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Annmarie Nicely headshot photo

Pronouns: she/her

Phone: 765-494-4740

Office:

Marriott Hall 239
900 Mitch Daniels Blvd.

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Annmarie Nicely

Associate Professor, White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Lead Researcher, Visitor Harassment Research Unit

Areas of Expertise

  • Behavior modification in hospitality and tourism (in particular, exceptionalism and visitor harassment)

HHS Signature Research Area(s)

  • Sustainable Organizations and Thriving Communities

Biography

Dr. Annmarie Nicely is an associate professor in the White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Purdue University. She is a hospitality and tourism scholar whose pioneering, field‑defining research on visitor harassment has produced the world’s most comprehensive body of knowledge on the topic. She is the founder and lead researcher of the Visitor Harassment Research Unit at Purdue, the only known research cluster globally dedicated to this issue. Her scholarship has made significant academic and practical contributions. It defines, categorizes, and addresses micro‑trader behaviors (such as those of vendors, guides, taxi drivers) that negatively affect visitor experiences at destinations. Her research in this area has been published in leading journals, such as Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and Current Issues in Tourism, and presented at academic conferences in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.

She also researches managerial exceptionalism in hotels, with a particular focus on identifying unique elements of high-performing managers in the sector. She is the founding Chair of the Caribbean Tourism Researchers Network (CTRN), an affiliate of the International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA), a group of scholars from various parts of the world dedicated to researching tourism issues of relevance to the Caribbean.

Education

  • PhD, 2009, Oklahoma State University

Websites

Social Media Accounts

Current Courses

  • CSR 30900 - Leadership Strategies
  • CSR 40400/HTM 49900 - Strategic Management for Services Industries

Selected Publications

  • Nicely, A. (2025). Technical report: Why repeat visitors matter for harassment-prone destinations - Five actionable lessons for accommodation managers. Visitor Harassment Research Unit, Purdue University.
  • Singh, S., Nicely, A., Day, J. and Cai, L. & (2022). Marketing messages for post-pandemic destination recovery- A Delphi study. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management. 23
  • Nicely, A. (2018). Type of work experience important for hotel managers’ success: Focus versus variety. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism. 19(1), 83-90
  • Nicely, A., Day, J., Sydnor, S. & ^Mohd Ghazali, R. (2015). Sustainably changing small traders’ harassment behaviors - A theoretical framework. Tourism Management. 47, 273-285