K. Thirumaran

Discovering Realities, Contributing Knowledge

K Thirumaran is a tourism and hospitality management specialist with James Cook University Singapore. He is the key organizer of the World Luxury Destinations conference 2018 and coined the term affinity tourism.

Thiru’s research focuses on service excellence, cultural and luxury tourism. He is interested in questions related to modern developments and their impact on emerging destinations’ cultural values and the use of virtual and augmented reality to improve training programs in the industry.

Some of the major projects that he is working on are related to MICE activities in emerging economies, service expectations in rural tourism, the value of tourism in the few remaining socialist-leaning states, and luxury travel experiences. Prospective MPhil and PhD students are welcome to extend their education and explore these topics with Thiru.