Featured Speakers
Prof. David Airey
David Airey is Emeritus Professor at the University of Surrey in the UK. He has been involved in tourism education for more than 40 years, as an academic, as an official with the UK Government and as a technical expert with the European Commission. His most recent full-time appointment was with the University of Surrey, which he originally joined in 1975. At Surrey he served as Head of School and as Pro Vice Chancellor for many years until he formally retired in 2014. Since them he has continued his work in research, in teaching and in consultancy in the UK and overseas. His recent academic work has focused on tourism education and tourism policy and he has published widely on these topics including as co-editor of the first two books on tourism education. He is a Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism and in 2006 he received the UNWTO Ulysses Prize for his contribution to tourism education.
Professor Dimitrios Buhalis is a Strategic Management and Marketing expert with specialisation in Technology and Tourism. He is currently the Head of Department of Tourism and Hospitality and Director of the eTourism Lab at the Faculty of Management Bournemouth University. Professor Buhalis is leading eTourism research and is working with the Bournemouth team for introducing technology in all aspects of tourism research and teaching. In 2009 he led Bournemouth University successfully through the UNWTO.TedQual Certification Process and is the BU representative to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. In recognition of his contribution, he was elected in August 2009, as a member of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism. Dimitrios served as President of International Federation for Information Technologies in Travel and Tourism (IFITT) between 2010-2014.
Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis
Prof. Richard Butler
Professor Richard Butler is Emeritus Professor at Strathclyde Business School in the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, U.K. and Visiting Professor at NHTV in Breda, Holland. Trained as a geographer, he is a past president of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, and of the Canadian Association of Leisure Studies. He has published twenty books and over two hundred journal articles and book chapters on tourism, and was appointed the UNWTO Ulysses Laureate in 2015. He has acted as consultant and advisor to UNWTO, governments at several levels in the UK, Canada and Australia, and has taught at universities in the UK, Canada, Australia, Holland and Italy. His main research areas are destination development, tourism in remote and insular areas, and the application of sustainability and resilience to tourism development and his most recent works involve the relationships between tourism, political change, war and religion.
As an Associate Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism, Dr. Catherine Cheung main duty is to impart knowledge through good teaching, helping the students to learn with an emphasis on hotel knowledge and skill. In research and scholarly activities, her effort is directed to the areas, which can be applied to the industry and can eventually benefit the students and the community. Her major administrative duty is to facilitate and co-ordinate the international student exchanges at the SHTM.
Dr. Catherine Cheung
Prof. Kaye Chon
Professor Kaye Chon is currently the Dean, Chair Professor and Walter Kwok Foundation Professor in International Hospitality Management in the School of Hotel & Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
In his academic career which spans over 30 years, he has received numerous international awards and prizes for excellent contributions in research and scholarship. In 2011, he received the Ulysses Prize from the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The Ulysses Prize, which is commonly known as Nobel Prize of Tourism, is annually presented to one distinguished scholar in the field of tourism for lifetime contribution in creation of new knowledge in the field of tourism.
Over his career, he has published over 200 papers in international journals and professional publications and has authored or edited eight books. One of his textbooks Welcome to Hospitality: an Introduction has been adopted as a textbook in more than 100 hospitality and tourism schools worldwide. He is currently the Chief Editor of the Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing and the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research.
He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Georgia State University, University of Nevada – Las Vegas, and Virginia Tech.
He has been listed in Who’s Who In The World.
Jennifer was appointed President of Marco Polo Hotels in 2016 after serving as Vice President Sales & Marketing. At the same time, completing her PhD in the field of crisis management leadership attaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Bond University.
Previously, Jennifer managed the rebranding of Dusit International, and was given the responsibility to fully integrate the marketing functions, including the company’s CSR programmes. Prior to this assignment and during her six years in Singapore, Jennifer focused on the growth of intra-regional Asia Pacific travel for Singapore’s luxury hotel market. The emerging markets of China, India and the Middle East attributed to this success. Maintaining an agile and flexible understanding of the feeder markets in the Asian region during crisis periods such as 911, SARS and political upheavals was required to mitigate recovery periods.
Whilst having established her career as a marketing professional, Jennifer’s first role as a hotel General Manager, was for The Kooralbyn Hotel Resort. Her challenge was completed with the sale of the resort after a grueling Voluntary Administration. She then went on to be the opening GM of the Holiday Inn Hope Island before returning to the sales and marketing stream with Hyatt International.
Specialties: With proven qualities in all facets of hotel leadership, strategic planning, market research, cost controls, a passionate commitment to the highest standards of quality and service in achieving key performance goals, and the ability to recruit, train and motivate staff in the same, Jennifer seeks continual personal and professional development so that she will make a positive difference in a fast changing market environment.
Dr. Jennifer Cronin
Professor Don Hawkins, Solimar International’s Chairman and Principal, is an expert in tourism policy, strategic planning, workforce development and management education with 42 years of international experience. Don holds the endowed Eisenhower Professor of Tourism Policy Chair at the George Washington University School of Business. In 2003, he received the first World Tourism Organization (WTO) Ulysses Prize for individual accomplishments in the creation and dissemination of knowledge in the area of tourism policy and strategic management. In 2012, he was elected as Vice Chairman of the UNWT0 Affiliates Council and appointed as Special Advisor to the UNWTO Secretary General for the Knowledge Network. He is Board Chairman of Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance and the SAVE Travel Alliance and serves on the Board of Directors for the Ulysses Foundation is Chairman Emeritus of Sustainable Travel International.
Don has consulted all over the world including North American, Caribbean, Latin American, European, African, Middle East, and Asia/Pacific Regions. His doctoral degree was in Park Management, awarded by New York University in 1967. He is credited with over 114 publications, including books, journal articles, monographs, project reports and educational materials.
Prof. Donald Hawkins
Prof. Cathy Hsu
Cathy Hsu is the Chair Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Marketing in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research foci have been tourist behaviors, resident sentiment, hotel branding, hospitality marketing, and service quality. She has served as a consultant to various hospitality organizations, such as the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou, City of Dreams in Macao, Hong Kong Tourism Board, and World Tourism Organization. She has provided training to numerous hotel and tourism organizations on service quality, branding, and marketing. Professor Hsu is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism. She also serves on 10 journal editorial boards. She received the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Achievement Award in 2009 and International Society of Travel and Tourism Educator’s Martin Oppermann Memorial Award for Lifetime Contribution to Tourism Education in 2011.
Prof. Kit Jenkins
Professor Carson L.Jenkins is Emeritus Professor of International Tourism in the Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. By training an economist, he has taught, researched and published in the field of tourism specifically related to the developing countries. He has undertaken consultancy and advisory assignments in over 80 of these countries for many of the international development agencies. His particular areas of interest and expertise are in the field of policy formulation, planning, human resource development, tourism legislation and institutional restructuring.
Formerly Head of Department of The Scottish Hotel School, University of Strathclyde, and Principal and Managing Director of the University Centre, International Management institute, Lucerne, Switzerland, he retains a broad interest in hospitality and tourism education and is actively involved in international consultancy assignments most recently in the Environment and Socially Responsible Tourism Development project in Vietnam. He is a Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism. Currently he is Visiting Scholar at the School of Professional Education and Executive Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Brian King is Professor and Associate Dean at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Originally from Scotland, he was previously Professor of Tourism at Victoria University in Australia (1998–2012) where he also occupied various university leadership positions, including as Pro Vice-Chancellor. His research expertise is tourism marketing, emphasising cultural dimensions and emerging Asia-Pacific markets, particularly China. He has published books on tourism marketing, VFR travel, resorts and Asia-Pacific tourism. He is Editor of Tourism, Culture & Communication and has held visiting professorships in Italy, Fiji, the UK and USA. He has consulted for international tourism agencies on human resource development and marketing. His industry experience includes manager and/or director roles in airlines, tour operations, destination management, cruise operations and hotels. He is chair of assessment at the International Centre of Excellence for Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE) and a Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism (IAST).
Prof. Brian King
A Senior Advisor with the Aga Khan Development Network, Mr. Ladhani currently serves as the Project Director, Graduate Professional Education for Aga Khan University in East Africa, which is responsible for the development of Graduate Professional Schools in East Africa and Pakistan. These include the Graduate School of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism; Graduate School of Leadership and Management; the Graduate School of Media and Communications; the Graduate School of Government, Civil Society and Public Policy; and the Graduate School of Architecture and Human Settlement.
Prior to his appointment with AKU, Mr. Ladhani served as the Director General of the University of Central Asia, a unique, internationally chartered higher education institution in the process of establishing programmes and purpose-built campuses in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. He was also the founding Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Foundation Canada, which he led from a start-up to a ‘premier private international development agency’.
Mr. Nazeer Aziz Ladhani
Prof. Rob Law
Professor Rob Law has worked in Canada and Hong Kong in both industry and academia. Prior to joining The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1995, he worked in the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology, University of Regina, and Bell Northern Research/Northern Telecom in Canada.
Professor Law is an active researcher. He has received many research related awards and honors, as well as millions of USD external and internal research grants. He has edited four books and published hundreds of research articles in first-tier academic journals. Since 2011, his publications have received more than 13,000 citations, with h-index/i 10-index = 55/202. In addition, Prof. Law serves in different roles for many research journals, and is a chair/committee member of more than 140 international conferences.
Professor Anna S. Mattila, is the Marriott Professor of Lodging Management at the School of Hospitality Management at the Pennsylvania State University. She holds a Ph.D. in services marketing from Cornell University. Her research interests focus on service encounters with a particular interest in service failures and service recovery and cross-cultural research. Her work has appeared in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Journal of Travel Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Tourism Management and in the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. Anna has written several book chapters and currently serves on numerous editorial boards in journals specializing in services management. She is also the Chief Editor of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. Anna is a recipient of the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Award and The University of Delaware Michael D. Olsen Lifetime Research Achievement Award.
Prof. Anna Mattila
Prof. Bob McKercher
Professor Bob McKercher has been a tourism academic since 1990, beginning his career at Charles Sturt University in Albury, NSW. Prior to that he worked in the Canadian tourism industry in a variety of advocacy and operational roles.
He has wide ranging research interests. He has published over 250 scholarly papers and research reports on a variety of subject areas. He is the author of The Business of Nature-based Tourism, co-authored Cultural Tourism: The partnership between tourism and cultural heritage management and has edited a number of other books.
He received his PhD from the University of Melbourne in Australia, a Masters degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and his undergraduate degree from York University in Toronto, Canada.
He is a member of the International Academic for the Study of Tourism and is a fellow of the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education.
Hanqin Qiu Zhang is a Professor of international tourism. She received her BA from Nankai University in Mainland China, her MA from University of Waterloo in Canada, and her PhD from University of Strathclyde in UK. Her research interests are tourism studies, consumer behaviour, and China hotel and tourism development and policy issues. She has been the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism since 2016. She has served as guest editor for International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and Journal of Vacation Marketing on Special Issues for China Hotel and Tourism Development. She was also the regional editor for International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. She has published more than 80 refereed journal articles and conference papers in major international journals (e.g. International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and Journal of Vacation marketing) and presented about 80 research papers at international refereed conferences. Professor Qiu also worked as a leading consultant for UNWTO, CNTA, CTS Travel Group Services, and many other major organizations and companies.
Prof. Hanqin Qiu
Professor Chris Roberts is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the School of Hospitality Leadership at DePaul University (Chicago, USA). He currently is the editor-in-chief of the highly ranked Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. He received his doctorate in Strategic Management from the University of Massachusetts. Professor Roberts has authored more than 50 publications in journals and industry publications, co-authored three books, and has given more than 80 presentations around the world. His research is centered upon strategic decision‑making, leadership, and executive teams in the lodging industry.
Professor Roberts has eight years of hotel experience in both operations and reservation centers with Holiday Inns (USA). He owned and operated a travel agency for another eight years. He also has eleven years of corporate marketing experience in the communication industry with the Bell Telephone System, which involved sales and service of major accounts, product management, and new product development.
Prof. Chris Roberts
Prof. Pauline Sheldon
Pauline Sheldon is Professor Emerita, University of Hawai’i, School of Travel Industry Management where she also served as Dean. She holds a PhD in Economics, an MBA, and a BS in Mathematics. Her research areas include CSR, sustainable tourism, knowledge management in tourism, and wellness tourism. Most recently she has published a book entitled Social Entrepreneurship in Tourism with Daniele, and a second edition of Tourism Information Technology with Benckendorff and Fesenmaier. She is currently working on a book entitled Tourism Changemakers, exploring her interest in how tourism can be an agent of positive change. Professor Sheldon is the recipient of the UNWTO Ulysses prize, the TTRA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Hannes Werthner IFITT Lifetime Achievement Award. She was the first woman President of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, and also co-founded TRINET and the Tourism Education Futures Initiative (TEFI). She teaches with the Art of Living Foundation.
Prof. Haiyan Song
Professor Haiyan Song has a strong background in Economics. His main research area is tourism economics with a particular focus on tourism demand modelling and forecasting. He was educated both in China and the UK, and has extensive research and consultancy experiences in areas such as foreign direct investment (FDI) in China and economic issues related to China's tourism sector. Over the years, Prof. Song has been involved in a number of projects on tourism demand forecasting in the Asia Pacific region. He has also spoken frequently, as invited speaker and presenter of research papers, at various international conferences on issues related to tourism impact assessment and forecasting. Prof. Song was honoured by the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education with the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Achievement Award in 2010, and Michael D. Olsen Research Achievement Award from the University of Delaware in 2014.
Jeremy Tredinnick is a Hong Kong-based writer, photographer and editor.
Born in London, England, he fled his homeland straight out of school, intent on getting a taste of more exotic worlds in all their glory. An inveterate traveler, he eventually found his niche in Hong Kong, where he has split his career between bouts of Asian travel, writing features and making images for many of the region's top travel magazines and newspapers.
He is the author, main photographer, and editor of several Odyssey guides, listed below. When not producing books, he writes and photographs for top travel publications such as Travel + Leisure SE Asia, TIME, Conde Nast Traveler, Action Asia, Discovery and Silk Road.
Mr. Jeremy Tredinnick
Professor Eric Tsui first 10 years in industry involved the design, development, deployment, support & governance of an extension to the world renowned COLOSSUS Expert System for handling bodily injury & workers compensation claims. Between 2000 & 2005, he assumed the roles of Chief Research Officer, Asia Pacific for CSC, Innovation Manager at Australian Mutual Provident & Maybank. He has published in, among others, Expert Systems With Applications, Knowledge-based Systems, and Information Processing and Management journals. His papers have twice won the Highly Commended category of the Emerald Literati Network Award for Excellence between 2008 & 2011.
In his academic capacities, he has designed and delivered Knowledge Management, Artificial Intelligence, Business Process Management, Portal, and MIS courses at the University of Sydney, University of Technology, Sydney, University of New South Wales, RMIT University, University of Kentucky, Stellenbosch University, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and City University of Hong Kong. He leads Asia’s only master degree in Knowledge Management which is delivered via blended learning. He received the High Impact Award 2008, finalist and winner of the Teaching and Learning Innovation Awards in 2009 and 2010 respectively at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
He has also consulted extensively for government departments and private organizations in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei.
Prof. Eric Tsui
Professor Jafari is a cultural anthropologist (he obtained his PhD at the University of Minnesota) and a hotel administration graduate (BS and MS, Cornell University, USA), with an honorary doctorate from the Universitat de les Illes Balears. He is Visiting Professor of the Universitat do Algarve (Portugal), Luleå University of Technology (Sweden), Sun Yat-sen University (China), Lifetime Honorary Professorship of Bundelkhand University (India), international Program Director of the Universitat de les Illes Balears (Spain), and a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin-Stout Department of Hospitality and Tourism (USA), where he has been teaching and conducting research since he graduated from Cornell. The two-year masters degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management, now over 20 years old, is an example of his successful efforts at Stout.
As well as serving as Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Tourism Research: A Social Sciences Journal; rated as the best academic journal in the field of tourism, with subscribers in 150 countries, professor Jafari is Chief Editor of the Tourism Social Science Series and the Encyclopaedia of Tourism; Co-Chief Editor of the Bridging Tourism Theory and Practice book series, Consulting and Founding Editor of Information Technology & Tourism: Applications, Methodologies, Techniques and Founding President of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism in Spain. Together with Professor Pauline Sheldon, he co-founded TRINET, the Tourism Research Information Network, which is an international tourism researchers’ electronic bulletin board with over 3,000 subscribers worldwide.
Prof. Jafar Jafari
Professor Bruce Tracey joined the faculty in 1992 after receiving his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Albany. In addition to Cornell, Professor Tracey has taught in a variety of degree programs, including TKK Executive School of Business, Helsinki, Finland; Cornell-Nanyang Institute for Hospitality Management, Singapore; Institut de Management Hotelier International, Paris, France; and Ecole Hotelière Lausanne, Switzerland. He has also facilitated numerous executive education courses throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Focusing on human resources strategy and management, Professor Tracey's research has examined a wide range of strategic and operational-level HR topics, including the impact of training initiatives on individual and firm performance, employee turnover, employment law, and leadership. A frequent contributor to the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, he has been widely published in mainline human resources and management journals including Personnel Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Research Methods, and Journal of International Management. Awards for his work include the Industry Relevance Award from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research and the Best Management Development Paper Award from the Academy of Management.
Sponsors for Professor Tracey's research and consulting include Four Seasons Resorts and Hotels, Hilton Hotels Worldwide, Marriott International, Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts, ClubCorp USA, and Uno Chicago Grill. Among other assignments, he has conducted leadership assessments, training evaluations, and HR strategy and program evaluations.
From 2010-2013, Professor Tracey was the Editor of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, the industry's foremost journal of applied research. As editor, he was responsible for directing the course of the journal and overseeing the double-blind review process.
Prof. Bruce Tracey
Featured speakers
Featured speakers are listed according to alphabetical order of surname.
Professor Eduardo Fayos-Solà has extensive experience in Tourism Policy and Governance, with over 25 years of service at the United Nations World Tourism Organization --Director for Europe and Executive Secretary for the UNWTO Knowledge Network-- and at the Government of Spain --Director-General for Tourism Policy and Representative for Tourism at the European Government in Brussels. He is a UNWTO Ulysses Laureate, a Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, a Senior Adviser at the George Washington University, and has been Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Valencia since 1988. He has conducted research and policy implementation missions worldwide. He is the Founding President of the UNWTO Themis Foundation and the architect of the TedQual Certificationt. His professional interests include destination management and public-private policies, focusing on tourism for development, sustainability, governance, and science, technology and innovation.