Professor Rich Harrill

Prof. Rich Harrill is currently the director of the International Tourism Research Institute (ITRI) at the University of South Carolina. He is also a member of the board of directors at The Experience Columbia SC DMO. He conducts studies on applied research to provide practical solutions to increase U.S. and international tourism industry competitiveness, resulting in additional revenues and strong economic development opportunities.

Prof. Harrill earned his Ph.D. in parks, recreation, and tourism management and his master's degree in city and regional planning from Clemson University. He holds a B.A. in political science from the College of Charleston. He has published his research in urban planning's top three journals: The Journal of American Planning Association, Journal of Planning Education and Research and Journal of Planning Literature. The Journal of the American Planning Association is the top-ranked journal for urban studies and number-two ranked journal for planning and development.

Prof. Harrill edited Fundamentals of Destination Management and Marketing (American Hotel and Lodging Association, 2005), the first comprehensive textbook for the destination management industry. He is also co-editor of the International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research and research notes editor of Tourism Analysis.

His research interests include tourism planning and policy, destination marketing and management, tourism as an economic development tool, tourism in growth markets, Asia-Pacific tourism as well as Caribbean tourism.

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Professor Hanqin Qiu

Dean and Distinguished Professor
International School of Cultural Tourism
Hangzhou City University, China

Professor Hanqin Qiu, is currently the Dean and Distinguished Professor at International School of Cultural Tourism, Hangzhou City University. She also serves as Academic member of China Tourism Academy, Vice President of UNESCO Hong Kong Association, Quality Assessor of The University Grants Committee for Hong Kong government. She is also the council member of HKCAAVQ since the year of 2019. Professor Qiu's research interests lie in the areas of tourism education and education reform. She has been engaged in tourism education and research for more than 30 years, guiding more than 60 graduate students, including doctoral students. She has published more than 100 high-quality papers in major international journals of tourism and hospitality management, including Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, etc. She is also the regular speaker at major international conferences, including ICHRIE Conference, Surrey Conference, ENTER Conference. Professor Qiu expects to promote the concept of sustainable education and lifelong learning through the development of information technology in the Internet and Artificial Intelligence era.

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Professor Lisa C. Wan

Associate Professor
Acting Director, School of Hotel and Tourism Management
Co-Director, Centre for Hospitality and Real Estate Research
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

Prof. Lisa C. Wan is an Associate Professor of School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Department of Marketing at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School. She is also a Co-Director of the Centre for Hospitality and Real Estate Research.

Prof. Wan's research interests include services marketing and service failure, consumer/tourist reactions to service robots and technologies, cross-cultural consumer behaviour, consumer/tourist green consumption, and tourist misbehaviors, and space tourism. Her works has appeared in the top-tier marketing and hospitality journals, including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of International Marketing, Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, Journal of Business Research, Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research etc. She reviews for major Marketing and Hospitality journals, including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Retailing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. She is an editorial board member of Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research.

As a co-director of the Centre for Hospitality and Real Estate Research, Prof. Wan worked with the Centre for Business Sustainability and established the Hotel Business Sustainability Index (HBSI) in 2021. She also serves as the editor-in-chief for the Tourism Chronicle for Hong Kong Chronicles Institute Limited.

Prof. Wan's teaching interests include Strategic Brand Management, Theory Construction for the Hospitality and Real Estate Industries, and Services Marketing. She served as a judge for The Hong Kong Corporate Branding Award 2010-2012. She also provides consultancy services to external organisations.

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Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes

Director
Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO)

Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes came on board the Marketing Department of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) in 1988, and throughout the years organized and participated in various local, Mainland and overseas tourism exhibitions, conferences, seminars and promotional activities. She was appointed as MGTO Director in December 2012. She is a current member of different committees of the Macao SAR Government, such as Tourism Development Committee and Economic Development Committee. She also acts as Macao SAR (China) Focal Point to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

Mr. James Guntrip

Vice President
DFS Store Operations in Macao

James is currently the Vice President Store Operations in Macao providing support, leadership, and direction to the General Managers to deliver an efficient world-class operation and execute on our strategies to meet our business and people objectives. He has over 20 years of retail experience spanning 6 countries covering both commercial and luxury retail. His experience covers fashion, beauty, watches and jewelry, online and offline stores. James first joined DFS in 2010 as a Product Sales Manager in T Galleria by DFS, Canton Road. In 2012, he was appointed Assistant General Manager T Galleria by DFS, Guam and then moved to Macao as Assistant General Manager T Galleria by DFS, Four Seasons in 2014. He rejoined DFS as General Manager T Galleria by DFS, Bali in 2017 to drive sustainable sales and profitability across five business areas. James received a diploma in Business and Finance from the Business and Technology Education Council.

Mr. Edison Chen

Vice President, Destination Marketing & Strategic Alliances
Trip.com Group

Mr. Edison Chen is the Vice President of Destination Marketing & Strategic Alliances at Trip.com Group, a leading one-stop travel service provider. In this role, Mr. Chen oversees the Group's strategies to develop and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders, including governments, tourism boards and media, through customised marketing and trade engagement programmes– with the goal of promoting tourism and travel to the targeted destinations. Under his leadership, the destination marketing teams have collaborated with tourism boards on key projects including the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers programme, and See You in Macao campaign.

Mr. Chen has more than 10 years of experience and a track record in the travel & tourism industry, and his key areas of expertise include branding, marketing and communication, strategic planning, and fostering relationships with global industry partners. In view of his expertise, Mr. Chen is often invited as a keynote speaker to share his perspectives on a range of topics at global industry and media events.

Prior to joining Trip.com Group in 2014, Mr. Chen was with the International Marketing and Trade department at the Singapore Tourism Board. Mr. Chen holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Australia. 

Dr. Esra Calvert

President
Esra Calvert Consulting, Atlanta, GA

Founder of a tourism consultancy centered on the intersection of data analytics and strategic foresight - Esra works with destinations to reach their true North by building a wide, frequent, and lean mindset. Formerly chief data advisor for a successful travel startup and head of research at Virginia's official tourism and film office, Esra is passionate about transforming destinations from analog to digital business models with sustainability at heart. She is an alumna of Harvard University's Business Analytics Program and completed her doctoral work in hospitality tourism management from Virginia Tech. She contributes to industry efforts as the chair of the International Board of Travel & Tourism Research Association and speaking engagements.