A proud welcome to new members of the SHTM team
The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management is thrilled to welcome four top-notch researchers to its already talented team at the University of Surrey
From sustainable tourism experts to community development volunteers, the four researchers joining staff at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management each have their own impressive CV and range of research specialisms. The School is proud to welcome them and their valued expertise on board.
Head of School Professor Graham Miller says of the new acquisitions, “This round of recruitment has proven to be exceptionally successful. The people we have hired add significantly to our academic research and industry engagement. These are the key features of our school, and our programmes. We are immeasurably stronger as a result”.
Let’s meet the new members of the team:
Iis Tussyadiah
Iis gained her PhD in information sciences from the Tokohu University in Japan and her Masters in Industrial Engineering and Management at the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia.
Her research focuses on the roles of information technologies in shaping tourist behaviour and transforming the travel and tourism industry. Her work has been published in leading tourism and hospitality journals and has received Best Paper awards at international conferences.
Iis is also Vice President of the International Federation for Information Technology and Travel and Tourism (IFITT).
Jackie Watson
Jackie’s career has spanned 30 years in HR and hospitality and tourism, including board level and senior posts at small, medium and major blue-chip organisations such as TUI-UK, British Airways, Vodafone, Sainsburys, American Express and Goldman Sachs.
She has specialist knowledge of mergers and acquisitions, executive education, organisation design and cultural integration.
Jackie is director of a global HR agency and she is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She is also a senior executive coach.
Jason Stienmetz
Jason Stienmetz is a research coordinator for the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute at the University of Florida. He is currently working towards a PhD in business administration, with a focus on tourism and sport management.
His research specialisms include destination management, tourism metrics, bid data and smart tourism.
Jason spent two years working in community development as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica and has conducted research for the International Institute for Tourism Studies and the US Travel Association.
Xavier Font
Xavier joins the School as an expert in sustainability marketing in tourism and hospitality. He has extensive experience in industry and government training on all aspects of sustainable tourism production and consumption, and has conducted over 90 courses on how to market and communicate sustainability.
Xavier is the most published academic in the world in sustainable tourism certification, having consulted on this subject for UNEP, UNCTAD, UNWTO, IFC, EC, VisitEngland, WWF and the Travel Foundation.