Author Biographies
Miguel Bendrao Baltazar holds a Master’s degree in Management in Hospitality from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (USA). Miguel brings a mix of 14 years of international hospitality management work experience, and 16 years of teaching, administrating and advising experience in prestigious International Hospitality Management Schools in Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Puerto Rico and the US.
Ella K. Bennion is the Student Liaison Internship Coordinator and Academic Advisor in the School of Business and Economics at The University of the South Pacific. She is from Fiji and her qualifications are in Community Development, Sociology, Psychology and Social Policy. She has just completed her Masters in Diplomacy & International Affairs. Her interests lie in education, student and alumni support, professional development and volunteerism. Her scholarly interests include social capital, professional sports, human behaviour and society in general.
Dr. Sandeep Basnyat is an Assistant Professor at Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM), Macao, China. Sandeep’s research areas of interest include employee relationships, human resource management, and work and working conditions in the tourism and hospitality industry. Sandeep has also been providing training on destination management and marketing in the capacity building workshops and seminars organized by IFTM.
Dr. Kevin Burns is a travel enthusiast, researcher, and Lecturer in Tourism Management at Dundalk Institute of Technology, Ireland. His research is primarily focused on tourist behaviour, experience, and engagement. Kevin has recently returned from a five-year teaching and research career in China, having obtained his Doctorate degree in Hospitality and Tourism from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Dr. Yong Chen is an Associate Professor at Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Switzerland, where he lectures on economics of tourism and hospitality. Dr. Chen’s research interests include tourist behaviour, tourism demand, the sharing economy, and Chinese outbound tourism.
Cheng, Wan Lok Alan is currently an Instructor in Front Office Operations with the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM). He is a full member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) and Certified Practicing Accountant Australia (CPA Aust). Prior to joining IFTM, he worked as an Academic Advisor in Accounting and Finance with the Hong Kong Baptist University and then an Instructor in Professional Accountancy with the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Dr. Nate-tra Dhevabanchachai was a general manager running Salaya Pavilion Hotel and Training Centre for over 11 years and has been a Lecturer of the Human Resource Management subject in the Tourism and Hospitality Programme of Mahidol University International College in Bangkok, Thailand since 2006. Nate-tra is strongly involved in various consultancy projects in government and private sector in various industries. Her expertise is in service excellence and people management and development.
Simone Doudna, MBA, CHE is an Instructional Assistant Professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management with over 20 years of global hospitality experience Her classes include Practicum 1 and 2, taught to thousands of hospitality students through the years.
Ms. Dong Liyang is a doctoral student in School of Hotel and Tourism Management of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and also is an Assistant Director of Human Resources Department in Atlantis Sanya. Her research focuses on hospitality talent development and female leadership.
Dr. Joan Flaherty is an Associate Professor in the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management at University of Guelph, Canada, and the School’s Co-op Advisor. Her research interest is in the area of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Shelley Gallina is a Co-operative Education Coordinator in the Experiential Learning Hub at University of Guelph. She has enjoyed creating co-op work opportunities for students and building employer partnerships for more than 20 years.
Dr. Dawn Gibson is a Senior Lecturer of Tourism and Hospitality Management and Academic Advisor in the School of Business and Economics at The University of the South Pacific. She is from Fiji and her PhD examined the challenges indigenous owned businesses face delivering consistent quality services in the backpacker/budget accommodation sector in the Yasawa Islands in Fiji. She has an avid interest in education especially as it relates to learning, teaching and quality and her research and scholarly interests include: climate change and tourism mobility in the Pacific; challenges of indigenous/community based tourism operators; entrepreneurship and innovation; backpacker and voluntourism; sustainable development and food tourism, import substitution and linking agriculture to tourism; and agritourism.
Prof Brian Hay worked for five years as a town planner in England and twenty years as head of research at the Scottish Tourist Board, before developing his academic career. Over the last fifteen years, he has held visiting Professorships at various Scottish universities and is currently an Honorary Professor at Heriot-Watt University. His qualifications range from a B.Sc. in Town and Country Planning from Heriot-Watt University to a Ph.D. in Recreation Resources Development from Texas A&M University.
Dr. Cindy Yoonjoung Heo is an Associate Professor of revenue management at Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Switzerland. Her research focuses on revenue management, corporate social responsibility, and P2P sharing platforms. She is a member of HSMAI Europe Revenue Optimization Advisory Board and serves on the editorial boards of Tourism Management and International Journal of Hospitality Management.
Hupfeld Hoerder is a Sessional Lecturer in the School of Business and Economics at The University of the South Pacific. He completed his Masters of Business in International Tourism and Hospitality Management at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia and his research interests include tourism and fashion, tourism and the bridal market, hospitality operational systems and the opportunities and challenges of social media in tourism marketing. Currently, he is working on pursuing his PhD in the field of tourism marketing, focusing on wedding market tourism in Fiji.
Dr. Ricky Hu Xiao, founder and managing director of E plus Hotel Management Consultancy Co., Shenzhen. He holds a doctorate from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interest includes human resource management, strategic management, and tourism & hospitality education.
Mr. Shiva Prasad Jaishi is a Chief Officer at the Planning, Training and Academic Management Department at Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) in Kathmandu, Nepal. Shiva has been extensively involved in providing tourism and hospitality training as well as handling administrative matters related to those training programmes.
Anna Klenert is a Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Operations and Module Leader for the Postgraduate hospitality, tourism and events placement programme at the Oxford School of Hospitality Management, within the Oxford Brookes Business School at Oxford Brookes University.
Dr. Christina Lam is an Assistant Professor and the Programme Director of the Hospitality Business Degree programme at Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). Prior to joining academia, she was an industry practitioner and assumed different leadership roles in the hospitality industry. Her teaching and research interests are in the area of hospitality consumer behaviour, brand management, hotel development and service quality management.
Ann Lara is a Lecturer of hospitality management and Career Services Coordinator for hospitality management students in Southern California. She is inspired every day by her student’s commitment and determination to their education, families and communities.
Dr. Zhuo Li (Catherine) is a Lecturer and coordinator for the Tourism Retail and Marketing Management Program at the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies. She obtained her doctoral degree in hospitality and tourism management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests include tourism shopping, destination shopping mall and tourism education.
Dr. Chun Liu is a Lecturer in School of Tourism Sciences at Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China. Her research interests include technology adoption, consumer behaviour and customer experience.
Dr. Murray Mackenzie’s hospitality and educational expertise has taken him to several continents including Australasia, Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. His knowledge of the hospitality industry commenced as an apprentice chef, concluding as Executive Chef. Completing his academic qualification, he then proceeded to lecture at world acclaimed tertiary institutes in Asia and the United States. His research interests now include wine education, food and beverage and corporate social responsibility.
Prof Bob McKercher has over 30 years’ experience as a tourism academic. His broad ranging research interests include tourist behaviour, product development, special interest tourism and a range of educational issues.
Dr. Brian Miller is Associate Professor, at the University of Delaware. He teaches undergraduate and graduate hospitality courses at UD and the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France.
Dr. Kaewta Muangasame has been a Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality Management Division, Mahidol University International College, Bangkok, Thailand since 2006. Kaewta is strongly involved in tourism and hospitality consultancy projects for government agencies such as the Department of Tourism, Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ASEAN Tourism Marketing and Communication Working Group.
Prof Lianping Ren (Eve) is the academic coordinator overseeing postgraduate programs at the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM). Her research interests mainly include hospitality and tourism education, traveller behaviour, and strategic management in hospitality and tourism.
Dr. Yi-Fan Tung is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leisure Industry and Health Promotion at the National Ilan University in Taiwan and is in charge of the internship program. Before joining academia, Dr. Tung worked in several five-star hotels for seven years and served in various departments such as rooms, food & beverage and corporate office. He was also a hotel development consultant and owner’s representative.
Beverley Seager is the Work Integrated Learning Coordinator at the Cape Town Hotel School, Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa. She has fifteen years’ hospitality industry experience, giving her the background to assist in the lecturing, and placing, of students at the CTHS.
Karishma Sharma is a Teaching Assistant in The School of Business and Economics, at the University of the South Pacific and has a Bachelor of Arts in Tourism and Hospitality Management and a Master of Commerce in Tourism and Hospitality Management. Her scholarly interests include digital marketing and social media in tourism, hospitality and services marketing, women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment in developing countries and customer service in hospitality and tourism.
Dr. C. Louis Shih is a hotel development consultant. He was formerly a Vice President with Marriot International. Before that, he was a Managing Director with Selco, a USA based real estate fund management firm specializing in hotel investment.
Prof J. Bruce Tracey has been at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration since 1992. His teaching and research focuses primarily on human capital management challenges, including factors that may influence the effectiveness of learning and development systems.
Dr. Ryan Smith is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University. His background, teaching, and research interest are centered around food and beverage. He holds a Doctorate in Hotel and Tourism Management from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Bill Sullivan, MS, CHIA, CAHTA, is the Managing Director of the Courtyard by Marriott, Newark-University of Delaware.
Dr. Reg Foucar-Szocki is an innovative educator who believes in reflective experiential learning as the cornerstone for living and thriving in the 4th Industrial Revolution. Reg‘s work has been acknowledged with lifetime achievement awards by Michigan State University and ICHRIE.
Dr. Kirsten Tripodi is the Hospitality, Resort & Tourism Director at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. Kirsten enjoyed a successful career in hospitality operations for more than 25 years before she transitioned to pursue preparing young professionals for the industry she is passionate about.
Dr. Yang Jingjing has over 15 years’ international working experience, in UK, China and New Zealand. She has worked not only in academia, but also in government, tourism industry, tourism planning and consultancy. Currently she is working at Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao, China.
Ms. Yeo May-Fung is the Director of the Centre for Career Readiness at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). With over 25 years of experience in the education industry, she was previously head of Student Affairs at an education institution, overseeing Career Services, Student Life, Counselling Service and Alumni Services. Prior to that, she also managed education operations for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
Mr. Shichun Yu is an Associate Professor in Beijing Hospitality Institute, Beijing, China. His research interests include hospitality marketing, hospitality education and college major choice.
