Professor Haiyan Song is the Mr and Mrs Chan Chak Fu Professor in International Tourism and Director of the Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. With a strong background in economics, his research focuses on tourism economics, particularly tourism demand modeling and forecasting, tourism supply chain management, tourist satisfaction, and wine economics. He has been actively involved in numerous international consultancy and collaborative projects related to tourist satisfaction, service quality indices, and tourism demand forecasting systems, contributing significantly to destination management and tourism policy development.

Professor Ingoo Han is a professor at the KAIST College of Business, where he has been actively engaged in research and education in the fields of accounting, financial information systems, and business analytics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and has since built a distinguished academic career focusing on the role of information systems and data analytics in financial and managerial decision-making. His work explores how accounting and financial information systems can improve corporate governance, managerial performance, and decision processes in organizations.

Professor Han has contributed extensively to research in business, management, and information systems, publishing in internationally recognized journals and participating as an editorial board member and reviewer for leading academic publications. His research spans topics such as accounting information systems, technology-driven business innovation, and data-driven decision making in modern organizations. Through his academic work and mentorship, he continues to contribute to the advancement of management research and the development of future scholars and business leaders.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lim Sang Taek is a distinguished academic leader serving as Dean of the International School and Dean of the Hospitality & Tourism Institute at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, Vietnam. He holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree and has an extensive international academic background, including a Bachelor of Science from Yonsei University (Korea), an MBA from the University of Dallas (USA), and a DBA from United States International University (USA). He also served as a Visiting Professor at Griffith University in Australia early in his career. Prior to joining Duy Tan University, Dr. Lim was a professor at the School of Tourism Management at Dong-A University in Busan, Korea, and has been actively engaged in global tourism education and training initiatives.

Throughout his career, Dr. Lim has held numerous leadership roles in regional and international tourism associations, including Chairmanship of the Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) and founding membership in Asia Pacific Education & Training in Tourism (APETIT) under UNESCAP. He has also served on the board of the Korea Tourism Organization and contributed to aviation safety policy through the Korean Ministry of Land and Transportation. His work emphasizes advancing tourism research, education, and industry collaboration in Asia-Pacific, and under his leadership, Duy Tan University continues to expand its global engagement in hospitality and tourism studies.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis is a leading scholar in strategic management and marketing with a specialization in information and communication technology applications in tourism, travel, and hospitality. He is the Director of the eTourism Lab and Deputy Director of the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research at Bournemouth University Business School, UK. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Review and the Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing. His research has played a pioneering role in the development of smart tourism, innovation, and destination ecosystem management.

Professor Buhalis is widely recognized as one of the most influential researchers in tourism and hospitality. He was named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher from 2020 to 2022 and is ranked among the top 2% of scientists worldwide by Stanford University. His current research focuses on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, smart tourism and hospitality, social media and mobile marketing, and technology-enhanced experience management. He is also an internationally recognized speaker and collaborates closely with global tourism organizations, including the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Professor Fevzi Okumus is the William McFall “Mac” Pearce Endowed Professor and Director of Global Strategy and Strategic Engagement at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of South Carolina. An internationally recognized scholar in hospitality and tourism, his research focuses on strategic management, organizational behavior, sustainability, and innovation in the hospitality industry. With extensive experience in both academia and the hotel sector, Professor Okumus is known for bridging academic research and industry practice to address global challenges in hospitality and tourism.

Professor Okumus previously served as the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association Preeminent Chair Professor at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, where he also founded and led the Department of Hospitality Services. He has published more than 330 academic works, including over 220 refereed journal articles, and his research has received more than 34,000 citations with an h-index of 82. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of several leading journals in hospitality and tourism and is a frequent keynote speaker at major international conferences.

Zheng Xiang, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management. His research interests include travel information search, social media marketing, and business analytics for the tourism and hospitality industries. He served as a board member for the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT) from 2014-2021 and as President from 2020-2021. He is currently Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information Technology & Tourism and serves as editorial board member of several international journals including Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. He has been recognized as Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate several years in a row (2019-2023).

Professor Cheolwon Kim is a faculty member at the College of Hotel and Tourism Management at Kyung Hee University, where he has been actively engaged in teaching and research in the field of tourism and hospitality. He earned his Ph.D. in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M University and an MBA from George Washington University. With extensive academic and administrative experience, he has demonstrated strong leadership, having previously served as Dean of the College and Dean of the Graduate School.

Professor Kim’s research spans a wide range of areas, including sustainable tourism, tourism competitiveness, qualitative tourism research, and international tourism policy. He has made significant contributions to both academia and industry, serving as President of several academic associations such as the Korea Academic Society of Convention and the Korea Knowledge Management Society. He currently continues his scholarly leadership as President of the Tourism Sciences Society of Qualitative Research, contributing to the advancement of tourism studies.

Chulmo Koo, a professor of Kyung Hee University, South Korea. He is an Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Smart Tourism and has a strong record of smart tourism research and scholarship with significant contributions to the smart tourism field. He has received prestigious research awards and the Kyung Hee Research Fellowship (2018-2020), LG Founder's Award (2017), Excellent Professor of Kyung Hee (2019) at the school level, Top 2% by Stanford University and Elsevier in 2021-2025, and Top 1% Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in 2025. Co-Founder and President of World Conference on Smart Tourism (WCST).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Neil Hengyun Li is an Associate Professor in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and a member of the Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism (RCDTT). He earned his Ph.D. in Hospitality Management from the University of South Carolina and joined PolyU’s faculty in 2018. Dr. Li’s academic work bridges hospitality and tourism with cutting-edge digital technologies, focusing on digital marketing and analytics, applications of artificial intelligence in business, and big data-driven tourism demand forecasting. His research contributions have been widely published and cited, reflecting his strong presence in the fields of AI-enhanced business innovations and tourism analytics.

Dr. Li has secured competitive research funding from prestigious national and international bodies, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Hong Kong Research Grant Council, and has been recognized with multiple awards for research excellence. His interdisciplinary research on AI, big data, and digital platforms has advanced understanding of tourism and hospitality trends, and he actively collaborates with scholars and industry partners worldwide. Through his work, Dr. Li continues to contribute to transforming tourism and hospitality research in the digital era.

Dr. LI, Hui is Professor at Nankai University, Associate Dean of College of Tourism and Service Management, and an IEEE Senior Member. He is on the 2017 National Young Talent Program of Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the First Level of Tianjin 131 Creative Talent Program, the One Hundred Young Academic Leaders of Nankai University, and lead a team of One Hundred Young Academic Leaders of Nankai University. He has also received the Zhejiang Provincial Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and is on Zhejiang Provincial Zhijiang Young Social Science Scholar Program and Qianjiang Talent Program.

His research interests focus on tourism big data mining and prediction, tourism corporate management and governance, tourism firm survival and restructuring, tourism management and decision science. He has published about 100 refereed journal articles in major international refereed journals, such as: ATR, TM, JTR, IJHM, IJCHM, JOST, CIT, JDMM, JHTM, APJTR; IEEE TSMCS, EJOR, IAM, INFUS, INS, COR, FOR, KBS, ES, ESWA, CAIE, IJSS, etc. He has served as international editorial board member of Tourism Management and Tourism Economics, guest editor of International Journal of Neural Systems. He has served as Principle Investigator of five National Natural Science Foundation of China and six Provincial Science or Social Science Foundation of China. His researches are among the Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research of Higher Education (Humanities and Social Sciences), Tianjin Social Science Outstanding Achievement Awards, Zhejiang Province Philosophy and Social Science Outstanding Achievement Awards, and Excellent Research Achievement Awards of National Tourism Administration.

Dr. Dutt is a dedicated educator with more than 15 years of teaching experience in higher education, specializing in business, hospitality, and tourism education. Originally from the United Kingdom, he has spent much of his academic and professional career working in the Gulf region and across Asia, bringing an international perspective to tourism and hospitality studies.

His research interests include tourism perceptions, expatriation, virtual reality, and technology adoption in the travel and tourism industry. In recognition of his academic contributions, Dr. Dutt received the 2020 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in Tourism and Hospitality Management. He earned his Ph.D. in Management Studies from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom.

Dr. Hirokazu Kobayashi is a professor at Kokugakuin University’s Faculty of Tourism and Community Development. Following 32 years of private-sector experience, including international postings in Hong Kong and the Netherlands, his primary research fields now encompass Smart tourism/Tourism DX, sustainable tourism, community-based tourism development, and the management strategies of DMOs and DMCs. He emphasises the synergy between theory and practice, conducting multi-faceted research into tourism innovation through digital technology and the establishment of sustainable tourism systems that leverage regional resources.
He is also deeply involved in shaping tourism policy at both national and local levels. He serves as a member of the Council for Social Infrastructure Development and the Transport Policy Council under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), an expert committee member for the Japan Tourism Agency’s initiatives on regional revitalisation through Tourism DX and a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's advisory board for tourism promotion. Also he is a director at the Shibuya MICE Association and the Japan Adventure Tourism Association and remains dedicated to policy recommendation and regional revitalisation.

Prof. Seunghun Shin joined the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as an Assistant Professor in August 2021. His research interests include social media analytics in hospitality and tourism, traveller behavior in online platforms, and Information technology. His research has been published in the international journals of the hospitality and tourism (e.g., Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research and International Journal of Hospitality Management, and International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management) and information technology field (e.g., Information Systems Frontiers). Now, as a general secretary of IFITT (International Federation for Information Technologies in Travel and Tourism), which is one of the most popular communities about the the use and impact of new information and communication technologies (ICT) in the travel and tourism industry and experience, he operates many events of IFITT, including ENTER conference.

Sunkyung Choi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Interior Architecture and Built Environment at Yonsei University, South Korea, and a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan. She received her Ph.D. in Transport Planning and Disaster Management. Her research adopts a transdisciplinary approach to human–environment systems, bridging spatial planning, transport planning, and tourism science with a focus on tourism crisis management, inclusive design, and data-driven human mobility, including evacuation modeling and spatiotemporal behavior. She particularly examines how people respond to climate change and disaster risks, and how the built environment and tourism systems can address these challenges through planning, policy, and design.

Professor Song Hyung Ju is an esteemed academic and scholar in hospitality and tourism management, serving as a faculty member in the College of Hotel and Tourism at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea. He holds a Ph.D. in Hospitality Management from Pennsylvania State University and completed both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Hotel Management at Kyung Hee University, reflecting a strong foundation and longstanding commitment to excellence in tourism education and research. At Kyung Hee, Professor Song contributes to the advancement of hospitality strategy and service management while playing a significant role in cultivating future leaders in the global tourism industry.

Professor Song’s research focuses on strategic leadership and organizational performance within hotel and service industries, including the dynamics of service recovery, customer interactions, and effective management practices that drive competitive advantage. His work has been featured in international seminars and academic forums, exemplifying his commitment to bridging theoretical insights with real-world industry challenges. By engaging with emerging research topics in hospitality and contributing to knowledge generation in sustainable and innovative business strategies, Professor Song continues to influence both academic discourse and professional practice in tourism and hospitality.

Associate Professor Quang Dai Tuyen is the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Tourism at Van Lang University and Director of the Institute for Cultural Heritage and Development Studies (INCHES). He earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology of Tourism from University of Queensland and an M.A. in Applied Anthropology from University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. He also contributes to the field as Co-Founder and Chairman of Vietnam Tourism Research (VTR) and as an editorial member and national-level scientific council member in Vietnam.

Professor Tuyen’s research centers on heritage tourism, cultural anthropology, Cham culture, and sustainable community-based tourism. He has led numerous projects aimed at preserving Cham heritage and enhancing tourism development in Vietnam, and has published widely in reputable international journals and books. His work continues to inform sustainable tourism practices and cultural heritage management in emerging destinations.

Professor Hakseung Shin is a distinguished faculty member in the Department of Tourism at Hanyang University, specializing in tourism innovation, technology convergence, and wellness tourism. He earned his Ph.D. in Business with a concentration in tourism from Virginia Tech, USA, and prior to his appointment at Hanyang University served on the faculty of the University of Surrey, UK. Professor Shin has been recognized as a top researcher and awardee at international conferences and has received multiple honors from Hanyang University for his research excellence.

His research spans digital tourism innovation, technology-mediated travel experiences, and the intersection of tourism and entrepreneurial ventures, with publications in leading journals such as Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, and Annals of Tourism Research. Professor Shin also contributes to the academic community as a board member and reviewer for multiple high-impact international journals, and teaches courses on tourism development, innovation, and strategic planning, reflecting his commitment to advancing both scholarly research and industry-relevant education. Tuyen’s research centers on heritage tourism, cultural anthropology, Cham culture, and sustainable community-based tourism. He has led numerous projects aimed at preserving Cham heritage and enhancing tourism development in Vietnam, and has published widely in reputable international journals and books. His work continues to inform sustainable tourism practices and cultural heritage management in emerging destinations.