IAST

President's Message

Dear Fellows:

The Academy Conference will be held May 30, 2022 – June 3, 2022 at KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

The world has experienced many important disasters as the results of the pandemic, global climate change, and economic and political instability, and which have rapidly resulted in huge changes within society including tourism. While these ‘forces of change’ continue to dominate society, it is imperative that the Academy along with its partners within the tourism community consider its future. The 2022 Academy Conference will take a special turn where the the goal of this conference will be to identify basic principles which might guide tourism research.

With this vision for the Conference, the first two days (Monday and Tuesday) will feature research by Academy Fellows and invited European scholars which focuses on the forces of change and their impact of tourism futures. The third day - Wednesday - will involve many leaders of European tourism, as well as Academy scholars - in discussing the future of tourism and in particular, the future of tourism marketing/management organizations. The Thursday will use a 'visioning format' to ask Academy Fellows and invited representatives of the European Tourism Community to identify some basic principles which could - should guide tourism research, and which could affect the future of tourism. The last day of the conference (Friday), brings this discussion full circle wherein Academy Fellows (and some invited European scholars) present their work. A (final) session of the conference is used to discuss how the Academy might play an essential role in shaping tourism futures.

This conference will differ with the past few conferences in that we will start with an opening session where our host and conference sponsors will provide introductory words (May 30, 2022). Additionally, we will have a keynote speaker with the intent of providing a robust foundation for discussion of the future of tourism. We are designing four types of activities:

  1. Research presentations. The standard presentation of 20 minutes with 10 minutes for discussion – this is for Fellows (as well as Invited Scholar, Emerging Scholars and European – Regional Scholars) to make a presentation on a current research topic which relates to the future of tourism.  The presentations should deal with either:  1. The forces shaping society as they relate to the future of tourism; 2. The future of mobility and its impact on tourism; or, 3. The future of tourism marketing and tourism governance (in times of change).

  2. By January 31, 2022, Fellows are asked to send to the Program Chair (Dan Fesenmaier at daniel.fesenmaier@modul.ac.at ) a title and 100-word abstract which falls within one of these three areas.

  3. Panel discussions.  Fellows and European-Regional Scholars are invited to participate in a series of panel discussions including providing a brief presentation of 3 - 4 minutes in order to spur discussion – this time is for Fellows briefly to outline their thoughts related to the topics identified for the specific panel discussion.  Guided by a moderator, up to four panel members will make brief presentations before opening for a more general discussion addressing the following issues: 1. The forces shaping society as they relate to the future of tourism; 2. The future of mobility and its impact on tourism; and, 3. The future of tourism marketing and tourism governance (in times of change).                         

  4. By January 31, 2022, Fellows are asked to contact the Program Chair regarding potential interest in contributing to a panel discussion within one of these three areas.

  5. Futures Visioning.  Fellows are asked to actively participate in the futures visioning sessions, which will be held on Thursday, June 2 where the goal of the first session is to establish the basic limitations or boundary conditions for visioning the future of tourism including identifying the forces shaping potential futures as they relate to the Academy.  The second session will build upon the discussion/conclusions of Visioning I to identify important areas where tourism scholars can/should conduct research to address anticipated impacts of change including covid, climate change, economics and political change, and the continuing evolution of AI and other related technologies.  The goal of the third and final session is to report the conclusions of the Visioning Groups and to propose a series of principles guiding research focusing on the future of tourism. From this session we intend to provide a summary of the issues raised which will be included on the Academy website.  Fellows are invited to volunteer to be a session moderator and/or notetaker as it is anticipated that we will have at least 5 different working groups. Additionally, Fellows are invited to help write the report summarizing the efforts of the Academy Fellows.

  6. Please contact the Program Chair (Dan Fesenmaier at daniel.fesenmaier@modul.ac.at) by January 31, 2022, if you are interested in participating as a moderator and/or a notetaker.

  7. Session Moderators.  Fellows are invited to volunteer to moderate a research or panel session.  This conference will require active engagement by all Academy Fellows, and as such, it will be critical that session moderators provide essential guidance to ensure the group thoroughly considers the range of issues related to tourism futures. Fellows are invited to volunteer to be a session moderator wherein they prepare for active engagement by panel members and all Academy Fellows. 

Please contact the Program Chair (Dan Fesenmaier at daniel.fesenmaier@modul.ac.at ) by January 31, 2022, if you are interested in participating as a moderator.

 

Best wishes,

Karl Wöber
Karl.woeber@modul.ac.at

IAST