About - Hospitality & Tourism Management, The L. Robert Payne School
headshot of Alana Dillette

Alana Dillette

Associate Professor

About Alana Dillette

Dr. Alana Dillette is an Associate Professor in the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University. With a strong focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in tourism, her research explores the intersection of race, gender, and identity within the travel industry. Dr. Dillette is particularly known for her work on Black travel movements, cultural tourism, and the experiences of underrepresented groups in hospitality and tourism. Her research has been published in leading academic journals, including Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, and Journal of Travel Research. Additionally, Dr. Dillette has published in mainstream travel media including AFAR Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler and Essence.

In addition to her research, Dr. Dillette is a dedicated educator, teaching courses on recreation and tourism, hospitality leadership, and diversity in the hospitality industry. She is actively involved in community engagement and serves as a co-founder of the CODE - Collaborating on Dialogue and Equity and on the board of the San Diego Tourism Foundation as well as the Co-Director of Tourism RESET, a collaborative of scholars focused on race, ethnicity and social equity in tourism. Dr. Dillette’s work bridges academia and industry, making her a respected voice in advancing equity and inclusion in hospitality and tourism.

Areas of Specialization

Racial Justice & Equity, Sustainability, Enslavement & Heritage Tourism, Black Travel, Critical Race Theory, Endarkened Storywork

Courses

  • HTM 201: Introduction to Hospitality & Tourism Management
  • HTM 301: Service Leadership Development
  • RTM 200: Recreation, Travel & Self-Awareness

Media

  • Dillette A. & Benjamin, S. (2022) Why these Professors Helped Create a ‘History of Black Travel Timeline’. Conde Naste Traveler.
  • Dillette A. Benjamin S. (2021). Black Travel is not a Monolith. AFAR Media.

Publications

  • Dillette, A., Benjamin, S., & Alderman, D. (2024). Traveling to escape, resist, and belong: centering black experiences within tourism scholarship. Tourism Geographies, 26(1), 1-12.
  • Ponting, S., & Dillette, A. (2023). Emotional labour and fluctuating researcher identities. Hospitality & Society, 13(1).
  • Benjamin, S., Dillette, A., & Robinson, E. (2022). Black travel is not a monolith. Tourism Geographies, 1-19.
  • Dillette A. (2022) Exploring biracial identity through roots travel. Auto-ethnography. Submitted: Tourism, Culture and Communication, 22, 231-246.
  • Dillette, A., & Benjamin, S. (2021). The Black Travel Movement: A Catalyst for Social Change. Journal of Travel Research, 0047287521993549.
  • Dillette, A. (2020). Roots tourism: a second wave of Double Consciousness for African Americans. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-16.
  • Benjamin, S., Dillette, A., & Alderman, D. H. (2020). “We can’t return to normal”: committing to tourism equity in the post-pandemic age. Tourism Geographies, 1-8.
  • Dillette, A. K., Benjamin, S., & Carpenter, C. (2019). Tweeting the Black travel experience: social media counternarrative stories as innovative insight on #TravelingWhileBlack. Journal of Travel Research, 58(8), 1357-1372. 13% acceptance

Service

National Society of Minorities Adviser