The 5th International Conference on Tourism Management and related Issues will commence on October 8 – 9, 2015 in Marmari (Kos), Greece at the Marmari Beach Hotel and is organised by the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM).
Conference Background
Over the last six decades, tourism has experienced continued expansion and diversification, becoming one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world. (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2012).
More specifically, in spite of sporadic shocks, international tourist arrivals have recorded a virtually uninterrupted increase: from 277 million in 1980 to 983 million in 2011.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in its most updated long-term outlook of future tourism trends (Tourism Towards 2030) estimates that international arrivals worldwide are expected to reach nearly 1.8 billion by the year 2030 (an increase by 3.3% a year on average from 2010 to 2030).
A number of major factors can explain this dramatic increase in demand for tourism:
- process of globalization
- development of mass transportation and motorization (and the parallel decrease in cost of transportation due to improvements in technology)
- rhythm of increase of world GDP as well as the increase of income to be allocated to travels
- introduction of new ICT applications in the work of public and private stakeholders in the tourism sector
- the general improvement of security and rights for tourists.
Conference Theme and Topics
Scholars dealing with tourism are trying to gain a thorough, articulated and clear cut picture of the major changes going on in the tourism sector, with a specific emphasis on major changes such as:
- shift to sustainable tourism and CSR in the tourism sector
- the adoption of ICT applications in tourism, with a focus on social media
- structural change in the style of consumption and fruition of tourist products and services according to a post-Fordist model of consumption
- impact of several major economic, political and climatic events (such as the recent financial and economic downturn, the terrorist attacks, etc.) on the travelling and hospitality industry.
All of these issues (and more) require significant reflection and this conference will be an irreplaceable opportunity to tackle them in depth.
We invite contributions that focus especially, but not exclusively, on tourism, travel, leisure and hospitality management, with an emphasis on:
- Destination /Hospitality /Congress management
- Air transportation management
- Archeological sites management
- World Heritage and intangible cultural heritage management
- Urban and regional tourism planning
- Tourism policies
- Inter-organizational dynamics (e.g. M&A, joint venture, strategic alliances, coopetitive strategies, etc.) in the tourism sector
- Tourism marketing
- Renewable sources of energy and tourism
- Glocalisation: managing the global and the local in the tourism industry
- Ecotourism and sustainable tourism development
- ICT and tourism
- Managing the skies: air transportation
The topics reported above are indicative and informative rather than exclusive. Other interesting work on tourism management and related issues that is not closely related to the themes above will be taken into consideration.
We invite full papers, doctoral research papers, poster papers, abstracts, and research proposals on any of the aforementioned topics without any specific constraints in terms of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches.
To advance investigation on tourism management and to further expand its theoretical and practical bases and boundaries, we need to explore, apply and confront both conceptual and empirical wisdom and scholarship stemming from different perspectives. Therefore, both business practitioners and academics are invited to submit their contributions.
Conference Chairs
- Prof. Dimitrios BUHALIS – Bournemouth University, Dorset, UK
- Prof. Marcello M. MARIANI – University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy