Samiha Chemli

@deusto.es

Associate Professor in Hospitality and Tourism Management
University of Deusto

Samiha Chemli


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https://researchid.co/s.chemli
Samiha Chemli is an Associate Professor in Hospitality and Tourism Management and University Relations Coordinator at the University of Deusto, With more than 18 years of international teaching and research experience. She is also the General Secretary of Africa of the World Rural Tourism Council. Prior to her current role, she was the Director of Graduate Programs in Hospitality and Tourism and Head of the Academic Committee (Woosong University, South
Korea); Associate Professor and Director of the Master in Hospitality and Tourism Program (University of la Manouba, Tunisia) and Guest Professor (UCB, UK). She is also an expert in Hospitality and Tourism, with extensive experience and a consistent track record of leading companies, managing cross-business teams, and providing leadership and consulting services.

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management, Management of Technology and Innovation, Strategy and Management, Marketing
9

Scopus Publications

399

Scholar Citations

6

Scholar h-index

2

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • When algorithms become travel planners: Benchmarking Agentic Ai in Web 3.0 Tourism
    Samiha CHEMLI, Alessandra VITALE, Shekhar, Marco VALERI
    Journal of Engineering and Technology Management Jet M, 2026
    This study aims to examine how an agentic AI (aAI) system performs as an autonomous travel planner compared to generative AI (GenAI) and Web 2.0 platforms, in order to assess whether increasing autonomy enhances efficiency, sustainability, and personalisation or merely amplifies bias and opacity. The research adopts a comparative performance analysis conducted across five travel scenarios, using identical input data for all three systems to ensure methodological consistency. The results show that the AI produces the most feasible, verifiable, and context-aware itineraries, outperforming the other systems in cost optimisation, time efficiency, sustainability, and constraint handling. By providing an empirical benchmark, this study extends existing research that has largely remained theoretical, offering practical insights into AI-mediated tourism planning. The findings also highlight key policy implications: the need for closer collaboration between public and private stakeholders, and for policymakers to enhance the accessibility and machine readability of business data, especially that of small enterprises and local providers, to foster inclusion in AI-driven travel recommendations and reduce the dominance of more visible actors.
  • Strategic Non-Monetary Reward Integration in the European Event Sector: Enhancing Employee Engagement and Organizational Agility
    Marco Valeri, Shekhar, Samiha Chemli
    Strategic Change, 2026
    This study aims to explore how non‐monetary investments influence productivity in the European event sector. The study uses panel data collected from Eurostat across 26 European countries from 2008 to 2020, with a total of 338 observations. The methodology applied is a two fixed‐effect regression along with a system GMM estimation to examine the relationship between investment per employee and labor productivity, considering personnel costs and company size. The results show that investment in technology, training, and workplace improvements contributes positively to productivity. However, the effect is reduced over time as these practices have become common across the sector. The findings suggest that competitiveness now depends less on financial investments and more on how organizations use their resources to sustain learning and innovation. The study provides insights for managers in the industry and policymakers and emphasizes the importance of capability building as a long‐term investment in competitiveness rather than a cost.
  • Skills mismatch and digital skill shortages in tourism: impact on graduate employment and implications for higher education
    Samiha Chemli, Michail Toanoglou, Jose Luis Del Val Roman
    International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2024
    This study aims to contribute to understanding the relationship between digital skills, skill mismatch for tertiary education graduates, and employment rate. The study applies a longitudinal regression analysis across 32 countries over a span of seven years. The results indicate that vertical skill mismatch positively impacts the employment rate. In contrast, the absence of digital skills among tertiary education graduates, particularly in the travel and hospitality sector, negatively affects employment. The study provides valuable insights into the role of the higher education system in addressing skill mismatch within the tourism industry context. Additionally, it underscores the importance of conducting regular curriculum reviews to ensure alignment with the evolving demands of the labour market. These findings contribute to the ongoing discussion on improving higher education to meet industry needs and reduce skill mismatches among graduates.
  • TOURISM TAKES A HIT: THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF TERRORISM ON ICONIC DESTINATIONS
    Samiha CHEMLI, Michail TOANOGLOU, Marco VALERI
    Tourism and Hospitality Management, 2024
    Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of terrorism on the tourism economy in 40 destinations and a total of 550 crises, based on the ranking of countries in terms of their economy and popularity. Methodology/Design/Approach – The study employed a quantitative research methodology using multiple linear regression analysis to examine the key predictors of the impact of terrorism on tourism employment growth and tourist arrivals. The analysis considered various relevant variables, including the perceived attractiveness of destinations, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand. Findings – The findings confirm that the rankings of destinations as economically attractive and worth visiting plays an important role in determining tourist arrivals. Moreover, it was found that the type of tourism enterprises and tourists targeted by a destination can predict the growth of tourist arrivals after the crisis. Originality - This study enriches the existing literature by highlighting the importance of destination ranking for post-crisis tourism growth and stability. It offers valuable policy recommendations and highlights the need to increase the resilience of tourism businesses through improved crisis management and security measures. In addition, destinations that rank lower in economic terms or as “must-see” places should place greater importance on crisis management capabilities.
  • Descriptive Analysis of the Recent Advances of Film-Induced Tourism: Identification of Strengths, Gaps and Opportunities
    Sara Nunes, Alejandro del Moral Agúndez, Julia Fragoso da Fonseca, Samiha Chemli, Kang Jin Seo
    Academica Turistica, 2022
    Film-induced tourism is a recent topic in academic research, only studied since the '90s, and especially in the us and uk, followed by Australia, Asia, and Europe, becoming a worldwide theme with its expansion to Asia. In the beginning, the main studies were focused on justifying the importance of studying the topic and concentrating on the power of film and tv productions in motivating tourism demand, followed by a theoretical and methodological improvement focused on impacts, development, and marketing initiatives. At the moment, studies are focused on a crossdisciplinary approach and commodification of location and culture. Nowadays, numerous studies focus on this subject, and this paper intends to analyse the latest advances in the field over the last eight years. Our study explores their strengths, potential, gaps, and opportunities. In terms of results, we can affirm the strengths related to the studies centred on the impacts of film-induced tourism on destinations, film-induced tourism as a motivator for the intention to visit through exhibited images, and tourism marketing activities and initiatives based on film and tv productions. In terms of gaps and opportunities, these are related to tourist experiences and authenticity, celebrities, sustainable planning, cross-disciplinary studies, residents' perspectives, consumers' answers to brand placement, the role of governments in terms of strategies and policies, the importance of social networks in the field, and the need for more studies to be developed worldwide, not only based on western examples.
  • The organizational impact of Covid-19 crisis on travel perceived risk across four continents
    Michail Toanoglou, Samiha Chemli, Marco Valeri
    Journal of Organizational Change Management, 2022
    Purpose It became a fact, and the world's countries went under confinement due to the pandemic of the Covid19. There are severe impacts on tourism with the supply chain experiencing a full pause. This research investigates the influence of governance, media coverage, crisis severity, former travel practice and Covid-19 incidences on the perceived risk related to travel and tourism during the pandemic and in cross-countries. Design/methodology/approach We collected the data from a sample of 1845 individuals from more than 12 countries and four continents representing quarantined and most impacted areas in the world in March and April 2020. A multilevel linear model was applied to predict the perceived risk across countries as a level 2 research unit. Findings The finding confirms the clustering in the data with media coverage, governance and crisis growth affecting the outcome. There are cross-level interaction effects, as the growth rate of the pandemic per country and media coverage impact tourists' perception of risk. Finally, there are lower-level direct effects, with lower-level variables affecting tourists' perceived risks. Research limitations/implications The survey is randomly administered online due to the nearly complete quarantine implemented in the studied areas. Besides, and considering the latter, the responses might have been subjective due to the non-containment of the crisis by the study's time, directing to possible alteration of feelings and responses from respondents. This leads to suggest a future extension of this research, similarly, post-crisis. Originality/value This research pinpointed the impacts of predictors, concerning the countries' level, during the crisis phase on the perceived risk. Therefore, it gives insights into professional bodies on future concerns to be considered during the recovery phase.
  • The impact of Covid-19 media coverage on tourist's awareness for future travelling
    Samiha Chemli, Michail Toanoglou, Marco Valeri
    Current Issues in Tourism, 2022
    This research investigates the influence of Media Coverage and the perceived risks related to travel and tourism by the pandemic's time on the odds of potential outbound tourists’ level of awareness. The data of 1845 individuals nested from more than 12 countries and 4 continents representing quarantined and most impacted areas in the world during the crisis phase. A multilevel model with a categorical dichotomous outcome was applied. The findings confirm that media have preeminent control on accentuating potential travellers’ awareness during a crisis as the primary source of information. Besides, the physical perceived risk influences the likelihood to fall in the group of aware individuals. The research gives insights and evidence to practitioners of the tourism industry in destinations to plan and organize better with governmental authorities and provide ethical, responsible, and accurate information about the real situation and the health system's responses through their communication and information efforts during the recovery phase.
  • The importance of film-induced tourism as a motivational influence on travel decisions: analysis of push and pull factors from the perspective of Portuguese consumers
    Samiha Chemli, Kang Jin Seo, Sara Nunes, Abdulmenaf Sejdini, Alejandro Del Moral Agúndez, Julia Fragoso Da Fonseca
    International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2022
    In the literature, the studies on tourist motivations are extensive; however, new types of tourism are growing and becoming popular every day; therefore, it is necessary to include these recent trends and analyse their correlation with intentions and motivations. Based on the aforementioned, this study aims to measure the importance of film-induced tourism as a motivational influence on travel decisions amongst push and pull factors based on the model of Dann (1977). Based on those mentioned above, explanatory research was developed focused on the quantitative approach through a questionnaire-based online survey using a non-probabilistic sample for convenience. In terms of results, we can conclude that film-induced tourism-related push and pull factors do not seem to be a significant motivational factor when compared with other push and pull motivations.
  • Impacts of positive images of tourism destination exhibited in a film or TV production on its brand equity: the case of Portuguese consumers' perspective
    Sara Nunes, Alejandro del Moral Agúndez, Julia Fragoso da Fonseca, Samiha Chemli
    Transnational Marketing Journal, 2020
    Usually, it is difficult to see a correlation between cinema and tourism; we simply have the idea that they are two extremely powerful forces. Nevertheless, when these forces are interconnected, they represent an unavoidable bout of success in the perspective of tourist images. And in today’s market, there is great competition between tourism companies whereby they are constantly creating and recreating new tourism destinations. This is, indeed, due to the importance of the establishment of a great self-image essential for a positive positioning in the market. For that reason, we intend to stress the importance that the positive images exhibited in cinematographic productions have on the construction of the brand value of a tourism destination. According to the results – it is logic to affirm, through the quantitative and qualitative analysis carried out in this study that film tourism gives a higher value to the brand image of the destinations portrayed reinforcing their brand equity.

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • When algorithms become travel planners: benchmarking agentic Ai in Web 3.0 tourism
    S Chemli, A Vitale, M Valeri
    Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 80, 101959 , 2026
    2026
  • Polinización algorítmica en la ciudad: IA generativa como propagadora de valores
    JL del Val Román, S Chemli
    Ciudad de valores: Ciudad, ciudadanía y valores democráticos, 5 , 2026
    2026
  • Strategic Non‐Monetary Reward Integration in the European Event Sector: Enhancing Employee Engagement and Organizational Agility
    M Valeri, Shekhar, S Chemli
    Strategic Change , 2026
    2026
  • ALIGNING HOSPITALITY: THE CONTRIBUTION OF HOTELS TO SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DECENT WORK IN SPAIN
    A Goytia Prat, S Chemli
    17th Annual Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business , 2024
    2024
  • FROM CLASSROOM TO WORKPLACE: ASSESSING EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES FOR GRADUATES WITH ICT AND DIGITAL SKILLS FROM EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
    JL Del Val Roman, S Chemli, F Díez
    17th Annual Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business , 2024
    2024
  • Experiencias metaturistas: implicaciones para ciudades como destino turístico
    JL del Val Román, S Chemli
    Ciudades, ecosistemas de innovación transformadora: prácticas inspiradoras … , 2024
    2024
  • Skills mismatch and digital skill shortages in tourism: impact on graduate employment and implications for higher education
    S Chemli, M Toanoglou, JLDV Roman
    International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning 16 (4), 447-465 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 9
  • Tourism takes a hit: The devastating impact of terrorism on iconic destinations
    S Chemli, M Toanoglou, M Valeri
    Tourism and hospitality management 30 (1), 119-131 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 5
  • Intention to reuse of high-end hotels in Seoul-online opinion mining
    S Chemli, S Nunes, M Toanoglou
    한국서비스디자인학회 학술대회자료집 2023 (1), 416-434 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 1
  • A study of Chinese Tourist5s Shopping Behavior and Loyalty The Case Study of South Korea
    M Lei, S Chemli
    한국서비스디자인학회 학술대회자료집 2023 (1), 575-575 , 2023
    2023
  • Descriptive analysis of the recent advances of film-induced tourism: identification of strengths, gaps and opportunities
    S Nunes
    Academica Turistica-Tourism and Innovation Journal 15 (2) , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 6
  • The organizational impact of COVID-19 crisis on travel perceived risk across four continents
    M Toanoglou, S Chemli, M Valeri
    Journal of Organizational Change Management 35 (2), 293-307 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 131
  • The impact of Covid-19 media coverage on tourist's awareness for future travelling
    S Chemli, M Toanoglou, M Valeri
    Current Issues in Tourism 25 (2), 179-186 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 220
  • The importance of film-induced tourism as a motivational influence on travel decisions: analysis of push and pull factors from the perspective of Portuguese consumers
    S Nunes, AM Agúndez, JF Fonseca, A Sejdini, S Chemli, KJ Seo
    International Journal of Tourism Policy 12 (4), 392-410 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 2
  • Impacts of positive images of tourism destination exhibited in a film or TV production on its brand equity: the case of Portuguese consumers’ perspective
    S Nunes, A del Moral Agúndez, JF da Fonseca, S Chemli
    2020
    Citations: 7
  • The disparity of man-made crises’ impacts on tourism destinations
    사마하
    관광연구 33 (8), 317-330 , 2018
    2018
  • Sustainable economies by the time of crisis: Snowball effect on medium and small companies
    S Chemli, S Nunes, M Toanoglou
    International Journal of Tourism Sciences 18 (3), 153-169 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 7
  • Destination Personality a path towards Faultless promotion
    C Samiha, N Sara
    관광연구 33 (1), 341-360 , 2018
    2018
  • Destination Personality a path towards Faultless promotion
    S Chemli, S Nunes
    관광연구 33 (1), 87-100 , 2018
    2018
  • Human-induced crisis impacts on tourism and recovery progress
    S Chemli
    International Journal of Tourism Management and Sciences 33 (4), 113-134 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 2

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • The impact of Covid-19 media coverage on tourist's awareness for future travelling
    S Chemli, M Toanoglou, M Valeri
    Current Issues in Tourism 25 (2), 179-186 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 220
  • The organizational impact of COVID-19 crisis on travel perceived risk across four continents
    M Toanoglou, S Chemli, M Valeri
    Journal of Organizational Change Management 35 (2), 293-307 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 131
  • Skills mismatch and digital skill shortages in tourism: impact on graduate employment and implications for higher education
    S Chemli, M Toanoglou, JLDV Roman
    International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning 16 (4), 447-465 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 9
  • Impacts of positive images of tourism destination exhibited in a film or TV production on its brand equity: the case of Portuguese consumers’ perspective
    S Nunes, A del Moral Agúndez, JF da Fonseca, S Chemli
    2020
    Citations: 7
  • Sustainable economies by the time of crisis: Snowball effect on medium and small companies
    S Chemli, S Nunes, M Toanoglou
    International Journal of Tourism Sciences 18 (3), 153-169 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 7
  • Descriptive analysis of the recent advances of film-induced tourism: identification of strengths, gaps and opportunities
    S Nunes
    Academica Turistica-Tourism and Innovation Journal 15 (2) , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 6
  • Tourism takes a hit: The devastating impact of terrorism on iconic destinations
    S Chemli, M Toanoglou, M Valeri
    Tourism and hospitality management 30 (1), 119-131 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 5
  • Perceived image of a tourism destination, impact on the motivation to visit
    C Samiha, N Sara
    관광연구 32 (5), 467-486 , 2017
    2017
    Citations: 4
  • Alternative Tourism in a rural region, Diagnosis and Marketing Actions, The case of the South-East of Tunisia
    S Chemli
    관광연구 32 (4), 285-299 , 2017
    2017
    Citations: 4
  • The importance of film-induced tourism as a motivational influence on travel decisions: analysis of push and pull factors from the perspective of Portuguese consumers
    S Nunes, AM Agúndez, JF Fonseca, A Sejdini, S Chemli, KJ Seo
    International Journal of Tourism Policy 12 (4), 392-410 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 2
  • Human-induced crisis impacts on tourism and recovery progress
    S Chemli
    International Journal of Tourism Management and Sciences 33 (4), 113-134 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 2
  • Intention to reuse of high-end hotels in Seoul-online opinion mining
    S Chemli, S Nunes, M Toanoglou
    한국서비스디자인학회 학술대회자료집 2023 (1), 416-434 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 1
  • Generating Tourists' Loyalty in Destinations through Mass Customization, Applied Ordered Logistic Regression
    S Nunes, S Chemli
    관광연구 32 (8), 213-230 , 2017
    2017
    Citations: 1
  • When algorithms become travel planners: benchmarking agentic Ai in Web 3.0 tourism
    S Chemli, A Vitale, M Valeri
    Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 80, 101959 , 2026
    2026
  • Polinización algorítmica en la ciudad: IA generativa como propagadora de valores
    JL del Val Román, S Chemli
    Ciudad de valores: Ciudad, ciudadanía y valores democráticos, 5 , 2026
    2026
  • Strategic Non‐Monetary Reward Integration in the European Event Sector: Enhancing Employee Engagement and Organizational Agility
    M Valeri, Shekhar, S Chemli
    Strategic Change , 2026
    2026
  • ALIGNING HOSPITALITY: THE CONTRIBUTION OF HOTELS TO SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DECENT WORK IN SPAIN
    A Goytia Prat, S Chemli
    17th Annual Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business , 2024
    2024
  • FROM CLASSROOM TO WORKPLACE: ASSESSING EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES FOR GRADUATES WITH ICT AND DIGITAL SKILLS FROM EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES
    JL Del Val Roman, S Chemli, F Díez
    17th Annual Conference of the EuroMed Academy of Business , 2024
    2024
  • Experiencias metaturistas: implicaciones para ciudades como destino turístico
    JL del Val Román, S Chemli
    Ciudades, ecosistemas de innovación transformadora: prácticas inspiradoras … , 2024
    2024
  • A study of Chinese Tourist5s Shopping Behavior and Loyalty The Case Study of South Korea
    M Lei, S Chemli
    한국서비스디자인학회 학술대회자료집 2023 (1), 575-575 , 2023
    2023