Applied Behavioral Scientist · Co-founder & Chief Behavior Officer, BehaviorSMART
Milena S. Nikolova, PhD
Milena S. Nikolova is an applied behavioral scientist and Co-founder & Chief Behavior Officer of BehaviorSMART. She reveals what conventional data often misses: the human decisions behind organizational performance.
At BehaviorSMART, she leads the behavioral science behind the company’s pioneering work on Behavioral Decision Intelligence. This emerging capability enables organizations to understand what shapes human behavior across physical spaces, digital touchpoints and the journeys connecting them—and translate that insight into better outcomes.
From understanding behavior to designing better outcomes
For more than 20 years, Milena has worked at the intersection of human psychology, business and travel—moving between research, teaching, industry leadership and the practical application of behavioral science.
Across these environments, she repeatedly encountered the same problem: organizations invest in strategies, technologies, infrastructure and services without systematically accounting for the people whose decisions will determine whether those investments succeed.
That problem ultimately led to BehaviorSMART.
Today, Milena leads the behavioral science and methodology behind Behavioral Decision Intelligence. She works with businesses and places to identify the critical human decisions behind an outcome, understand what shapes them and design conditions that improve performance.
Science built for application
Milena holds a PhD in Consumer Psychology from The George Washington University School of Business and an MS in Psychology from Sofia University, with concentrations in social and organizational psychology.
Her work has always focused on translating knowledge about human decision-making into practical solutions. She is the author of Behavioral Economics for Tourism: Perspectives on Business and Policy in the Travel Industry, the first integrated book-length application of behavioral economics to tourism business and policy.
She has also contributed to research and industry publications on behavioral economics, sustainable choices, consumer psychology, experience design, wellbeing and the behavioral dynamics of tourism.
A career across research, education and industry
Milena began her international academic career at The George Washington University School of Business, where she worked as a Research Associate, supported executive education programs and contributed to teaching and global initiatives.
From 2011 to 2018, she taught Marketing and Consumer Behavior in the undergraduate and Executive MBA programs at the American University in Bulgaria, where she also served as Director of the Executive MBA program.
Between 2010 and 2022, she worked as a Tourism Analyst and Consultant on World Bank projects, contributing to tourism development efforts in different parts of the world.
Before co-founding BehaviorSMART, Milena served as Director of Knowledge and Education at the Adventure Travel Trade Association, connecting industry knowledge, professional learning and practical change.
Pioneering Behavioral Decision Intelligence
At BehaviorSMART, Milena is helping pioneer Behavioral Decision Intelligence as a practical organizational capability.
The work extends far beyond isolated nudges and communication campaigns. It reveals the complex behavioral systems that influence organizational performance.
The process starts with the outcome an organization wants to improve. It identifies the human decisions and behaviors contributing to that outcome, diagnoses the contexts shaping them and translates behavioral evidence into interventions that can be implemented and measured.
Milena’s work supports businesses and places where human experience and movement matter—from travel, hospitality and leisure to mobility, events and other experience-led sectors.
Applications include:
- Guest, visitor and customer experience
- Operational efficiency and resource use
- Commercial engagement and conversion
- Movement, flow and capacity
- Employee behavior and service delivery
- Wellbeing and happiness
- Sustainability and climate action
Selected publications and contributions
Behavioral Economics for Tourism
Perspectives on Business and Policy in the Travel Industry
Author · Academic Press/Elsevier · 2020
A comprehensive application of behavioral economics to tourism business, consumer behavior, service design, technology, sustainability and public policy.
Explore the bookBehavioural Economics: Getting Service Providers and Travellers to Choose Sustainable Options
Co-author · WTTC x Harvard Learning Insights
An industry learning resource examining how behavioral economics can enable travel providers and travelers to make more sustainable choices.
Explore this resourceTourism and Behavioral Economics
Published in A Modern Guide to Tourism Economics
Author
A review of the foundations of behavioral economics and its value in understanding and addressing contemporary tourism challenges.
Explore this publicationFrom a Triple to a Quadruple Bottom Line
Co-author · Harvard Working Paper Series
A working paper making the case for health and wellbeing as a fourth pillar of sustainability in travel and tourism.
Explore this paper
Practical tools and industry resources
Smart Ways
Written by Milena S. Nikolova · Published by Region Västmanland · 2019
A practical guide showing tourism businesses how behavioral insights can be translated into simple, actionable ways to encourage more sustainable choices.
Explore Smart WaysFirst Mile Toolbox
Lead author · Behavioral methodology provided by BehaviorSMART · 2026
Led by Milena as its principal author, the toolbox translates BehaviorSMART’s methodology into 28 practical tactics developed and tested with 80 tourism businesses across four European markets.
Explore the First Mile Toolbox
Selected talks and conversations
Milena is a frequent speaker on behavioral science, organizational performance, experience design and sustainability. Her talks translate behavioral theory into practical questions: why people make the choices they do, how environments shape those choices and what organizations can design differently.
Behavioral Optimization in Tourism: From Nudge Strategies to Smart Design
The Future of Tourism podcast · In conversation with David Peacock · 2023
A conversation about moving beyond isolated nudges toward the behavioral design of tourism businesses and destinations—including the environments, systems and customer journeys that shape decisions.
Making Destination Sustainability Non-Negotiable
Adventure Travel World Summit · Hokkaido · 2023
Milena examines how destinations can move sustainability from aspiration to implementation by understanding the behavioral conditions that determine whether travelers and tourism businesses act.
Shifting the Right Traveler from Niche to Mass
CityDNA International Conference & General Assembly · Sofia · 2023
Milena explores how destinations can move responsible travel beyond a specialist niche by redesigning the choices, experiences and conditions that shape traveler behavior.
Recovery Through Happiness
ITB Berlin NOW · 2021
Can a human-centered approach reinvent travel? In this ITB interview, Milena explores how travel businesses can contribute to healthier, happier people and societies while strengthening their own recovery and relevance.
Pricing and Payment: What’s Sustainability Got to Do with It?
In collaboration with WeTravel
A practical exploration of how price presentation, payment sequencing and the design of the booking journey shape customer perceptions, purchasing decisions and sustainability choices.
Education and professional links
- The George Washington University School of Business
- PhD, Consumer Psychology
- Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
- MS, Psychology
Research profiles
Understanding behavior. Designing performance.
Milena works with businesses, places and partners seeking to understand the human decisions behind their results—and turn behavioral insight into practical, measurable action.