Cathy Hsu
Cathy Hsu is the Chair Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Marketing in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research foci include tourist behaviors and emotions, resident sentiment and stereotypes, and social listening. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Management and served as the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism for 16 years (2002-2017). Her recently co-authored book, Tourism: The Business of Hospitality and Travel (7th ed.), was published by Prentice Hall (2025). She received the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Achievement Award (2009), International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators’ Martin Oppermann Memorial Award for Lifetime Contribution to Tourism Education (2011), and the Tourism Academy Leader Award (2024) by The Association of Turkish Tourism Academics. She is a fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism and a fellow of International Association for China Tourism Studies.
Cihan Cobanoglu
Professor Cihan Cobanoglu currently serves as the Provost at Virscend University in Irvine, California, USA, where he acts as the university’s Chief Academic Officer. Prior to his role at Virscend University, he spent 15 years at the University of South Florida (USF), including about 8 years as the Dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at USF’s Muma College of Business in Tampa, Florida, USA. During his tenure at USF, Professor Cobanoglu held the McKibbon Endowed Chair Professorship at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and served as the director of the M3 Center for Hospitality Technology and Innovation. He also led international programs and partnerships for the college, overseeing global affairs.
A distinguished expert in hospitality and tourism technology, Professor Cobanoglu is a Fulbright specialist and a Certified Hospitality Technology Professional. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Technology (SSCI IF 6.4) and the Journal of Global Business Insights. Additionally, he was an associate editor of Tourism Review and has authored six books and 10 conference proceedings. He is also the President of the Association of Global Educators (AGE), an organization with over 15,000 members from 100+ countries, and President of the North America Chapter of the International Federation of Information Technology in Travel and Tourism (IFITT). He serves on the board of Hospitality Technology magazine and on editorial boards including Cornell Hospitality Quarterly and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Professor Cobanoglu’s research focuses on the use and impact of technology in the hospitality industry, with his work prominently featured in major national and international media outlets such as BBC, NBC, ABC, Futurist magazine, The New York Times, the Boston Globe, and Lodging magazine. His scholarly contributions include over 100 peer-reviewed articles with more than 10,000 citations, published in esteemed journals such as Tourism Management, The Service Industries Journal, and Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. He was honored with the “Excellence in Research Tenured” award from USF in 2016 and has received 14 best paper awards from international conferences.
Fevzi Okumus
Fevzi Okumusis 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, services marketing, training, and lodging. He has over 330 academic publications (over 220 refereed journal articles, seven books, 12 book chapters, and 90 conference presentations and reports). As of January 18th, 2025, his publications have received 30,263 citations, and he has an h-index of 80. 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) (Impact Factor: 9.10) and the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights (JHTI) (Impact Factor: 4.8). 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” in 2021; 2022; 2023 and 2024 by Clarivate, based on data from the Web of Science. Highly Cited Researchers™ are 1 in 1,000 of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists.
Greg Richards
Greg Richards is Professor of Placemaking and Events at Breda University of Applied Sciences and Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Tilburg in The Netherlands. He is a leading expert in the fields of cultural and creative tourism, having worked for numerous national governments, national tourism organisations and municipalities, and he has extensive experience in tourism research and education.
His major publications include Cultural Tourism in Europe, The Global Nomad: Theory and Practice in Backpacker Travel, Eventful Cities: Cultural Management and Urban Revitalisation, Exploring the Social Impacts of Events, Event Design: Social perspectives and practices, Reinventing the local in tourism, The SAGE Handbook of New Urban Studies, A Research Agenda for Creative Tourism and Rethinking Cultural Tourism.
Marianna Sigala
Marianna Sigala is Professor of Marketing and the Director of the International Hotel School at the University of Newcastle (Australia). She is a multi-awarded research authority specializing in tourism technologies, experience management and wine tourism. She has published eleven books and numerous journal papers, while she has also participated in many international tourism related research programs funded by various organisations including the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. She has served at the executive board of ICHRIE, EuroCHRIE and IFITT. 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.
Rob Law
Rob Law is University of Macau Development Foundation (UMDF) Chair Professor of Smart Tourism. He is also Honorary Professor of several other reputable universities. Prior to joining the University of Macau in July 2021, Prof. Law has worked in industry organizations and academic institutes.
Prof. Law is an active researcher. He has received 120+ research related awards and accolades, as well as millions of USD external and internal research grants. Prof. Law has edited four books and published 1,000+ research papers (including several hundred articles in first-tier academic journals). His publications have received 77,000+ citations, with h-index/i 10-index = 130/613. Prof. Law serves different roles for hundreds of research journals, and is a chair/committee member of more than 180 international conferences.
