Whitney Knollenberg
Bio
Education
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, Ph.D. 2015
- Hospitality and Tourism Management
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, M.S. 2011
- Sustainable Tourism
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, B.S. 2009
- Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Resources
Current Research Interests
Dr. Knollenberg’s research focuses on the role of leadership in the planning, policies, and partnerships that facilitate sustainable tourism development. Her work explores these relationships in a variety of contexts including rural tourism, agritourism, food tourism and volunteer tourism. She conceptualizes tourism as a sustainable development strategy for communities and seeks to engage multiple stakeholder groups in her research in order to fully understand the impacts of tourism. This approach allows her to examine power dynamics within the sustainable tourism development process and their interaction with leadership, planning, policy, and partnerships.
Selected Publications
Benjamin, S., Knollenberg, W., Chen, R. (In Press). Making sure they have the time of their lives: Identifying co-creation opportunities at the Dirty Dancing Festival. Events Management. DOI: 10.3727/152599519X15506259855706
Knollenberg, W., Brune, S.*, Harrison, J., & Savage, A*. (In Press). Strategies to facilitate the integration of Hispanic migrants in a tourism-dependent community. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure, and Events. DOI: 10.1080/19407963.2019.1592827
Barbieri, C., Stevenson, K.T., & Knollenberg, W. (In Press). Accounting for the full value of agritourism: Toward a holistic utilitarian epistemology. Current Issues in Tourism. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2018.1497011
Gil Arroyo, C.*, Barbieri, C., Sotomayor, S., & Knollenberg, W. (2019). Cultivating Women’s Empowerment through Agritourism: Evidence from Andean communities. Sustainability, 11(11), DOI: 10.3390/su11113058
Kline, C., Lee, S.J., & Knollenberg, W. (2018). Segmenting foodies for a foodie destination. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 35(9), 1234 – 1245.
Soulard, J., Knollenberg, W., Boley, B.B., Perdue, R.R., & McGehee, N.G. (2018). Social capital and destination strategic planning. Tourism Management, 69, 189 – 200.
Moran, C., Boley, B.B., Woosnam, K.M., Jordan, E.J., Kline, C., & Knollenberg, W. (2018). The battle of the socials: Which socially symbolic factors best predict intent to travel? Tourism Management, 68, 324-327.
Slocum, S.L., Knollenberg, W., & Kline, C. (2018). Demand for specialty food initiatives: Considerations for meeting planning and destination management. Journal of Gastronomy and Tourism, 3(1), 17-30.
Boley, B.B., Jordan, E.J., Kline, C., & Knollenberg, W. (2017). Social return and intent to travel. Tourism Management, 64, 119 – 128.
Jordan, E.J., Boley, B.B., Knollenberg, W., & Kline, C. (2017). Predictors of intention to travel to Cuba across three time horizons: An application of the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Travel Research, 57(7), 981 – 993.
Selected Presentations
Knollenberg, W., Brune, S.*, Harrison, J., & Savage, A. (2019). Building a Community for All: Evidence of immigrant employee integration in a tourism-dependent community. Oral presentation at the Travel and Tourism Research Association Annual Conference, Melbourne, Australia, June 2019.
Brune, S.*, Knollenberg, W., Stevenson, K., & Barbieri, C. (2019). Picking Pumpkins, Changing Behaviors: How agritourism can influence consumer behavior towards local foods. Oral presentation at the Travel and Tourism Research Association Annual Conference, Melbourne, Australia, June 2019.
Brune, S.*, Knollenberg, W., Harrison, J., & Savage, A.* (2019). Working in paradise: Resources and strategies supporting the tourism workforce in Ocracoke, NC. Oral presentation at the National Environmental and Recreation Research Symposium, Annapolis, MD, April 2019.
Brune, S.*, Knollenberg, W., Stevenson, K., & Barbieri, C. (2019). U-pick farms: Harvesting more than pumpkins? Oral presentation at the National Environmental and Recreation Research Symposium, Annapolis, MD, April 2019.
Gil Arroyo, C.*, Knollenberg, W., & Barbieri, C. (2019). Blending creative place-making and the Community Capitals Framework in the context of craft-beverage tourism. Poster presentation at the National Environmental and Recreation Research Symposium, Annapolis, MD, April 2019.
Gil Arroyo, C.*, Knollenberg, W., & Barbieri, C. (2019). Building craft-beverage tourism on the foundation of social capital. Oral presentation at the Southeast Travel and Tourism Research Association Annual Conference, Daytona Beach, FL, March, 2019.
Knollenberg, W., Brune, S.*, Harrison, J., & Savage, A.* (2019). The importance of tourism ambassadors for seasonal tourism destinations. Oral presentation at the Southeast Travel and Tourism Research Association Annual Conference, Daytona Beach, FL, March, 2019.
Selected Grants/Projects
Planning for Advocacy Efforts: Best Practices from Tourism Industry Associations. Funded by the American Society for Association Executives Scholarly Grants Program. (PI)
Measuring the Impact of Community Engagement Strategies with GRCVB Stakeholders. Funded by the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. (PI)
Understanding best practices to improve advocacy efforts for the tourism industry. Supported by the Travel and Tourism Research Association Boeing Travel Research Grant. (Co-PI)
EmPOWERing mountain food systems: Cultivating a profitable local food industry cluster through entrepreneurial and business support, infrastructure development, training, leadership development and capacity building. Funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). (Co-PI).
Economic Impact Study of Organized Camping in North Carolina. Funded by the North Carolina Youth Camp Association. (PI).
Modeling the craft-beverage tourism product in Wake County: Lessons for replication throughout North Carolina. Funded by the North Carolina State University Office of Outreach and Engagement. (PI).
Identifying community capitals for a sustainable tourism workforce on Ocracoke Island. Funded by North Carolina Sea Grant. (PI).
Honors and Awards
2018 Travel and Tourism Research Association Rising Star Award
2015 Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award
Publications
- Building Tourism Resilience through Communication , Tourism and Hospitality (2024)
- Sustainable Tourism Case Study: Voluntary Visitor Fee Programs , (2024)
- Actionable Advocacy Insight , (2023)
- Actionable Advocacy Insight , (2023)
- Actionable Advocacy Insight , (2023)
- Agritourism resilience during the COVID-19 crisis , ANNALS OF TOURISM RESEARCH (2023)
- Can craft beverages shape a destination's image? A cognitive intervention to measure pisco-related resources on conative image , TOURISM MANAGEMENT (2023)
- Environmental justice in disaster recovery: Recognition of the Latinx community by nonprofit leaders , CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT (2023)
- Family matters: intergenerational influences on children's agricultural literacy , JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION (2023)
- How Memorable Are Agrifood Travel Experiences? , Tourism and Hospitality (2023)