MU at the BEST Education Network Think Tank XIV ‘Politics, Policy and Governance in Sustainable Tourism’

The Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana was the host for this year’s BEST EN Think Tank XIV: Politics, Policy and Governance in Sustainable Tourism from the 23rd – 26th of June.

Just a few hours south of MU’s home base in Vienna, Prof. Dagmar Lund-Durlacher and Tina Roenhovde Tiller from Department of Tourism and Service Management were at the annual meeting holding positions as Chair and Secretary of BEST EN respectively.

Prof. David Simmons, the leader of the tourism program at Lincoln University in New Zealand, and a founding staff member of the Social Science, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Group, gave the keynote speech on the opening day. He outlined the major market failures in tourism production and consumption and questions the changing role of (public sector) governments in market regulation and ‘economic’ development, and focused specifically on the challenges of tourism governance in the growing neo-liberal economic philosophy.

Day two’s high-profile keynote speaker was Dr. Dirk Glaesser, Director for the Sustainable Development of Tourism Programme of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), who bridged the gap between Academia and the industry, discussing a number of ongoing and new initiatives which aim at the tourism sector with the intention of improving sustainability within the sector and through tourism in other economic and social activities.

The Outstanding Paper Award was given to Ms. Sarah Duffy and Prof. Larry Dwyer, University of New South Wales, Australia, for the paper "A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Sustainable Tourism in Ningaloo Marine Park".

In addition to their various tasks at the conference, Ms. Tiller discussed her PhD thesis in progress on ‘’Can Slow Travel Contribute to a More Sustainable Tourism Industry?’’and Prof. Lund-Durlacher presented her paper written in conjunction with MU alumnus Carolin Brewi on ‘’ Implementation and Governance of Hotel Chains’ CSR Policies to Individual Properties’’. The paper was an extension of Carolin’s award winning Bachelor thesis, written under the guidance of Prof. Lund-Durlacher. 

In addition to the academic side of the conference, the around 50 international attendees had the opportunity to experience green tourism in Slovenia, a small country with a strong focus on sustainable tourism. The first visit took the group to the town of Bled, a well known destination in the area. They explored sustainable tourism in action at Gozdne Vile Glamping, a forerunner of the new concept of ‘glamping’ or glamorous camping. Small wooden huts are situated in a remote part of the campsite Bled and provide a unique experience of comfortable accommodation surrounded by nature. In 2010, the site earned the ‘’Designer’’ award for the most promising tourist product with sustainability orientation.

At Garden Village Bled, the second site awarded for innovative ideas in Slovenian tourism on the agenda, conference-goers checked out sustainable practices such as electricity production from photocells, a water well, heat pump for warmth, charging stations for electric vehicles, and a greenhouse which supplies fruit, vegetables, herbs, and shrubs to the site.

Pleased with the outcome of the conference, Prof. Lund-Durlacher said ''I am personally 100% confident that BEST EN takes a very important place in the field of sustainable tourism education and research. It is a living and very active network, and what I like in particular, is the fact that we have an ‘old guard’ of scholars with us which acts on par with the “new guard”. This is a fantastic opportunity for young scholars to further develop and to critically reflect on their work.''

In informative and stimulating week was had by all in attendance! Prof. Lund-Durlacher announced that she will be stepping down from the Chair position this year, but will remain a member of the Executive Committee. Prof. Gianna Moscardo, James Cook University, Australia, will take over the position, with Dr. Pierre Benckendorff from University of Queensland, Australia as deputy Chair. Time to start gearing up for Think TankXV in South Africa next year!