University of Alicante (UA)

The researchers involved in theSMARTDEST project from UA are members or collaborators of the Tourism Research Institute at the University of Alicante. This multidisciplinary research centre was created in 2006 to carry out research in the field of tourism and currently brings together almost 50 researchers from different disciplines (Geography, Economics, Sociology, Business Administration, etc).

The main line of research of the group is focused on tourist destination planning and management. Group members have led or been part of different research projects of the National Plan for Research and Development of Spain, as well as applied projects in different destinations at local and regional scales. The main research objectives in these projects have been related totourism sustainable management, restructuring and renovation of tourist destinations, innovation in tourism and, more recently, the analysis of the smart destination approach.Regarding research in sustainable tourism planning, the UA team is investigating new ways to manage and plan tourist destinations in the digital age.

Web

The Team

Josep A. IvarsBaidal

Doctor in Geography and Master in Tourism. Professor in Regional Geography and Tourism, University of Alicante (Spain).He has combined university teaching with tourism research and different positions in public institutions (Head of Research and Planning Department of the Valencia Region Tourism Board or Director of the Valencian Institute of Tourism Technologies (INVAT.TUR) (http://invattur.gva.es), specialized R+D+icentre, part of the Valencia Region Tourism Board.

Co-director of two research projects about new approaches in tourism planning and management focused on smart tourism destinations, under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (from 2015 to 2020).

Author of different publications, both in books and scientific journals, national and international such as Annals of Tourism Research or Tourism Management.He has collaborated as a consultant with the World Tourism Organization in Latin American countries.

J. Fernando Vera Rebollo

Doctor in Geography. Professor in Regional Geography and Tourism at University of Alicante. Academic coordinator for PhD program in Tourism (Alicante University).He has a long research career, over three decades, focused on the analysis and planning of tourism and the geographical dimension of this activity. His research works are dedicated to the planning and management of tourism destinations but also to the management of tourism in coastal areas. He has been principal researcher of five projects under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan, apart from other applied projects for different institutions.

In addition, he has publishedmore than a hundred books, book chapters and papers in refereed academic journals such as Journal of Sustainable Tourism or Tourism Management.He has combined university teaching with tourism research and different positions in academic institutions (Director of the Official Tourism School at Alicante University (2002-2007) and Director of the Tourism Research Institute at Alicante University (2007-2015). He has collaborated as a consultant with the World Tourism Organization in Latin American countries.

Dr. Ana B. Casado-Díaz

Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing, University of Alicante (Spain). She holds a PhD in Economics and Business Sciences (International PhD mention). Moreover, her doctoral thesis deserved an award for research excellence in the University of Alicante. Her current research interests focus on tourism management, sharing economy, smart destinations, and sustainable consumer behavior. She has published in refereed academic journals such as International Journal of Hospitality Management, Current Issues in Tourism, Tourism Geographies, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Services Marketing, Service Industries Journal, International Journal of Service Industry Management, among others.

Marco A. CeldránBernabeu

Doctor in Tourism. Part-time Assistant Professor in Regional Geography and Tourism at Alicante University. Research Technician at Tourism Research Institute (Alicante University). He has combined university teaching with tourism research and different positions in public institutions (Director of local DMO at Torrevieja -Alicante-) and worked as a consultant for tourism projects. He has developed his professional career in academia, researching and teaching mainly at the University of Alicante, with teaching stays in different universities: Haaga-Helia University (Helsinki, Finland), UniversidadeLusófona (Lisboa, Portugal), Jagiellonian University (Krakow, Poland). Author of different publications in books, international conferences and peer-reviewed academic journalsand member of several research project teams.