On behalf of the Executive Committee of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism (The Academy), I am pleased to announce the results of this year's election of new Fellows.

Please welcome and congratulate:

Albert Assaf, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Dr. Albert Assaf’s wide-ranging research encompasses tourism and transport economics, management and marketing; econometrics, statistics; and finance, with over 140 publications in hospitality, tourism and business journals. He is the recipient of the lifetime achievement research award from the international council on hotel, restaurant, and institutional education. Dr. Assaf is the editor of Tourism Economics.

Salvador Anton Clavé, University Rovira i Virgili

Prof. Salvador Anton Clavé’s major research interests concentrate on the analysis of the evolution of tourism destinations; attractions and theme parks development; and visitors spatial behaviour, walkability and sustainability. He has been the founding dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Geography at the URV and coordinator of the URV Doctoral Program in Tourism and Leisure since its creation from 2006 until 2020. He has published over 150 academic works including books, journal articles and book chapters. He has served as Visitor Senior Research Scholar at the International Institute of Tourism Studies at George Washington University and he has been invited to lecture in Master programs, Doctoral programs and academic workshops at more than 45 universities. He is currently Director of Tourism Research at Eurecat-the Technology Centre of Catalonia and was the recipient of the prestigious Roy Wolfe Award from the Recreation, Tourism and Sports Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers in 2021.

Scott Cohen, University of Surrey

Dr. Scott Cohen is Professor of Tourism and Transport in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Surrey. Scott has most recently served as the School’s Director of Research and before that as its Head of Department of Tourism and Transport. Scott's research is primarily focused on societal issues in the contexts of travel, mobility and transport, with particular interests in hypermobility, sustainable mobility, autonomous vehicles and in business and lifestyle travel. He publishes regularly across high impact business, social science and environmental science journals. Scott’s research has been featured in prominent global media outlets and he serves on the editorial boards of several leading journals in the field of tourism.

Xavier Font, University of Surrey

Dr Xavier Font is Professor of Sustainability Marketing at the University of Surrey, and Professor II at the University of the Arctic in Norway. He researches and develops methods of sustainable tourism production and consumption. He has published widely about sustainable tourism certification, and has consulted on sustainable product development, marketing and communication currently serving as advisor in Prince Harry's Travalyst coalition of Amadeus, Booking, Google, Expedia, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip, Tripadvisor and Visa. He has supervised 20 PhDs to completion. He is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism (ABS 3*, IF 9.470). He has conducted over 150 courses for more than 5,000 businesses on how to market and communicate sustainability. He is the Principal Investigator for the University of Surrey for the €23m Interreg project Experience to develop low season sustainable tourism visitor experiences in the UK and France.

Tanja Mihalič, University of Ljubljana

Tanja Mihalic is Professor at the Department of Economics and Head of Tourism Institute and the joint Erasmus Mundus European Master in Tourism Management (EMTM) at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana (SEBLU), Slovenia. Her research interests include interdisciplinary academic areas based on the multidisciplinary science of sustainomics, from the perspective of ecology, economics, welfare economics, political economy and sociology, to study environmental problems and the impact of tourism on the economic, social, cultural, natural and socio-political environment. She is currently working on the issue of the sustainable tourism paradigm, its theoretical vagueness, practical inefficiency and the hypocrisy of commitment to a paradigm. She has experience in developing education and research programs in tourism and as a consultant for national governments, the European Union and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. She is an active member of numerous editorial boards of tourism journals.

Marina Novelli, University of Brighton

Professor Marina Novelli (PhD) is a globally renowned Sustainable Tourism expert and Professor of Tourism and International Development at the University of Brighton (UK). She is globally known for her contributions to the concept of Niche Tourism, Tourism and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa and critical elaboration of the Overtourism phenomenon. She has written and advised in the field of international tourism policy, planning and development in Africa, Europe and Asia for institutions such as the World Bank, the EU, the UN, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, National Ministries and Tourism Boards, Regional Development Agencies, private sector and NGOs. She distinguishes herself for her inclusive leadership practice and excellence in collaborating with multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholders and multi-cultural teams making her a preferred research partner and a particularly active member of the global tourism community. She is an Alternate Member of the UNWTO World Committee on Tourism Ethics (2021-2025).

The International Academy for the Study of Tourism (The Academy) was established to further the scholarly research and professional investigation of tourism. The Academy membership consists of highly accomplished tourism researchers from throughout the world with many disciplinary backgrounds. Fellows of the Academy are elected to membership on the basis of their scholarly achievements and contributions to our understanding of tourism.

Prof. Karl Wöber
President of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism (The Academy)

President – Rektor

MODUL University Vienna
Chair of the Austria Private University Conference

Vorsitzender der Österreichischen Privatuniversitätenkonferenz