An international tourism expert has been awarded a visiting professor role at the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest in Athlone.
Professor Terry Stevens, an esteemed tourism academic, consultant and trend analyst with more than 45 years’ experience in the field, will join TUS’s Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure for the 2021-2022 academic year.
According to Dr Anthony Johnston, head of the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure at TUS, the appointment will provide “significant benefits” for the university and the region through the sharing of expertise.
“Professor Stevens has a long and distinguished record in the field of destination development and place-making, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming him to TUS for what, I am sure, will be a mutually beneficial association.”
“Professor Stevens will work closely with the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure on a number of active tourism research projects, and he will play a vital role in the mentorship of our students, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
“As a visiting professor, he will also have a key role in collaborating and networking with local industry organisations and practitioners, all of which will prove hugely beneficial for tourism development across the wider Midlands region,” Dr Johnston commented.
In his consultancy work, Professor Stevens has worked with some of the world’s largest companies and development agencies, including the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, UNESCO, the World Bank and Coca Cola, the US National Parks Service, and the Welsh Historic Monuments.
He has also worked on and contributed to many projects in rural and peripheral destinations and overseen destination development projects in countries like New Zealand, Slovenia, Croatia, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Professor Stevens has published more than 350 works on tourism and tourism-related subjects and has received a number of international awards in recognition of his work supporting the recovery and re-imaging of the tourism industry.
In 2021, he was awarded the LUXLife “Tourism Expert of the Year” award and Ai Publishing’s “Leading International Tourism Consultant of the Year”.
He was recently appointed as the technical advisor to the New Zealand government’s tourism recovery taskforce and is, at present, advising numerous destinations on tourism recovery.
Professor Stevens sits on the advisory team for the Catalan Government’s 2021 “Year of Sports Tourism” and is the chair of the UNWTO/Catalan government’s scientific group for the 2021 World Congress on Sports and Tourism.
He has previously held visiting professorships at University of Reading, Bournemouth University, Dundee Business School, University of Granada (Spain ), Cardiff Metropolitan University, Queen’s University Belfast, Swansea University, University of Brighton, NHTV (Holland ), Krems University and Modul University Vienna (Austria ).
