Emerging Scholar Profile- Yuliya Kolomoyets

Authors

  • Yuliya Kolomoyets MODUL University, Vienna

Abstract

My name is Yuliya Kolomoyets, and I currently work as a Researcher and Lecturer at the Department of Tourism and Service Management at MODUL University Vienna (Austria), where I combine my PhD research with teaching and administrative activities. In the following paragraphs, I will reflect on my academic journey and research interests. 

My tourism journey started with joining the brand-new bachelor program in tourism at the Uzhhorod National University in Ukraine. However, it was not until joining the Erasmus Mundus European Master in Tourism Management (EMTM) program, jointly run by the University of Southern Denmark, the University of Ljubljana and University of Girona that I got immersed into the topic of eTourism, particularly the consumer side of it. For my thesis I used the case of Foursquare and Swarm to investigate how gamification elements affected the perceived satisfaction of tourism experiences. During EMTM, which I graduated with distinction, I also met Prof. Pauline Sheldon. Hearing her ideas and expertise, I was inspired to further develop my academic career and subsequently apply for the PhD program at MODUL University Vienna, which I joined in 2015. 

I spent the second year of my PhD journey taking care for my new-born son. Apart from the natural break and time to reflect on personal goals and aspirations, this situation also afforded me to to search for my true research passion. It was then that I got captivated by two seemingly unconnected research areas – data science and service design. After completing the specialization in Machine Learning, offered by the University of Washington through the Coursera online platform, I worked to examine multiple questions about the potential application of machine learning in enhancing the understanding of consumers and facilitating value-driven service design. 

My current PhD research, conducted under supervision of Prof Astrid Dickinger, focuses on applying machine learning methodologies for a systematic analysis of service value and the facilitation of the design better service experiences. My doctoral thesis is comprised of three separate studies - two based on text-mining studies and one employing an experimental design – focusing on the hotel context. The first one is focused on defining the components of the perceived service value. The second one assesses discrepancies between perceived customer value and the communicated value proposition. The third one tests the effect of the previous service failure experience and service recovery strategies on consumer forgiveness. Apart from the contribution to the growing stream of literature on value creation and service failure/recovery strategies, combining data science and service design methodologies opens up a way to systematically design service experiences.   

Some results of the studies have been presented at scientific events, including the IMRC 2019 conference, the ENTER 2019 PhD Workshop and the IFITT 2019 PhD summer school, where my work has been recognized with the runner-up award for best contribution. Additionally, the study co-authored with Prof. Dickinger was invited to the Annals of Tourism curated research series on tourism Design and Analytics edited by Dr. Daniel Fesenmaier, Dr. Phil Xiang and Dr. Jason Stienmetz.

Beside research, passion for service design, data science and tourism translates into other academic activities. I have been teaching courses on digital consumer behavior and tourism experience design at undergraduate and graduate level, and I am actively engaged with the working group responsible for developing a new applied data science curriculum here at MODUL University Vienna. This latter engagement allows for identifying synergies and developing interdisciplinary ties while bridging the gap between social science and IT research.

Having found my passion in both research and teaching, I am currently working on completing of my dissertation while already having ideas for follow-up studies and industry projects. With an open mind, I am looking forward to opportunities life keeps ahead

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Published

2020-01-01

How to Cite

Kolomoyets, Y. (2020) “Emerging Scholar Profile- Yuliya Kolomoyets”, e-Review of Tourism Research, 17(5). Available at: https://ertr-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/ertr/article/view/565 (Accessed: 29 March 2024).

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Section

Emerging Scholar Profiles