About the IGU Tourism Commission

The IGU Tourism Commission is part of the International Geographical Union.

The commission's full name is: Commission on the Geography of Tourism and Leisure and Global Change
  • In general, IGU commission names are sustained for eight years, after which a new commission is formed .  
  • The current commission was created in 2008. 

Commission Leadership Commission Board Members
  • Velvet Nelson, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Geology, Sam Huston State University, USA
  • Tim Coles, Professor, University of Exeter Business School, UK
  • Theano Terkenli, Professor, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, Greece
  • Rita de Cássia Ariza da Cruz, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Maria Gravari-Barbas, Professor, Institut de Recherche et d'Études Supérieures du Tourisme, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, France
  • Marek Wieckowski, Associate Professor, Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Warsaw, Poland
  • Julie Wilson, Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain
  • Joseph Cheer, Director, Monash University, Australia & International Tourism Research Unit (AITRU), Australia
  • Honggang Xu, Professor, School of Tourism and Management, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
  • Gustav Visser, Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Honorary Board Members
  • Past Chair (2004-2012): Jarkko Saarinen, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Oulu, Sweden
  • Past Vice Chair (2004-2016): Alan A. Lew, Professor, Department of Geography, Planning & Recreation, Northern Arizona University, USA
  • Sanette Ferreira, Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
  • Jie Zhang, Professor Department of Land Resource and Tourism, Nanjing University, China
  • Dallen J. Timothy, Professor, School of Community Resources and Development, Arizona State University, USA
  • Carolin Funck, Professor, Department of Integrated Global Studies, Hiroshima University, Japan
  • Anne-Marie d'Hauteserre, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Tourism & Environmental Planning, University of Waikato, New Zealand
  • Alison Gill, Professor Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Corresponding Members