pennsylvania State University (Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management) and the University of Hawaii at Manoa (School of Travel Industry Management).

Schroeder is actively involved in one of five major networks globally that focus on tourism crisis management research (Jiang, Ritchie, & Beckendorff, 2019). She is recognized as a global leader in tourism crisis management and an expert in travel risk perceptions. In July 2019, she was interviewed by the World Travel and Tourism Council as an expert in tourism crisis management and was quoted in the Crisis Preparedness, Management and Recovery report. In May 2020, she was interviewed by the PBS News Hour as a tourism expert in a segment on COVID-19 and summer travel. 

Research interests

• Tourism crisis management
• Destination resilience
• Risk perception management
• Risk and crisis communication
• Tourism advocacy
• Crisis preparedness
• Stakeholder networks
• Destination management

Courses taught

• HRTM 280 – Foundations of Tourism

Honors and awards

• Boeing Travel Research Grant, Travel and Tourism Research Association
• Graduate Student Teaching Award, University of Florida

Selected research publications

*Graduate student

Pennington, Gray, L., & Schroeder, A. (2022). Crime. In D. Buhalis (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing. Edward Elgar Publishing. 

Usher, L., & Schroeder, A. (2022). Risk communication in the tourism industry. In J-E. Yusuf & B. St. John III (Eds.), Communicating Climate Change: Making Environmental Messaging Accessible (pp. 151-168). Routledge. 

Lin, M. S.*, Liang, Y.*, Xue, J. X.*, Pan, B., & Schroeder, A. (2021). Destination image through social media analytics and survey method. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(6), 2219-2238. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-08-2020-0861

Knollenberg, W., & Schroeder, A. (2020). The power of data and coalitions to tell a compelling story about the value of parks, recreation, and tourism. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 38(4), 145-153. https://doi.org/10.18666/JPRA-2020-10172

Liu-Lastres, B., Schroeder, A., & Pennington-Gray, L. (2019). Cruise line customers’ responses to risk and crisis communication messages: An application of the Risk Perception Attitude framework. Journal of Travel Research, 58(5), 849-865. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287518778148

Schroeder, A., Pennington-Gray, L., & Mandala, L. (2018). Examining international food travelers’ engagement in behaviors to protect themselves from foodborne illnesses while abroad. Tourism Review International, 22(3-4), 213-227.

Schroeder, A., Pennington-Gray, L., Kim, H., & Liu-Lastres, B. (2018). Using the media’s tweets to broaden previous conceptualizations of political travel risks. Tourism Management Perspectives, 26, 107-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2018.03.001

Schroeder, A.*, & Pennington-Gray, L. (2015). The role of social media in international tourist’s decision-making. Journal of Travel Research, 54(5), 584-595. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287514528284      

Schroeder, A.*, Pennington-Gray, L., Kaplanidou, K., & Zhan, F.* (2013). Destination risk perceptions among U.S. residents for London as the host city of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Tourism Management, 38(October), 107-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2013.03.001