Program

MARIA GRAVARI-BARBAS,

Coordinator of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network and the UNESCO Chair “Culture, Tourism, Development” at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

Maria Gravari-Barbas is professor of geography and Vice-Provost of International Relations at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She is director of the UNESCO Chair "Tourism, Culture, Development" and coordinator of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network of the same name, which includes more than 30 top universities around the world. Her research interests are tourism studies and cultural heritage, with a focus on tourism in World Heritage Sites. Professor Gravari-Barbas is a Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism. She is a visiting professor at various universities in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. She is Chair of the of self-steering committee for Cultural Heritage at Una Europa - The Joint Doctorate in Cultural Heritage and the PhD Workshops on Cultural Heritage, a joint innovative format being developed as part of the 2019 1Europe project.

SARA DOLNIČAR,

Social Scientist, Researcher of Sustainable Tourism and Professor at The University of Queensland (Australia).

Sara Dolničar is a Professor of Tourism at The University of Queensland. Her current research program focuses on developing and experimentally testing measures that trigger pro-environmental behaviour in tourists. In recognition of her achievements, Professor Dolnicar was elected a Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST), and the Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE). In 2019, she has been awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship to leave a creative and human legacy relating to her work into low harm hedonism. She was named the Slovenian Ambassador of Science in 2016, the highest honour the Republic of Slovenia bestows on expatriate Slovenian researchers in recognition of global excellence, impact, and knowledge transfer. Professor Dolnicar currently serves as the Co-Editor in Chief of Annals of Tourism Research.

VICKY KATSONI, 

Professor of Tourism Marketing and ICT Applications at the University of Western Attica, Athens (Greece).

Vicky Katsoni is professor of ICT Applications in Tourism Marketing Management at the University of Western Attica, Faculty of Management and Economics, Department of Tourism Management. Her research interests include tourism marketing, cultural tourism, e-tourism and tourism consumer behaviour. She is the academic supervisor of the e-Tourism Module at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and President of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism.

LUČKA KAJFEŽ BOGATAJ,

Climatologist, Researcher of Climate Change and Applied Meteorology, Professor at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia).

Lučka Kajfež Bogataj is a professor and Head of the Centre for Biometrology at the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her research focuses on climate change and applied meteorology. She is a member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and received the joint recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for her efforts to raise public awareness of the fatal consequences of atmospheric warming. In recognition of her achievements, Professor Kajfež Bogataj was awarded the Order of Merit for Distinguished Service of the Republic of Slovenia "for her far-reaching scientific work in the field of studying climate change and her dedication to protecting the environment". She received a medal for scientific merit from the University of Veracruz and an honorary doctorate from the University of Primorska.

Anton Gosar, geographer, Professor Emeritus of the University of Primorska (Slovenia)

Anton Gosar is Professor Emeritus of social geography and tourism at the University of Primorska, Slovenia. He is professionally interested in regions of SE Europe (The Balkans), the Eastern Mediterranean and the Eastern Alps. He co-authored the Methodology and Theory of Social Geography, a basic tool in contemporary research and understanding of spatial processes. For his internationally recognized work he was awarded with the title “Ambassador of Science of the Republic of Slovenia”. He acted as vice-president of UNESCO-Slovenia (2004–2008). Since 1992 he is member of the prestigious International Academy of Tourism Studies (IAST) as well as of several national professional associations.

Noel B. Salazar, sociocultural anthropologist, research professor in anthropology at the University of Leuven (Belgium).

Noel B. Salazar is Professor in Anthropology at KU Leuven, Belgium. He is co-editor of Tourism Imaginaries (2014) and author of Momentous Mobilities (2018), Envisioning Eden (2010) and numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on tourism, mobility and travel. Salazar sits on the editorial boards of, among others, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Transfers, Mobility Humanities, and International Journal of Tourism Anthropology. In addition, he is founder of the EASA Anthropology and Mobility Network (AnthroMob), past chair of the IUAES Commission on the Anthropology of Tourism, an official consultant for UNESCO, UNWTO & EU and he serves as an expert member for the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN), the ICOMOS Cultural Tourism Committee (ICTC) and the UNITWIN-UNESCO Network ‘Culture, Tourism and Development’.

Fabio Carbone, social scientist, researcher of cultural heritage, tourism and peace and lecturer at Coventry University (UK)

Fabio Carbone is a social scientist, researcher of cultural heritage, tourism and peace lecturer of International Tourism Management at Coventry University (UK) and associate researcher at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (UK). He is an expert in the relations between cultural heritage management and tourism for the promotion of intercultural dialogue, global understanding and peace. By bringing new concepts, methods, and techniques from peace and conflict studies to the study of tourism, he aims to inspire and inform new policies and practices for tourism to effectively contribute to human development and to build and sustain peaceful communities around the world. He is a Global ambassador of the International Institute for peace through Tourism, and a Member of the European Network of Places of Peace.

Silvia De Ascaniis, a researcer and lecturer of digital communication at the University of Lugano - Università della Svizzera italiana - USI (Switzerland)

Silvia De Ascaniis is researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society at Università della Svizzera italiana-USI in Lugano, Switzerland. She is the coordinator of the UNESCO Chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites, established at USI.
She conducts teaching and research activities mainy on topics related to the use of ICTs to promote heritage preservation and heritage communication through ICTs. She has been an instructor on various massive open online courses (MOOCs) about digital technologies, tourism and heritage. Among her main teaching commitments are: the Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) eTourism: Communication Perspectives, the MOOC Tourism Management at UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the UNESCO Chair Summer Schools and the course UNESCO World Heritage and Tourism at USI.
She was executive director of two doctoral programs, both of them founded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Tadeja Jere Jakulin, Professor in Tourism Systems at the Faculty of Tourism studies Turistica, University of Primorska, Slovenia.

Tadeja Jere Jakulin is a Professor of Tourism Systems at the Faculty of Tourism Studies - Turistica, University of Primorska, Slovenia. She has been awarded a prestigious Slovenian Science Foundation prizes Prometheus for her excellence in scientific communication. She was a Vice-Rector for International Relations of the University of Primorska (2012-2016). Professor Jere Jakulin is a member of the UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts, and a member of UNESCO UNITWIN Network for Culture, Tourism and Development, coordinated by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. In 2017 she received a doctor honoris causa degree of the IIAS - International Institute for Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics.

Yoel Mansfeld, Professor in Tourism Planning & Development at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, Israel.

Yoel Mansfeld is a Professor in Tourism Planning and Developmnent at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa. His main areas of academic interests include socio-cultural impacts of tourism development; tourism safety & security, tourism and consumer behaviour; managing cultural and heritage tourism; community-based tourism; religious tourism; tourism planning and development; and sustainable tourism. Yoel Mansfeld is the founder and Head of the University of Haifa's Centre for Tourism, Pilgrimage & Recreation Research (CTPRR). He has been an active member of the UNITWIN – UNESCO Network on “Tourism, Culture & Development” led by IREST - the Sorbonne – Paris 1. He is also one of the founding members of the advisory research network on Cultural Routes established by the Council of Europe’s European Institute for Cultural Routes