Biographical note

Swati Sharma earned her Ph.D. from Kurukshetra University, India and has qualified UGC NET twice. She is currently Associate Professor at Amity Institute of Travel & Tourism, Amity University, Noida. With 18 years of experience in travel & tourism academia and industry, she has made significant contributions to the area of tourism. Dr. Sharma has a strong interest in MICE Tourism and Destination Image and has published extensively on related topics. She has been invited to speak at numerous conferences and seminars on tourism and related fields. She keeps a track of the changing dimensions of business travel. Dr. Sharma’s previous works include one edited book on “Tourist Behaviour” published by Apple Academic Press, USA; one book on “Research Methodology” and one on “Ethical Aspects of Business in Tourism”. She brings a unique perspective to the current book project, drawing on her extensive knowledge and experience in tourism and hospitality academia. Narendra Kumar earned his Ph. D. from JS University, Shikohabad, India and currently working as Assistant Professor at Amity Institute of Travel & Tourism, Amity University, Noida. With 23 years of experience in travel & tourism, he has made significant contributions to the area of tourism education. Dr. Kumar has a strong interest in Business travel, tourist behaviour and visitor experiences in the field of tourism and has published extensively on related topics. In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Kumar is actively involved in helping young graduates of tourism and hospitality domain to help them in establishing their start-ups. He has been invited to speak at numerous conferences and seminars on tourism and related fields and his current research focuses on student mentoring. Dr. Kumar’s previous works include one edited book on “Tourist Behaviour” published by Apple Academic Press, USA; one book on “Digital Marketing” and one on “Ethical Aspects of Business in Tourism”. The current book is his second project on Bleisure Tourism from IGI Global Publishers, USA and shows the significance of this new trend in the events industry. Vasco Ribeiro dos Santos holds a Ph. D. in Business Sciences with specialization in Marketing from Fernando Pessoa University, Portugal. He also earned a PhD in Tourism from Seville University, Spain. Vasco also holds a Post-Doc in Innovation Management applied to Sustainable Luxury Tourism from Aveiro University, Portugal. Currently he is the coordinator of the Master Degree in Business Management at the Higher Institute of Management and Administration of Santarém (ISLA Santarém) along with coordinator of the Degree in Commercial Management at the Higher Institute of Management and Administration of Santarém. Vasco has been author of scientific papers and book chapters. His research areas include luxury tourism, sustainable tourism, ethical marketing, wine marketing, wine tourism, and employer branding. Karen Miranda-Fernandez holds a doctoral degree in Business Management specialized in Hospitality Management earned at Philippine Women’s University, Manila. She is the Vice President for Southeast Asia of the Asia Pacific Institute for Events Management (APIEM) and President of APIEM Events Management Services. She has been appointed as visiting professor in many universities. She was a postdoctoral scholar at School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality in Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom. She holds master’s degree in Business Administration major in Hotel and Restaurant Management earned at Philippine Women’s University, Manila. Her research interests include events management, sustainable tourism, and hospitality management. She has participated and presented research papers in a number of international academic conferences held in Taiwan, Dubai, USA, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom. She has served as keynote speaker and session chair in international conferences and a member of Scientific and Editorial Review Board of Journal of Responsible Tourism Management; Asia Pacific International Events Management Journal; and Journal of Tourism, Hospitality, and Travel. Dr. Fernandez is one of the book authors of International Best Practice in Event Management and Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Management.