Affective Tourism^© is a novel concept proposed by Dorina-Maria Buda in her book with the same title referring to feelings, emotions and affects transacted in tourist places. The concept has been expanded in a Special Issue together with Professor Jennie Germann-Molz: Attuning to Affect and Emotion in Tourism Studies, and in hospitality studies with Dr Guy Lincoln in the upcoming research monograph: Affects and Hospitality Equity Investment. Professor Dorina-Maria Buda currently serves as Dean Research for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and Professor of Tourism and Hospitality at Edge Hotel School, University of Essex, England.

Dorina-Maria Buda is passionate about understanding in depth how emotions are felt when travelling to areas of on-going socio-political turmoil and conflicts. This is evident in her TEDx talk:

Professor Buda is the winner of a Rosalind Franklin Fellowship at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in collaboration with the European Commission from 2013-2017 in value of €585,000. During 2016 – 2024, Professor Buda was also awarded an individual grant as part of the Innovation Research Incentives Scheme of the Dutch Research Council in value of €250,000 (full economic costing). Throughout her academic career she also received research funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Romanian National Service for Studies and Scholarships Abroad (ONBSS), and University of Waikato in Aotearoa New Zealand, amongst others. In her research monographs, special issues and her wider work published in top peer reviewed journals, Professor Buda examines dynamics of performance and consumption of tourist places in areas of ongoing socio-political turmoil and conflict such as North Korea, Iran, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian West Bank, as well as in eastern Europe. In-depth understandings of the role of emotions in such places can contribute to conflict negotiation and peace building.

During her career, Professor Buda has worked at the University of Waikato in Aotearoa New Zealand, Saxion Business School, and University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In England, Professor Buda was Head of Marketing and Consumer Studies Research Centre at Nottingham Business School during 2020 – 2023, and previously she was Professor of Tourism Management and Head of the International Centre for Research in Events, Tourism & Hospitality at Leeds Beckett University.