K Thirumaran
@jcu.edu.au
Acting Campus Dean
James Cook University Singapore
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management, Social Sciences, Multidisciplinary, Cultural Studies
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Sumanth Shankar, Sook Rei Tan, Xiu Wei Yeap, Haejin Jang, K. Thirumaran, and Jacob Wood
Springer Nature Singapore
Sandra Goh, Jagdeep Kaur Sabharwal, and K Thirumaran
Intellect
Transformational tourism experiences can lead to acquiring life-changing knowledge, practices or beliefs. However, tourism scholars and suppliers have not fully exploited the concepts and opportunities that deeper transformational tourism brings to support mentally vulnerable tourists (with mental health conditions) since most studies focus on tourist experiences of typical travellers; there exists a knowledge gap on tourism service suppliers’ adequacy and preparedness to facilitate the provision and design of deeper transformational experiences. This article contributes to existing studies on transformational tourism and transformative experience design by shifting focus to a specialized community of unconventional travel suppliers as key contributors for deeper transformational travel experiences. It also considers the relationship of key stakeholders necessary for effective intervention in forming deeper transformational experiences. The latter calls for further studies to operationalize a conceptual framework and future study to assess the outcome of the transformation post-trip. This study also supports the need for collaboration beyond travel service suppliers to facilitate transformational tourism services.
Emiel L. Eijdenberg, K. Thirumaran, and Zohre Mohammadi
Elsevier BV
Magdalena Petronella (Nellie) Swart, Vanessa S. Bernauer, and K Thirumaran
Routledge
Jasper Roe, K. Thirumaran, Caroline Wong, and Zohre Mohammadi
Inderscience Publishers
Thirumaran K, Emiel L. Eijdenberg, and Caroline Wong
Emerald
PurposeThis study aims to advance the scholarship of yachting in the context of wellness by exploring the following research question: in what ways is wellness created and experienced by luxury yachting?Design/methodology/approachSince the extant journal literature from 2012–2023 in peer-reviewed journals is limited on the topic that links luxury yachting and wellness, the authors drew on other sources such as books and chapters in edited volumes. A third layer of material was drawn from the grey literature such as mass media and business websites. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) method, the authors examined 18 publications relating to the intersectionality of yachting and wellness.FindingsManufacturing and charter companies in the yachting industry are focused on creating and emphasizing features onboard that create a self-caring and wellness experience. The yacht design, spatial influences and the leisure time spent at destinations on anchor can also add value to wellness. This study enables us to understand the kinds of signals received by manufacturers and the media from yachting clients. These signals relate to the types of wellness needs and activities, as well as how crews and chefs create the best hospitality experiences for their clients.Originality/valueGiven the scarce and niche nature of research on yachting and wellness, this paper explores future research areas in wellness through luxury yachting which include hospitality aspects of creating and co-creating wellness experience on board the yacht and viewing yachting as a lifestyle necessity product for all levels of wealth and well-being.
Vanessa S. Bernauer, Abhishek Bhati, and K. Thirumaran
Emerald
Kamelia Chaichi, Alexander Trupp, Mageswari Ranjanthran, and K. Thirumaran
Emerald
PurposeEmployee well-being in a casino work environment is crucial for the quality of work-life and employees' performance. This study examines the dimensions of well-being at a casino in Malaysia to gain deeper insights into employee challenges and motivational factors to arrive at practical mitigation efforts.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a qualitative approach involving 14 semi-structured interviews with casino employees in Malaysia. Interviews lasted 30 min to 2 h at a time when Covid-19 was raging in 2021. Responses were analysed via a data-driven approach and coded using NVivo software to delineate the contents into analytical categories of well-being dimensions.FindingsThe findings suggest that employees at the casino face challenges in achieving work-life balance. Employee's well-being suffers from insufficient break time, irregular working hours affecting family time, managing customer temper tantrums and lack of emotional support systems and remunerations altered by the pandemic. Women employees were particularly vulnerable.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest a need to create better working conditions and address well-being with counselling support for stress management, a balanced approach by employers to the “customer is always right” mantra, creating promising career pathways and supervisors to have better oversight of workaholics. The research focused only on one casino and there was limited access to management departments for an organizational perspective.Originality/valueThis study adds to the body of knowledge on employee well-being in the context of a casino. It suggests hospitality and tourism organizations review their human resource practices that would ease the stresses at the workplace and create support systems to promote employee well-being. Crucially, in a pandemic crisis, well-being dimensions must be accommodating and integrative to employee sentiments, sensitivity and self-actualization.
(Magdalena Petronella) Swart Nellie, Vanessa S. Bernauer, and Kailasam Thirumaran
Routledge
Chang H. Kim, Adrian T. H. Kuah, Pengji Wang, and K Thirumaran
Academy of Management
K. Thirumaran, Zohre Mohammadi, Simona Azzali, Emiel L. Eijdenberg, and Gerardine Donough-Tan
Informa UK Limited
Redeem Faith Sabacan, Hong Hanh Nguyen, Emiel L. Eijdenberg, Haejin Jang, K. Thirumaran, and Jacob Wood
Springer Nature Switzerland
K. Thirumaran, Redeem Faith Sabacan, Zahra Pourabedin, Hong Hanh Nguyen, Haejin Jang, Benedict Atkinson, and Jacob Wood
Springer Nature Switzerland
Jacob Wood, Haejin Jang, Zahra Pourabedin, Redeem Sabacan, Benedict Atkinson, Hong Hanh Nguyen, and K. Thirumaran
Springer Nature Switzerland
K Thirumaran, Simona Azzali, Zilmiyah Kamble, Yash Prabhugaonkar, and Manisha Agarwal
Edward Elgar Publishing
Chang H. Kim, Adrian T.H. Kuah, and K. Thirumaran
Elsevier BV
K Thirumaran and Dam Xuan Minh
Emerald Publishing Limited
K. Thirumaran
Edward Elgar Publishing
Jacob Wood, Taha Chaiechi, and K Thirumaran
Routledge
K Thirumaran, Gohar Feroz Khan, and Jacob Wood
Routledge
K. Thirumaran, Shailey Chawla, Roberto Dillon, and Jagdeep Kaur Sabharwal
Elsevier BV
Pengji Wang, Adrian T. H. Kuah, Qinye Lu, Caroline Wong, K. Thirumaran, Emmanuel Adegbite, and Wesley Kendall
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Publications
Books
K Thirumaran, Dirk Klimkeit and Tang Chun Meng. Eds. (2021). Service Excellence in Hospitality and Tourism Management: Insights from Asia. Springer Nature, Frankfurt, Germany.
Simona Azali and K Thirumaran. Eds. (2021). Tropical Constrained Environments and Sustainable Adaptations. Springer, Singapore.
Dirk, Klimkeit and K Thirumaran. Eds. (2018). Management of Shared Service Centers in Asia: Examples from Malaysia and Singapore. GRIN Verlag, Munich, Germany.
Foo Koong Hean and K Thirumaran, Eds. (2015). First Class Behaviours for First World Nation. JCU Singapore: Singapore. [ISBN 978-981—09-8281-2]
Goh, S., Sabharwal J.K. & Thirumaran K. (2021). A Paradigmatic Shift in a Hallmark event extending well-being to a non-host city: “One People One Nation, One In Allan Stewart Jepson and Trudie Walters (Eds.) Events and Well-Being. Routledge, New York, pp. 70- 88.
Fiala, Serafin and Thirumaran, K. (2021). Hospitality and Tourism Management: Adopting Lean Six Sigma, Achieving Service Excellence. In K Thirumaran, Dirk Klimkeit and Tang Chun Meng (Eds.) Service Excellence in Hospitality and Tourism Management: Insights from Asia. Springer Nature, Frankfurt, Germany, .
Klimkeit, Dirk, Tang Chun Meng, and Thirumaran, K. (2021). Service Excellence in Asian Tourism and Hospitality. In K Thirumaran, Dirk Klimkeit and Tang Chun Meng. (Eds.) Service Excellence in Hospitality and Tourism Management: Insights from Asia. Springer Nature, Frankfurt, Germany,