World Tourism Day – UQ Experts available

World Tourism Day – UQ Experts available

World Tourism Day (September 27) has been nominated to raise awareness of the role of tourism and how it affects social, cultural and economic values worldwide.

This date marks the day in 1970 when the United Nations World Tourism Organisation statutes were adopted. It demonstrates the important role tourism has in connecting the international community.

The 2019 World Tourism Day will focus on digital transformation, sustainable tourism and workforce.

Associate Professor Pierre Benckendorff, Associate Professor in Tourism

Professor Benckendorff specialises in visitor behaviour, technology, enhanced learning and tourism. His areas of expertise also include consumer behaviour, management implications, marketing and digital transformation. He can speak on applications of smart technologies such as driverless vehicles, social media and artificial intelligence in marketing, interpretation, wayfinding, service and experience design.

Contact: p.benckendorff@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 7089 or 0406 001 730.

Associate Professor Judith Mair, Associate Professor and Tourism Discipline leader

Dr Mair is investigating the potential for events to act as a catalyst for encouraging pro-environmental behaviour change. She is researching the links between events and social capital, the impacts of climate change on tourism and events, and their relationships. Dr Mair can also address community festivals and all aspects of business events.

Contact: j.mair@business.uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 7947 or 0412 057 758.

Professor Sara Dolnicar, Professor of Tourism

Professor Dolnicar’s areas of expertise focus on environmental volunteering, foster care and public acceptance of water alternatives. She can respond to questions involving environmentally responsible tourism, improving measurement in the social sciences, peer-to-peer accommodation networks, developing better tools for tourism marketing and increasing public knowledge about and acceptance of water alternatives.

Contact: s.dolnicar@uq.edu.au; +61 7 3365 6702 or 0437 216 185.

Dr Sally Driml, Lecturer in Tourism Management

Dr Driml’s background is in environmental economics. She has experience in developing environmental policy and managing natural environments that are also tourism destinations. Sally can speak about her research on the economic impacts of protected areas, tourism investment, wildlife attractions and the economic value of tourism to national parks.

Contact:  s.driml@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 0755.

Associate Professor David Solnet, A/Prof of Service Management

Dr Solnet’s research focusses on managing and leading service organisations, with particular emphasis on managing the employee-customer interface. Other areas of expertise include tourism workers and the tourism workforce, ranging from the worker perspective, through to organisational and community/society perspectives, management of service organisations and understanding the challenges and opportunities to leading and managing service organisations.

Contact: david.solnet@uq.edu.au; +61 7 3346 6245 or 0411 828 757.

Maria Golubovskay, Associate Lecturer in Tourism.

Ms Golubovskay’s PhD research investigates the impact early work experiences have on shaping development in young people. She utilises foundational principles from service management and developmental and positive psychology to improve understanding about the attitudes and behaviours of young service workers.

Contact: m.golubovskaya@business.uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 6259.

Professor Brent Ritchie, Associate Dean (Research) Faculty of Business, Economics and Law

Professor Ritchie’s research focuses on tourism risk management from both an organisational and tourist perspective using social and organisational psychology theory and concepts. He can explain how research into tourism risk issues can assist businesses and tourism destinations to better prepare for and manage risk from crises and disasters. He can also talk about risk management from an individual and tourist perspective, risk reduction behaviour, including beach goers, Australian outbound travellers and potential travellers to the Middle East and Indonesia. He can also speak about carbon offsetting.

Contact: b.ritchie@uq.edu.au, +61 7 334 67308.

Associate Professor Renuka Mahadevan, Director – External Engagement, School of Economics

Associate Professor Renuka Mahadevan is an applied economist and an Asia-Pacific expert specialising in a broad range of topics, from trade wars (specifically the US-China trade war) to the sharing economy (Airbnb, Uber, DiDi etc). Her areas of interest and expertise extend to empirical and policy analysis in tourism economics. Dr Mahadevan has researched Airbnb, the effects of tourism on poverty and well-being, and the importance of major events such as those at festivals and museums.

Contact: r.mahadevan@uq.edu.au, +61 7 336 56595.