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.

Brian King, Ph.D. is Professor and Department Head in the Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining Texas A&M, he served as Associate Dean in the School of Hotel & Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and previously held professorial and senior leadership positions at Victoria University. Originally from Scotland, Professor King has cultivated a global career connecting academia and practice across Europe, Australasia, the Pacific, and Hong Kong. His industry experience spans major organizations including Qantas, tour operations, destination management, cruise services, and hotels.

Professor King has served as a consultant for international bodies such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), UNESCAP, and the European Union, contributing to tourism human resource development, policy, and marketing initiatives. He has authored numerous publications in top-tier journals and co-edits the international journal Tourism, Culture and Communication. Reflecting his strong industry engagement, he received the Qantas Outstanding Contribution by an Individual Gold Award at the Victorian Tourism Awards in Australia.

Dr. Chang is a Professor of International Tourism in the Faculty of Leisure and Recreation Management and the Dean of the International College at Ming Chuan University. She currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Responsible Tourism Management and as a peer reviewer for several academic journals. Her research focuses on multidisciplinary behavioral studies, covering topics related to international tourism, tourism wayfinding behavior, tourist traveling behavior, tourism impact, tourism development, and planning.

Dr. Chang has published numerous papers in SSCI-indexed journals, including Tourism Geographies, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Journal of Vacation Marketing, and Tourism Culture & Communication. Additionally, she has contributed to international peerreviewed journals such as the World Leisure Journal, Society & Leisure, Asian Journal of Business Research, and the Journal of Tourism. Her paper, “Is Virtual Reality Technology an Effective Tool for Tourism Destination Marketing? A Flow Perspective” (published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology), received the Article of the Year Award from the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology in 2022.

Dr. Chang is also actively engaged in various consultancy projects, including leisure farm development, tourism site planning and development, industrial tourism, recreational boating, and theme park development. Since 2016, she has served as a committee member for the Taoyuan Tourism and Leisure Farm Development Board. From 2017 to 2019, she was appointed as a committee member for Environmental Education Professional Certification by the Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, R.O.C., where she contributed to promoting environmental education in Taiwan. Additionally, from 2018 to 2020, she was appointed as a committee member for project reviews in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences under the Ministry of Science and Technology. In recognition of her outstanding teaching performance, she received the Superior Teaching Award from Ming Chuan University in 2016.

Dr. Chang earned her Ph.D. in Park, Recreation, and Tourism Resources from Michigan State University in 2003 and has been with Ming Chuan University since then. She served as a department director from 2006 to 2018 and continues to dedicate her time and efforts to teaching, research, and participation in industry and government projects.

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.

Dr. Kelly Min is an Associate Professor at The Collins College of Hospitality Management at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She earned her Ph.D. in Business Administration from Washington State University and has established a research agenda at the intersection of service management and social psychology.

Her research examines how social judgments, biases, and stereotypes shape customer perceptions and decision-making in service contexts, with particular attention to discrimination, service failure, and customer response. More recently, Dr. Min has expanded her work to operational and social media analytics, as well as the ethical adoption of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence in service environments. Her research aims to generate theoretically grounded and data-driven insights that inform both academic research and managerial decision-making. She has published in leading hospitality and business journals, including Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and Hospitality and Tourism Research.

In addition to her academic work, Dr. Min actively consults with international F&B brands on U.S. market entry and expansion strategies. Her consulting work integrates design strategy, operational planning, and market localization, bridging academic research with real-world applications in the service industry.

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.

Brian King, Ph.D. is Professor and Department Head in the Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining Texas A&M, he served as Associate Dean in the School of Hotel & Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and previously held professorial and senior leadership positions at Victoria University. Originally from Scotland, Professor King has cultivated a global career connecting academia and practice across Europe, Australasia, the Pacific, and Hong Kong. His industry experience spans major organizations including Qantas, tour operations, destination management, cruise services, and hotels.

Professor King has served as a consultant for international bodies such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), UNESCAP, and the European Union, contributing to tourism human resource development, policy, and marketing initiatives. He has authored numerous publications in top-tier journals and co-edits the international journal Tourism, Culture and Communication. Reflecting his strong industry engagement, he received the Qantas Outstanding Contribution by an Individual Gold Award at the Victorian Tourism Awards in Australia.

Ulrike Gretzel is a Senior Research Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations and Director of Research at Netnografica. She has held academic positions at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Queensland, University of Wollongong, and Texas A&M University. She earned her PhD in Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds a Master’s degree in International Business from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Her research focuses on persuasion in human–technology interactions, including credibility perceptions, information search and processing, social media and digital marketing, and technology adoption and non-adoption. Her work spans topics such as fake online reviews, persuasive mobile interfaces, selfie culture, and digital detox. Supported by major funding bodies such as the National Science Foundation, she has published extensively in leading journals and is widely recognized as an influential scholar in tourism and persuasion research.

Xiang (Robert) Li is the Fung King Hey Memorial Professor of Tourism Management and Director of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School. Prior to joining CUHK, he was a professor at Temple University, where he founded and directed the U.S.–Asia Center for Tourism and Hospitality Research and served as department chair. He also held a tenured professorship at the University of South Carolina. He earned his PhD in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M University.

Professor Li is a leading expert in destination marketing and tourist behavior, with extensive research on destination branding, customer loyalty, and U.S.–Asia tourism. His recent work explores tourism’s impact on society and mental well-being. He has authored nearly 270 publications, received over 30 research awards including the Charles R. Goeldner Article of Excellence Award, and is consistently ranked among the field’s most influential scholars. His research, supported by major organizations such as the World Travel & Tourism Council, has been widely recognized in both academia and industry.

Yang Yang is a Professor and Department Chair at the School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management at Temple University, where he also serves as Executive Director of the U.S.-Asia Center for Tourism and Hospitality Research. A leading scholar in tourism economics and analytics, his research focuses on tourism demand modeling, hospitality finance and location analysis, and big data applications in tourism and hospitality.

Dr. Yang earned his PhD in Geography, along with master’s degrees in Statistics and Economics, from the University of Florida. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles in SSCI-indexed journals and has been consistently recognized among the world’s top 2% scientists. He serves in key editorial roles for leading journals, including Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, and the International Journal of Hospitality Management, and has also been actively engaged in industry consulting projects.

Journal of Smart Tourism (Q3, Scopus indexed, IF 1.3) is led by Chulmo Koo, a professor at Kyung Hee University, South Korea. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief and has an extensive record of smart tourism research with significant scholarly contributions to the field. He has received several prestigious recognitions, including the Kyung Hee Research Fellowship (2018–2020), the LG Founder’s Award (2017), and the Excellent Professor Award of Kyung Hee University (2019). He was also listed in the Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier (2021–2025), and recognized as a Top 1% Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in 2025. Professor Koo is the Co-Founder and President of the World Conference on Smart Tourism (WCST).

Tourism Management (Q1, IF 12.4, Ranking 1, JCR 99.64%) is led by Professor Cathy H.C. Hsu, who serves as its Editor-in-Chief. She joined the School of Hotel and Tourism Management in July 2001 and was previously a professor at Kansas State University. Prior to that, she was on the faculty at Iowa State University for nine years.

Professor Hsu is a prolific scholar in hospitality and tourism, with research focusing on tourism marketing, tourist behavior, resident sentiment and stereotypes, hotel branding, and service quality. She has published over 300 refereed articles and secured numerous extramural and intramural research grants.

She is the lead author of Tourism Marketing: An Asia-Pacific Perspective and Marketing Hospitality, and co-author of Tourism: The Business of Hospitality and Travel. She has also served as a consultant to leading organizations including the World Tourism Organization, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Garden Hotels in Guangzhou, and the Kansas Travel and Tourism Development Division.

Professor Hsu previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism for 16 years. She received the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Achievement Award (2009) and the International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators Martin Oppermann Memorial Award for Lifetime Contribution to Tourism Education (2011).

Journal of Travel Research (Q1, IF 7.0, Ranking 12, JCR 91.73%) is co-led by Professor James F. Petrick of Texas A&M University, whose research integrates marketing and psychology within tourism services. His work focuses on tourist purchase behaviors and the physiological benefits of travel, aiming to enhance strategic marketing practices in the tourism industry. He directs the Tourism Marketing Lab—one of the largest and most productive of its kind in North America—and, together with his team, has secured over $3 million in research funding and conducted major projects for organizations such as the U.S. National Park Service, the U.S. Travel Association, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Professor Petrick has published more than 125 peer-reviewed articles and received multiple awards for excellence in both research and teaching, establishing himself as one of the leading scholars in tourism research. He currently serves as Co-Editor of the journal and has contributed to the field through leadership roles in organizations such as the Travel and Tourism Research Association and the Texas Travel Industry Association, as well as keynote speeches delivered in over ten countries. Prior to entering academia, he spent six years working aboard Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Viking Line, serving in roles ranging from Youth Coordinator to Cruise Director.

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (Q1, IF 9.0, Ranking 4, JCR 97.48%) is led by Professor Fevzi Okumus, 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, he is known for bridging academic research and industry practice to address global challenges.

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, with more than 34,000 citations and 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.

Tourism Review (Q1, IF 4.3, Ranking 37, JCR 73.74%) is led by Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, a globally recognized authority in strategic management and marketing with a specialization in ICT 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 the Bournemouth University Business School. His pioneering research has shaped the advancement of smart tourism, innovation, and destination ecosystem management, and he also serves as Editor-in-Chief of both Tourism Review and the Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing.

Professor Buhalis is widely regarded as one of the most influential scholars in tourism and hospitality. He was recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher from 2020 to 2022 and is ranked among the top 2% of scientists worldwide by Stanford University. His current work 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 sought-after speaker and collaborates closely with global tourism bodies, including the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Electronic Markets (Q1, IF 6.8, Ranking 34, JCR 85.50%) is led by Rainer Alt, Full Professor of Business Information Systems at the Leipzig University, where he heads the Chair of Application Systems for Business and Administration. Since 2006, his research has centered on digital technologies for interorganizational networking, including customer and supplier integration, electronic markets, and digital platforms. His recent work examines the potential of converging technologies such as distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and artificial intelligence (AI) across sectors including finance and service networks. In addition to his academic leadership, he serves as Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management Science at Leipzig University.

Professor Alt maintains a distinguished editorial and professional profile, serving as Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Markets – The International Journal on Networked Business and as a Steering Board Member of the Journal of Smart Tourism. He has authored influential publications in digital platforms, fintech, and information systems, and has received several recognitions, including Best Reviewer and Editor of Distinction awards.

Information Systems Frontiers (Q2, IF 3.8, Ranking 68, JCR 70.78%) is co-led by H. R. Rao, the AT&T Distinguished Chair in Infrastructure Assurance and Security at the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, The University of Texas at San Antonio. He also holds a courtesy appointment as Full Professor in the Department of Computer Science. Before joining UTSA, he served as SUNY Distinguished Service Professor at the University at Buffalo and earned his Ph.D. from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University. His research spans management information systems, decision support systems, emergency response management, information assurance, e-business, and artificial intelligence, and he has authored more than 200 technical papers, including over 125 published in archival journals, along with several co-edited books in information assurance and security.

Professor Rao has received numerous global recognitions, including the AIS Fellow Award, the Bright Internet Award from KMIS, the IFIP Outstanding Service Award, and the INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow Award. He has secured major research funding from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Canadian Embassy. His academic influence includes more than 30,000 citations, an h-index of 81, and successful placements of his Ph.D. students at leading institutions worldwide. He currently serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Information Systems Frontiers and holds editorial roles in several top-tier journals in the information systems and decision sciences fields.

Jillian Rickly is Co-Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of Annals of Tourism Research (Q1, IF 7.8, Ranking 3, JCR 98.20%), Professor of Tourism at the University of Nottingham, and Head of the Department of Marketing, Tourism and Analytics at Nottingham University Business School. She earned her PhD in Geography from Indiana University and has nearly two decades of experience with interdisciplinary social science pedagogy in both the US and UK higher education systems. Jillian has spent much of her career investigating the role of authenticity/alienation in tourism motivation and experience, contributing significantly to the theoretical development and philosophical depth of this area. In recent years, she has built a research agenda around accessible tourism and more-than-human accessibility. She co-edited the first Handbook of Accessible Tourism (2025, De Gruyter) and has collaborated with several organizations to translate accessible tourism research into real-world impact, including Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Assistance Dogs UK, and Responsible Travel.