Speakers

• Dr Phil Dearden - University of Victoria, Vancouver, Canada
• Paul Grabowsky - SA
• Tazim Jamal - Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
• Professor Philip Pearce - James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
• Professor Jean Pierre Poulain - University of Toulouse, France
• W T (Bill) Spurr - SA
• Professor John Tribe - University of Surrey, UK
• Professor Chris West - Zoos SA
• Professor Betty Weiler - Southern Cross University, NSW

Keynote Speakers Dr Phil Dearden University of Victoria, Vancouver, Canada Philip Dearden is an internationally recognised expert in tourism and conservation planning and implementation. With over 250 academic articles and 9 books to his name he is frequently called upon to advise international and national governments on conservation and tourism matters. Active research interests include whale shark tourism, coral reef tourism and protected area livelihood strategies and occur in countries ranging from Thailand and Mexico through to Ghana and Tanzania Professor Dearden is also Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria, and a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas. Paul Grabowsky SA Paul Grabowsky is a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor - and is one of Australia's most distinguished artists. Born in Lae, Papua New Guinea in 1958, Paul was raised in Melbourne where he attended Wesley College. During the late 70's he became prominent in the music scene in Melbourne, working on various jazz, theater and cabaret projects. He lived and worked in Europe and the US from 1980-85, during which time he performed with many jazz luminaries including Chet Baker, Art Farmer and Johnny Griffin. He returned to Australia in 1986 and established a reputation as one of Australia's leading jazz musicians with such bands as his own trio and sextet, the Wizards of Oz, and as musical director for singer Vince Jones. He was musical director of Tonight Live with Steve Vizard from 1990-1992. He has written the scores for over twenty feature film scores in Australia, the UK and US including 'Innocence' (Paul Cox), 'Last Orders' (Fred Schepisi) and 'Shiner' (John Irvin). His television credits include the series 'Phoenix' and 'Janus' and the Emmy-winning 'Empire Falls'. His works for the theater include two operas and various multimedia works. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra, with which he tours both nationally and internationally. Recent AAO projects have concentrated on collaborations with traditional and contemporary indigenous performers, something which Paul passionately advocates. Among his numerous CD releases are two for the Hush series, designed to assist in the healing environment of Melbourne Children's Hospital. He has won four ARIA awards, two Helpmann awards, several Bell Awards and a Deadly award. He was the Sydney Myer Performing Artist of the Year in 2000, and received the Melbourne Prize for Music in 2007. He was Artistic Director of the Queensland Music Festival from 2005-2007 before being appointed as Artistic Director for the 2010 and also 2012 Adelaide Festivals. Tazim Jamal Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas Tazim Jamal is an Associate Professor in Recreation, Park and Tourism at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Her study areas include community-based tourism planning, heritage tourism, and collaborative processes for sustainable development and climate change adaptation. Her current research focuses on small rural communities in Texas, mountain communities in Canada, and coastal as well as cultural heritage destinations in Mexico. She instructs undergraduate and graduate courses in tourism, and serves extensively on graduate student committees spanning multi-disciplinary perspectives. Tazim also works on theoretical, methodological and pedagogic issues related to tourism and sustainability, and is the co-editor of The Handbook of Tourism Studies (SAGE, 2009). Professor Philip Pearce James Cook University, Townsville, Australia Philip Pearce has taught in Australian Universities for over 30 years. He is the first Professor of Tourism in Australia and is based at James Cook University. He has a First Class Honours degree in Psychology and Diploma of Education from the University of Adelaide and earned a Doctorate from the University of Oxford studying tourists in Europe. He has held a Fulbright scholarship at Harvard University. In his position at James Cook University he teaches at all levels with a focus on tourist behaviour and experience. In 2008 he won an ALTC award for advancing tourism education and for the supervision of Doctoral level students, having successfully supervised 30 such students. He has 200 publications and 8 books on tourism. He was the founding editor of The Journal of Tourism Studies (1990-2005) and now reviews and edits manuscripts for other journals on a regular basis. He is a frequent keynote speaker at tourism conferences particularly in Asia. His special interest areas are tourist behaviour, tourism and communities and tourism education and research. Professor Jean Pierre Poulain University of Toulouse, France Jean-Pierre Poulain is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toulouse le Mirail , where he directs the CETI (Centre for Tourism, Hotel and Food studies) and manages the CAS cluster (tourism, food, health) at CERTOP. His research is centred on the socio-anthropology of food, especially the sociology of gastronomy and the social dimensions of eating and drinking disorders. He has received numerous award for his publications, the most recent being the Jean Tremolières award for his books Eating Today and The Sociology of Food. W T (Bill) Spurr SA Bill Spurr's extensive experience in the tourism and hospitality industries dates back to the early '80s when he was the Executive Director of the Australian Hotels Association. He held the position as Chief Executive of the South Australian Tourism Commission from 1999 until July 2007. Mr Spurr is currently Chair of Education Adelaide; Chair of the SA Government Task Force examining International Student Services in SA; a Board member of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre; the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust; Sealink Travel Group; the Adelaide Fringe and is an adjunct Professor of Tourism at Flinders University Professor John Tribe University of Surrey, UK John Tribe is head of tourism at the University of Surrey, UK. His undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies were all undertaken at the University of London. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism and Academician of the Academy of the Social Sciences. His research concentrates on sustainability, epistemology and education and he has authored books on strategy, philosophy, economics, education and environmental management in tourism. Funded research projects have included sustainable tourism and forests in the European Union, curriculum development in Moldova, quality in tourism education and the use of visual images in tourism. He is past Chair of the UK Association for Tourism in Higher Education was the specialist advisor for tourism for the UK 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. He is co-chair of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Education and Science Council and editor of Annals of Tourism Research and The Journal of Hospitality, Leisure Sport and Tourism Education (JOHLSTE). Professor Chris West Zoos SA Chris is currently CEO of Zoos SA, Professor of Zoology at Adelaide University and Professor of Biodiversity Conservation at Flinders University. He qualified as a vet nearly 25 years ago and has worked in academia, the corporate world (as a General Manager in an international Pharmaceutical company) and was previously Zoological Director at London Zoo. He describes himself as a conservationist and environmentalist but also a pragmatist, consensus seeker and optimist. Widely travelled, he is fascinated by all cultures, perhaps because he spent his early years in West Africa. Africa remains in his blood, along with malaria. He has also spent some time in uniform, army uniform, learning about how to stay alive in tight spots: something that has never been tested in real life …luckily. Chris is adapting to an Australian way of life and getting used to the idea that national teams can win. Professor Betty Weiler Southern Cross University, NSW Betty Weiler holds a PhD from the University of Victoria (Canada) has been researching and teaching tourism in Australian universities for the past 22 years. During that time, much of Betty's research has focused on nature-based and heritage tourism, interpretation, and especially tour guiding, including guide roles, competencies, training, accreditation, perceptions of quality, contributions to sustainability, and evaluation of outcomes. She has undertaken research on tour guides and tour guiding in several locations, including North America, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and several places in Australia including in national parks, zoos, heritage attractions and with domestic and international tourists and inbound Chinese tour groups. More recently her work has focused on the use of persuasive communication by guides and others to influence tourist behaviour. In addition to some 150 publication, Betty is a multi-award winning PhD supervisor, an editorial board member of five international tourism journals, and a Fellow of CAUTHE. However, she is best known for her team-based approach to research and scholarship, and her collaborations with a range of industry partners particularly managers of protected areas, heritage and wildlife attractions.