Dr. Cinta Sanz-Ibáñez

Postdoctoral researcher of the Research Group on Territorial Analysis and Tourism Studies (GRATET).

Department of Geography, Faculty of Tourism & Geography, Rovira i Virgili University.

 
 
ORCID: 0000-0001-9552-4285
cinta.sanzi@urv.cat
 
ResearchGate Profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cinta_Sanz-Ibanez
Academia Profile: https://urv.academia.edu/cintasanz

Dr. Cinta Sanz-Ibáñez is a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Group on Territorial Analysis and Tourism Studies (GRATET) – Department of Geography, Rovira i Virgili University, Catalonia. She received her Ph.D. in Tourism and Leisure (cum laude) in 2017 from the Rovira i Virgili University, where she previously obtained a M.Sc. (Hons) in Tourism Management and Planning and a B.S. (Hons) in Tourism.

Her research focuses on evolutionary and relational economic geography approaches to destination development, networks, knowledge dissemination, governance and policy. Her research’s aim is to understand the mechanisms underlying the changes occurring throughout the evolutionary trajectory of tourism destinations, while putting attention to the dynamics of place instead of the evolution of tourism activity, one of the prevalent discussions around traditional evolutionary models.

She has presented and discussed her research at several international conferences including Annual Meetings of the American Association of Geographers (AAG), Nordic Symposiums in Tourism and Hospitality Research, Regional Studies Association (RSA) and International Geographical Union (IGU) sponsored workshops, and Global Conferences on Economic Geography. Her work has been published in journals including Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, Tourism Geographies, and as a Routledge book chapter.

Selected recent publications

  • Sanz-Ibáñez, C., Lozano, S. & Anton Clavé, S. (2019). Brokers in a destination’s knowledge networks. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management , 11: 120-129. doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2019.01.001
  • Sanz-Ibáñez, C. (2017). The Evolution of Destinations. An Evolutionary and Relational Economic Geography Approach (Doctoral dissertation, Universitat Rovira i Virgili). Available at: https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/586077
  • Sanz-Ibáñez, C., Wilson, J., & Anton Clavé, S. (2017). Moments as catalysts for change in the evolutionary paths of tourism destinations. In Tourism Destination Evolution (pp. 93-114). Routledge.
  • Sanz-Ibáñez, C., & Anton Clavé, S. (2016). Strategic coupling evolution and destination upgrading. Annals of Tourism Research, 56, 1-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2015.10.010  
  • Sanz-Ibáñez, C., & Anton Clavé, S. (2014). The evolution of destinations: towards an evolutionary and relational economic geography approach. Tourism Geographies, 16(4), 563-579. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2014

Selected recent conferences, keynotes, invited lectures and presentations

  • Strategic coupling evolution and destination upgrading. The case of central Costa Daurada. In collaboration with Salvador Anton Clavé. Universidade Federal do Parana. Brazil, 2018 [Invited lecture]
  • Emerging communities of knowledge in tourism evolutionary economic geography: recent developments and research agenda. Mid Sweden University, ETOUR. Sweden, 2018 [Invited lecture] 
  • An evolutionary perspective of destination dynamics: recent developments and research agenda. In collaboration with Salvador Anton Clavé. Fifth Global Conference on Economic Geography 2018. Universität zu Köln. Germany, 2018. [Conference presentation]
  • Who are the knowledge brokers in tourism destinations? A social network analysis approach. In collaboration with Sergi Lozano and Salvador Anton Clavé. IGU Tourism Commission – GRATET International Workshop, Tourism Shaping Places. Mobilities and Tourism Destination Evolution. Rovira i Virgili University. Catalonia, Spain, 2017. [Conference presentation]
  • Knowledge networks and brokers in tourism destinations. An EEG-REG approach. In collaboration with Sergi Lozano and Salvador Anton Clavé. 26th Nordic Symposium in Tourism and Hospitality. Dalarna University. Sweden, 2017. [Conference presentation]
  • Technology and Innovation Centers in the knowledge networks dynamics of local tourism destinations. An empirical analysis. In collaboration with Sergi Lozano and Salvador Anton Clavé. 24th Nordic Symposium in Tourism and Hospitality. Iceland, 2015. [Conference presentation]
  • Exploring the role of inter-scale coupling in destination upgrading and evolution. In collaboration with Salvador Anton Clavé. Fourth Global Conference on Economic Geography 2015. University of Oxford. UK, 2015. [Conference presentation]
  • Networks and knowledge-enhancing contexts in the evolving nature of tourist places. In collaboration with Sergi Lozano and Salvador Anton Clavé. AAG Annual Meeting 2015. Chicago, US, 2015. [Conference presentation]
  • Path plasticity in coastal destinations. Empirical evidence and theoretical issues. A demand side approach. In collaboration with Salvador Anton Clavé. AAG Annual Meeting 2014. Tampa, US, 2014. [Conference presentation]
  • Towards an integrated evolutionary and relational economic geography approach for analysing the evolution of destinations. In collaboration with Salvador Anton Clavé. GRATET International Workshop in collaboration with the Regional Studies Association Research Network on Tourism and Regional Development. Catalonia, Spain, 2014. [Conference presentation]

Other merits

  • AECIT award (Spanish Association of Scientists Experts in Tourism) for the best scientific article in tourism 2015 with the article “The Evolution of Destinations: towards an evolutionary and relational economic geography approach” published in the journal Tourism Geographies.