Dini Hajarrahmah
Doctoral student
342 Wallace Hall, Virginia Tech
295 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
295 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Dini Hajarrahmah is a Ph.D. candidate in the Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech. Her research interests include social entrepreneurship, regenerative tourism, SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), innovation and strategy. She is the recipient of the 2024 Michael D. Olsen Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Strategic Management from Virginia Tech Hospitality and Tourism Management Department. She earned her master's degree in Tourism Management & Innovation and Technology from Boston University. She is the co-founder of Wanderlust Indonesia, a social enterprise that practices community-based tourism and aims to empower local communities in tourism destinations.
Expected Graduation: 2026
Advisor/Chair: Nancy G. McGehee
Committee: Juan Luis Nicolau, David Townsend, Joelle Soulard
On The Job Market: Yes
Research Areas
- Social entrepreneurship, SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises)
- Innovation and Strategy
- Regenerative Tourism
- Organizational Resilience
Research Methods
- In-depth interview analysis
- Content Analysis
- Case Study
- Focus Group
- Experimental Design
- Survey Design and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
Virginia Tech
Course Instructor:
- HTM 3484: Socio-Cultural Impacts of Tourism (2024-present)
Teaching Assistant:
- HTM 6524: Seminar in Tourism Management Research (Fall 2022)
- HTM 5944: Graduate Seminar (Spring 2023)
- HTM 6434: Theory in Hospitality and Tourism Management (Spring 2023)
- HTM 5554: Qualitative Research in Business (Spring 2024)
School of Business and Management, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Course Instructor:
- CCCM: Cross-Cultural and Conflict Management (2019-2022)
- IBE: Integrated Business Experience (2021-2022)
- International Virtual Course: Understanding Diversity (2020)
Boston University
Teaching Assistant:
- Innovation Process: Developing New Products and Services (2016-2017)
Education
- Graduate Certificate: Collaborative Community Leadership, Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education – Virginia Tech (2024)
- MS, Dual Concentration: Economic Development & Tourism Management and Innovation and Technology, Boston University, 2017
- BA, American Cultural Studies – English Department, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, 2011
Industry Experience
- Lecturer and Researcher, School of Business & Management, Bandung Institute of Technology, 2019 - 2022
- Co-Founder, Wanderlust Indonesia, 2017 – 2022
- Co-Founder, Barokah Coffee Shelter, 2018 – 2022
- Business Consultant, Global Health Tourism Assistance, 2021-2025
- Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant, Boston University, 2016 - 2017
- Human Resources Executive, Groupe Danone Indonesia, 2012 – 2015
Honors and Awards
- Pamplin College of Business Doctoral Summer Research Grant Program Awardee (2025)
- Michael D. Olsen Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Strategic Management (2024)
- Feiertag HTM Virginia Tech Best Research Poster (2023)
- Award for Excellence in Graduate Study, Boston University Metropolitan College, 2017
- Australia Awards Indonesia - Start-Up Ecosystems Awardee, 2018
- Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Master Degree Scholarship Awardee, 2015 - 2017
- Jolkona Catalyst x US Embassy Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp Awardee, 2014
- Indonesia-Canada Youth Exchange Program, 2011 – 2012
- Danone Best Practice Award in Culture & Social Innovation, 2014
Conferences
- American Associations of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, Detroit Michigan 2025
- CREST World Tourism Day Forum, Atlanta, Georgia 2024
- Travel and Tourism Research Association, Burlington, Vermont 2024
- APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Senior Officials’ Meeting, Seattle, Washington 2023
- Travel and Tourism Research Association, St. Louis, Missouri 2023
- The 6th International Conference of Arte-Polis, Indonesia 2016
- The 2nd Tourism and Leisure Studies Conference, Vancouver 2017
Grant
- AICEF (American Indonesian Cultural & Educational Foundation) 2025 Overseas Travel Grant. https://www.aicef.org/2025-overseas-travel-grant-recipients.html Amount: USD 3,000
- McGehee, N., Townsend, D., Hajarrahmah, D. (2025-2026). Pamplin Duo+ SEED Grant (Entrepreneurship Track): Development of a Regenerative Tourism Digital Platform Innovation – A Customer Discovery Journey. Source: Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. USD 25,000
- Pamplin Doctoral Summer Research Grant (Summer 2025). Source: Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. Amount Awarded: USD 7,500
- Ph.D. Summer Research Grant Funding (2023-2024). Source: Hospitality and Tourism Management Department at Virginia Tech. Amount Awarded: USD 6,000 each summer
- Alumni Grant Scheme – Australia Awards Indonesia: “Disaster Mitigation Education for Local People in Lembang Fault through Impact Travel Experience”, Bandung, West Java - Indonesia, AUD$ 10,000, 2020 – 2022
Certification, Short Courses
- CIRTL (Center for Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning), Virginia Tech’s Associate Teaching Program (2025)
- Travel Unity Certified DEI Travel Professional (CDTP) (2024)
- Tourism CoLab x the Centre for Good Travel Short Course “Stories of Active Hope”, Regenerative Storytelling (2023)
- Linnaeus University, School of Business & Economics Online Ph.D. Course on “Entrepreneuring, Rurality, and The Role of Space” (Oct 2023-April 2024)
- Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia Short Course: Start-Up Ecosystems Program in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney. Full Scholarship: Australia Awards (2018)
Destination
Wae Rebo Village in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
Food & Drink
From sushi to ramen.. Japanese food are my comfort food, Indonesian specialty coffee that we brew at home