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Transition Executive Committee

ITSA’s work is governed by an Executive Committee of scholars who volunteer their time to support the work of ITSA, and who are elected to serve for defined terms of office.

ITSA President – Professor Dr. Cine Van Zyl, University of South Africa, SA.

Cinà van Zyl is a professor in Tourism Management at the University of South Africa and formerly chair of the Department of Applied Management. She is currently president of the International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA). Her research interest is in the leisure and business tourism market, more specifically the festival and sport event sector of the tourism industry. She also dabbles in the field of transport economics and higher education practice. Cinà is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management as well as a member of the International Journal of Tourism Cities. She is the author and co-author of journal publications, contributed to several books, and read papers at national and international conferences.

Email: [email protected] 
Postal address: Department of Applied Management, University of South Africa (UNISA), Preller Street, Muckleneuk, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa
ORCID number: 000-0002-9302-6677 

Vice President – Prof. Dr. Vanessaa GB Gowreesunkar, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, India.

Vanessa (Gaitree) Gowreesunkar, Ph.D. is a citizen of Mauritius Island. She is currently serving as Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, India, and as Associate Editor at the Emerald International Journal of Tourism Cities. She is the Vice President of the International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA) and assumes the role of Observer at the Tourism International Network. With over 15 years of experience in teaching, training and research, Vanessa has brought her contributions to various international universities and educational institutions. Vanessa is also an elected member of the ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Committee and a specialist member of the World Commission on Protected Areas and Tourism and Protected Areas (IUCN). She serves as an editorial board member of several international scientific journals. Vanessa has varied interests in tourism and her areas of expertise include Tourism Management & Marketing, Tourism Education, Post-Colonial and Post-Conflict Destination Management, Sustainable Tourism, Cultural Tourism, Research Methodology, Employability and Organisational Management Skills, Social Entrepreneurship and related topics. Vanessa aspires to be a reference to the academic community and a role model to the global community. Her vision is to contribute to the existing body of knowledge and make a positive impact on the economy, society and the environment.

Vice President – Professor Dr. Alastair Morrison, University of Greenwich, UK

Alastair M. Morrison, Ph.D. is a Research Professor at the University of Greenwich in London, UK and formerly a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Purdue University, USA specializing in the area of tourism and hospitality management and marketing. Prof. Morrison is one of the original founders of the International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA) and served as its President for four years. He has published 300 academic articles and conference proceedings. He is the author of six books, World Tourism Cities (Routledge, 2022); Marketing and Managing Tourism Destinations, 2nd edition (Routledge, 2019); The Tourism System, 8th edition, (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2018); Global Marketing of China Tourism (China Architectural & Building Press, 2012); Hospitality and Travel Marketing, 4th edition (Delmar Publishers, Inc., 2010); and Tourism: Bridges across Continents (McGraw-Hill Australia, 1998. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Tourism Cities.

In addition to having lived and worked in five different countries, Professor Morrison has had a wide variety of experience in the global tourism industry. Most recently he has conducted training programs and provided marketing and development advice for Australia, Bahrain, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, China, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, and Vietnam.

Prof. Morrison received several teaching awards and honors at Purdue University. He is a Founding Member of the Purdue University Teaching Academy and his name has been entered in Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers. His College chose him twice as its nominee for The Purdue University Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. He was selected as one of the winners of Purdue University’s Charles B. Murphy Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, Purdue University’s most prestigious award for undergraduate teaching

Vice President – Prof. Hera Oktadiana, James Cook University, Australia

Hera Oktadiana, Ph.D. earned her Ph.D. from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She also received CHE (Certified Hospitality Educator) from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. She has been the Head of the Hotel Management/ Hospitality and Tourism Departments at Bina Nusantara (BINUS) University and Bunda Mulia University, and Deputy Manager for the International Hotel and Tourism at Trisakti Institute of Tourism in Indonesia. She joined James Cook University, Australia as a Visiting Scholar (tourism research) in 2017, then as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer, and then later as an Adjunct Associate Professor. Her working and studying experiences in Indonesia, the USA, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Australia have contributed to her good interpersonal and communication skills, and to working with people in diverse environments. Her research interests include tourist behavior/emerging markets, especially in Muslim tourists and tourism and hospitality education, in particular the philosophy of tourism and hospitality education and curriculum design. She has published in various Scopus-indexed tourism journals such as Annals of Tourism Research, International Journal of Tourism Research, Tourism Management Perspectives, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education, Tourism Review, and Tourism Culture, & Communication. She has published an edited book titled “Delivering Tourism Intelligence: From Analysis to Action” (Emerald Publication).  At present, she is on an Editorial Board of the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research (APJTR), International Journal of Tourism Cities (IJTC), Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights (JHTI), Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing (JTTM), Review Editor of Behaviours in Tourism, Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism. Review Editor of Behaviors in Tourism, Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Indonesian Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, and Jurnal Sains Terapan Pariwisata