VISITING PROFESSORS
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Visiting/Adjunct Professors
Prof. Dr. Tom Baum
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Tom Baum is a Professor and Head of the Department of Work, Employment and Organisation in the Strathclyde Business School, the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and a specialist in the study of employment, education, and training in the context of international tourism and hospitality industry. He has over 35 years of experience in vocational and higher education and specializes in workforce planning, curriculum development, programme design, and assessment. Tom has published ten books and over 175 scientific papers in the context of vocational education and training. He has supervised over 35 Ph.D. students to completion and acted as External Examiner for over 50 doctorates in 6 countries. Tom has worked with a variety of international agencies in his area of specialization, including the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, UNWTO, COMCEC, and the EU. He holds or has held visiting appointments to universities in Australia, Estonia, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and Wales. I have been a panel member and chair for institutional and programme reviews in 12 countries.
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Prof. Dr. Christina Geng-qing Chi
Christina G. Chi joined the Carson College of Business (CCB) in 2007 and is Professor at the School of Hospitality Business Management (SHBM). She is also Hospitality Business Management Fellow and Research Insights Coordinator at SHBM. She teaches hospitality revenue management and accounting (undergraduate & MBA), service management seminar (MBA) and tourism seminar (PhD). Her area of research includes tourism marketing, travelers’ behaviors and hospitality management. Her primary research focus is on tourist satisfaction, destination loyalty, residents’ attitude and wellbeing, as well as tourism/hospitality sustainability issues. Her other research interests include generations/labor issues in the hospitality workplace, consumers’ food & wine consumption behaviors, customers’ complaint behaviors. Dr. Chi is well published in top tier tourism & hospitality journals. Her research has been presented at numerous hospitality and tourism conferences. In addition, Dr. Chi’s research has high impact and is widely cited. She is included in the world’s top 2% most cited scientists’ list (career-long and single-year) published by Stanford University & Elsevier. Because of her strong research reputation and academic standing, Dr. Chi is regularly invited by universities in various parts of the world as visiting professor and guest lecturer to collaborate on research and teaching, and as external reviewer for their faculty promotion. Additionally, Dr. Chi is frequently invited by research foundations in various countries to review and assess grant proposals. Dr. Chi is Research Fellow for School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, South Africa and Research Fellow for International Center for Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality, University of Mauritius, Mauritius. In 2020, Dr. Chi was inducted into International Association for China Tourism Studies (IACTS) as a fellow. In 2021, Dr. Chi was appointed as a Member of the Business Studies Panel of the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong, SAR. Dr. Chi is also frequently interviewed by the media on tourism and hospitality related issues, including China Global Television Network (CGTN) America, CNN, BBC World and others. Dr. Chi serves on the editorial boards for several hospitality & tourism journals and reviews papers regularly for top tier hospitality & tourism journals. She also serves on the board of Greater Western Chapter of Travel and Tourism Research Association (GWTTRA) and on several committees of the International Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Education (ICHRIE). At the WSU, Dr. Chi serves on various university, college and department committees. She also serves as the faculty advisor for several major RSOs (registered student organizations). Dr. Chi received her MS and PhD degree from the Oklahoma State University and prior to joining the WSU, she was a faculty member at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
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Prof. Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu
Cihan Cobanoglu is the Dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, where he also holds the McKibbon Endowed Chair Professorship at USF's Muma College of Business in Sarasota-Manatee. His responsibilities include serving as the director of the M3 Center for Hospitality Technology and Innovation, as well as coordinating international programs and international partnerships for the college. A Fulbright specialist and a Certified Hospitality Technology Professional, Cobanoglu's expertise in hospitality and tourism technology is widely recognized. He is the editor of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Technology and the Journal of Global Business Insights, an associate editor of Tourism Review, and a prolific author, contributing to six books and numerous conference proceedings. His leadership extends to serving as president of the Association of North America Higher Education International and holding board memberships with Hospitality Technology magazine, as well as editorial positions with Cornell Hospitality Quarterly and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, among others. His research focuses on the use and impact of technology in the hospitality industry, attracting national and international media attention from outlets like BBC, NBC, ABC, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe. With over 4,000 citations of his scholarly work, which includes publications in top-tier journals such as Tourism Management and The Service Industries Journal, his contributions to the field are substantial. A recognized academic, he has been honored with the “Excellence in Research -- Tenured” award from USF in 2016 and has received 14 best paper awards at international conferences. He has made numerous presentations at national and international conferences, and received the “Excellence in Research -- Tenured” award from USF in 2016. He received 14 best paper awards from international conferences.
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Prof. Dr. Ulrike Gretzel
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Ulrike Gretzel is currently a Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California. Before joining USC, she was a Professor in the Business School at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. She also held full-time appointments at the University of Wollongong and Texas A&M University and taught courses at IULM in Milan, Italy, and MODUL University in Vienna, Austria. Her research focuses on persuasion in human-technology interactions, information search and processing, electronic decision aids, smart technologies, online and social media marketing, adoption and use of technologies, as well as non-adoption and digital detox. Her research has been funded by the Australian Research Council, the Hong Kong Research Council, the National Research Foundation of Korea, the US National Science Foundation, the US National Endowment for the Humanities, the US National Park Service, Parks Canada, TripAdvisor, the Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and a number of national, regional and local tourism organizations in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles in major, tourism, and marketing journals. She has co-edited several books on social media marketing and tourism.
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Prof. Dr. Dogan Gursoy
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Dogan Gursoy is the Taco Bell Distinguished Professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management, Carson College of Business at Washington State University and the editor of Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management (SSCI IF: 12.5). Dr Gursoy has published over 200 research publications in refereed journals and 12 books. The scientific impact of his publications is evident in the cumulative h-factor of 86 and over 35,600 citations. He is recognized and consistently ranked as one of the most prolific hospitality and tourism researchers worldwide. He is also ranked as the number 82 researcher in the United States in Business and Management category and the number 141 researcher worldwide in the same category. He is the recipient of the 2021 ICHRIE Lifetime Research Achievement Award and the 2019 University of Delaware's Michael D. Olsen Research Achievement Award. Dr. Gursoy is also one of the few hospitality and tourism scholars who received the Highly Cited Researcher Award and Recognition from Clarivate in 2021, 2022 and 2023. According to Clarivate, the Highly Cited Researcher Award recognizes the true pioneers in their fields over the last decade, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science. Clarivate states that of the world’s scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers truly are one in 1,000. His area of research includes services management, hospitality and tourism marketing, tourist behavior, travelers’ information search behavior, community support for tourism development, cross-cultural studies, consumer behavior, involvement, generational leadership, sustainability, artificial intelligence, and artificially intelligent device use in service delivery.
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Prof. Dr. Michael Hall
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C. Michael Hall is currently a Professor in Marketing and Tourism in the Department of Management, Marketing & Entrepreneurship at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, joining the department at the start of 2007. He is also currently a Docent in Geography, University of Oulu, Finland; a Visiting Professor in tourism, School of Business & Economics, Linneaus University, Kalmar, Sweden and a Guest Professor in the Department of Service Management at Lund Helsingborg campus, Sweden. His doctorate is in geography from the University of Western Australia, from which he also received an honors degree in politics. His master's is from the Faculty of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada, in geography/resource management. He has honorary doctorates from the Universities of Umeå in Sweden (2008), Oulu in Finland (2012), and Lund University, Sweden (2016). According to Google Scholar analysis for the category of tourism, he is currently the most cited scholar in the area and is also very highly cited in geography, regional development, sustainability, and global environmental change. In 2009 he was named the Elsevier ScienceDirect ‘For Great Thinking’, Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences category winner. Current research is focusing on degrowth; global environmental change; resilience; disaster response (especially in relation to earthquakes, floods, heatwaves, climate change); biodiversity loss; behavioral interventions for sustainability; social marketing; regional development; sustainable foodways; halal food and hospitality; World Heritage; tourism and public transport; active transport; service scapes; walking; and privacy issues in tourism and hospitality.
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Prof. Dr. Freya Higgins-Desbiolles
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Freya Higgins-Desbiolles is a senior researcher in Tourism Management, at the University of South Australia and the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo. Her work focuses on social justice, human rights, and sustainability issues in tourism and affiliated sectors. She is the co-editor of the book Socialising Tourism: Rethinking Tourism for Social and Ecological Justice. She has won awards for excellence in teaching, research, industry engagement, and media presence.
Freya's work focuses on the impacts of tourism, tourism policy, and planning, tourism sustainability, indigenous tourism, politics of tourism, and peace through tourism. Geographical areas of interest include Indigenous Australia, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, and the Asia-Pacific region. Recent research projects have explored Aboriginal tourism, sustainable cafes, native foods in restaurants, and tourism's role in peace and conflict. She is a recipient of a Council of Australian University Educators in Tourism and Hospitality Fellows Award for a significant contribution to hospitality and tourism research and education in 2013. Her research is focused on projects that deliver new insights into the tourism phenomenon and that advocate a more just and sustainable tourism future. Her work is engaging and she has formed research partnerships with tourism and hospitality stakeholders. She particularly tries to work with "host communities" and the NGO sector who seek to shape tourism to their needs and for positive futures. She received a commendation for industry collaboration in 2014 from the UniSA Business School.
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Emertius Prof. Dr. Jafar Jafari
Jafar Jafari is a Professor of Hospitality and Tourism at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Department of Hospitality and Tourism (USA). He came to this position trained as a cultural anthropologist (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, USA) and as hotel administration graduate (BS and MS, Cornell University, USA), bringing with him additionally an honorary doctorate from the Universitat de les Illes Balears (Spain). Jafar’s contributions to the academic community span international boundaries and institutions. He is Visiting Professor at the Universidade do Algarve (Portugal), Luleå University of Technology (Sweden), and Sun Yat-sen University (China); Lifetime Honorary Professorship of Bundelkhand University (India), and international Program Director of the Universitat de les Illes Balears (Spain).
In addition to research and teaching, Jafar holds numerous editorial board positions and has established foundational journals, books, and networks within tourism studies. He is the Founding Editor of Annals of Tourism Research: A Social Sciences Journal. Jafar is also Chief Editor of Tourism Social Science (book) Series; Co-Chief Editor, Bridging Tourism Theory and Practice book series; Chief Editor, Encyclopedia of Tourism; Co-Founding Editor, Information Technology & Tourism; Co-Founder, TRINET: Tourism Research Information Network; and Founding President, International Academy for the Study of Tourism.
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Prof. Dr. Robin Nunkoo
Robin Nunkoo is a Professor at the University of Mauritius; a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg; an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University; a Visiting Researcher at the Copenhagen Business School; and an Eminent Scholar at Kyung Hee University, South Korea. He holds a PhD from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and was the recipient of the University of Waterloo International Doctoral Scholarship and the Graduate Scholarship (Total value: CAN $110,000.00). He also holds a Master of Philosophy (2010, University of Mauritius), supervised by Dr. Dogan Gursoy, Distinguished Professor at Washington State University, USA; a Master's degree in Tourism Management (2005); a Master's degree in Development Administration (2003), both from the University of Westminster, UK; and a Bachelor's degree in Economics (2001) from the University of Mumbai, India. He is the Managing Editor for Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management and an editorial board member of several leading journals. Robin has published in leading tourism and management journals and has research interest in quantitative techniques, sustainable tourism, and sociology of knowledge. Robin has been recognized as a highly cited researcher by Clarivate in 2021 and 2022 and appear as a leading world researcher in various rankings. He is the Associate Editor for the Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, a Resource Editor for Annals of Tourism Research, and the Regional Editor (Africa) for the Journal of China Tourism Research. He also serves on the editorial board of several leading academic journals.
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Prof. Dr. Fevzi Okumus
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Fevzi Okumus is the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association (CFHLA) Preeminent Chair Professor within the Hospitality Services Department at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. He was the Founding Chair of the Hospitality Services Department at UCF Rosen College. His main teaching and research areas include strategic management, leadership, hospitality management and lodging. He has over 270 academic publications (over 180 refereed journal articles, four books, 12 book chapters and 90 conference presentations and reports). As of August 12, 2022, his publications have received over 16790 citations, and he has an h-index of 61. He has chaired/co-chaired and served on numerous PhD dissertation and master thesis committees. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (IJCHM) (IF: 9.321) and the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights (JHTI). He is a frequent speaker at international conferences. He has received numerous prestigious research awards and recognitions including “The Michael D. Olsen Research Award” in 2016; “The University of Central Florida Scroll & Quill Society Award” in 2017, the “CFHLA Preeminent Professor” again in 2017 and the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Achievement Award from ICHRIE in 2018. Finally, Prof. Okumus was recognized as a “Highly Cited Researcher” for 2021 by Clarivate, based on data from Web of Science. The Highly Cited Researchers rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science™ citation index.
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Prof. Dr. Haywantee Ramkissoon
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Haywantee (Rumi) Ramkissoon is Research Professor (Full) of Tourism Marketing at the UniSA Business, University of South Australia. She leads the visitor economy research group. She is also affiliated with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Her scholarship in sustainability research e.g., sustainable tourism, corporate social responsibility, place attachment, cultural tourism, pro-environmental behavior, and public health has gained international significance evidenced by media coverage, prestigious awards, and academic and industry keynotes. She engages in collaborative research with national and international academic and industry partners for the benefit of individuals and society. She serves on several editorial advisory boards of top-tier journals and as a reviewer across disciplines.
Prof. Dr. Noel Scott
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Noel Scott, is an Adjunct Professor of Tourism Management, at the Sustainable Research Centre, University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. His research interests include the study of tourism experiences, and destination management and marketing. He is a frequent speaker at academic and industry conferences. He has over 300 academic publications including 17 books. He has supervised 30 doctoral students to successfully complete of their theses. He is on the Editorial Board of many top tourism journals, a member of the International Association of China Tourism Scholars, and a Fellow of the Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education.
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Prof. Dr. Marianna Sigala
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Marianna Sigala is Professor at the University of Piraeus, Greece. She previously held the position of the Professor of Tourism and the Director of the Centre for Tourism & Leisure Management at the University of South Australia (2015 – 2021). She has also been an academic staff at the University of Strathclyde and Westminster University (UK), and the University of the Aegean (Greece). Her academic credentials are combined with her professional experience in the tourism industry. Her interests include services and experience management, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in tourism and hospitality, as well as wine tourism. She is a widely published and multi-awarded authority: nine books, numerous papers in academic journals, and (keynote) presentations in international conferences. She has a long record of leadership and participation in international research projects funded by various entities such as the E.U., the Council of Europe and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. She is a past President of EuroCHRIE and a past member of the executive board of ICHRIE and IFITT. She currently serves at the executive board of CAUTHE. She is the co-editor of the Journal of Service Theory & Practice, and the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management. In 2016, she has been awarded the prestigious EuroCHRIE Presidents’ Award for her lifetime contributions and achievements to tourism and hospitality education. Since 2020, Professor Sigala is also appointed as Research Fellow of CAUTHE.
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Prof. Dr. Marco Valeri
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Marco Valeri is a professor of Tourism and head of Tourism Institute at the Faculty of Economics, Niccolo' Cusano University in Rome. He is also member of AIEST (Association Internationale d'Experts Scientifiques du Tourisme) and member of supervisory board of Italian Association Tour Operators and Travel Agents. He has been involved in many research projects and has published many papers, books and book chapters on tourism economics, development, competitiveness and policy and environmental management. His research areas include competitive advantage, sustainability and green practices, strategy implementation, knowledge management, family business and tourism hotel/lodging management, crisis management, destination marketing, information technology and developing countries, network analysis. He is member of several editorial board of international tourism journals, reviewer and editor of several handbooks on entrepreneurship, tourism and hospitality management (Emerald Publishing, Springer and IGI Global). He received the award as Outstanding Reviewer in the 2021 Emerald Literati Awards, selected by the editorial team of Journal of Family Business Management (Emerald Publishing). He is Research Notes Editor of Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing and Social Media Editor of Journal of Family Business Management (Emerald).
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Prof. Dr. Kyle Maurice Woosnam
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Kyle M. Woosnam is a distinguished Professor of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management within the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. In 2022, Prof. Dr. Woosnam served as a Visiting Scholar at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and became an Associate Editor for the Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Since 2019, he has been a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, contributing significantly to sustainable tourism research. Utilizing a sustainable community-centered approach, the overarching focus of Prof. Dr. Kyle M. Woosnam's research is to better understand the various forms of consequences (i.e., sociocultural, economic, environmental, and political) forged by existing and potential tourism development, natural disasters, and shifting economies. At the core of his work is the emphasis on relationships that exist between residents of resource-dependent (e.g., naturally and culturally amenity-rich) communities and those visiting; as he sees tourism consequences largely dictated by exchanges and interactions between as well as attitudes concerning these relationships. Much of Prof. Dr. Woosnam's research utilizes theoretical approaches to exploring and explaining relationships through the utilization of frameworks such as emotional solidarity, cross-cultural understanding, social distance, identity theory, and the like. Furthermore, he believes that considering these relationships and residents’ perspectives of tourism development is paramount to embracing and fostering sustainable tourism planning.
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Dr. Anna Farmaki
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Anna Farmaki is an Assistant Professor in Tourism Management at the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Cyprus University of Technology. She holds a PhD in Marketing from Nottingham Trent University. She also holds a Master's degree in Marketing from Kingston University and a BA in Business Management from the University of Westminster, London. In the past, she worked as a lecturer and a programme leader for Hospitality and Tourism Management programmes in private higher education institutions in Cyprus. Her research has been published in reputable, peer-reviewed scientific journals and she has participated in international scientific conferences and workshops. She has also been invited as a speaker in universities abroad whereas currently she is visiting lecturer at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences in Germany. She is a member of the Higher Education Academy of the United Kingdom and a representative of the Republic of Cyprus in European COST Actions.
Visiting/Adjunct Associate Professors
Dr. Raymond Rastegar
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Raymond Rastegar has a Master of Environmental Sciences and holds a PhD in tourism management and is a lecturer and researcher in Tourism at the UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Australia. His research focuses on sustainable tourism development in developing countries with specific interest in local community livelihood, participation, empowerment, and environmental conservation. Recent research projects have investigated the impacts of tourism at local level and delivered new insights into the tourism phenomenon to advocate a more just and sustainable tourism future for humans and nonhumans. He has been invited to deliver lectures and talks on social justice and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in different international conferences and universities. He was awarded a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in 2019. His research appears in high-quality journals such as Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
Dr. Siamak Seyfi
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Siamak Seyfi is an Assistant Professor at the Geography Research Unit of the University of Oulu, Finland. Using an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach, his research interests focus on tourism mobilities, political consumerism, sustainability, resilience, as well as qualitative sociological/ethnographic research methods in tourism. Siamak has published in leading tourism journals and serves on the editorial boards of multiple tourism journals.
Dr. Erose Sthapit
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Erose Sthapit is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism, MRT Department, Manchester Metropolitan University. He moved to Manchester in December 2021 from Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Finland. He successfully completed by PhD in Marketing (focusing on Consumer Behaviour in Tourism) in 2018 from University of Vaasa (2014-2018), and completed his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Finland and is linked to tourism.