Professor Donald Getz

Professor Getz retired in July, 2009 from his full-time academic position at the University of Calgary, Canada, where he remains Professor Emeritus and Adjunct Professor in the Haskayne School of Business. He received a BES from the University of Waterloo, an MA from Carlton University, and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. Professor Getz is a Distinguished Fellow in the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, and has been a leading scholar in the fields of tourism and event studies. He is currently a Guest Professor at Stavanger University in Norway. He holds a James Whyte Visiting Fellow position at the School of Tourism, University of Queensland., and is Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University, UK.

Professor Getz is a leading international proponent of event studies, drawing from his extensive research, volunteer, teaching and consulting experience in many countries. His book, Event Studies, defines the field of study, establishes the theoretical and policy framework, and provides a detailed reference work on related research. He is also active in researching a variety of special-interest market segments, including food and wine tourism, culture and sports. Donald is author of one of the first books on wine tourism, in 2000 and he has continued to conduct research on this topic. Currently he is working with partners in Australia and Sweden to study “foodies”: their levels of involvement, and food-tourism preferences and activities.

Professor Leo Jago

Professor Leo Jago is the Australian Government’s Chief Economist for Tourism and General Manager of Tourism Research Australia. He also holds visiting Professorships at Bournemouth and Edinburgh Napier Universities in the UK and the University of Queensland in Australia. Prior to taking on the role with the Australian Government, Leo spent 12 years as a Director of University Research Centres in Australia and the UK. Over the last 15 years, Leo’s research has focussed on the fields of event management and evaluation. His work has covered both business and leisure events. Leo is the co-editor of the International Journal of Event and Festival Management.

Professor Stephen Page

Stephen Page is Professor in the School of Tourism and Deputy Dean (Research and Enterprise) and recently co-edited the first major reference work on Events – The Routledge Handbook of Events (2012) with Dr Joanne Connell at Exeter University Business School, UK.

He has been the Associate Editor of the top Tourism journal – Tourism Management since 1996 and editor and author of 36 books on tourism and leisure. He was worked extensively as a consultant for organisations such as VisitScotland, the New Zealand Government, Harrahs and UNWTO as well as local government bodies and was the recipient of an Honorary degree in 2011 for his contribution to tourism education and research.

He has held the post of Professor since 1999 as Director of the Centre for Tourism Research at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand; as Scottish Enterprise Professor of Tourism Management at the University of Stirling Scotland and as Senior Professor of Sustainable Tourism Management at London Metropolitan University. He is currently working on an ESRC funded project – the Digital Economy examining business engagement and the impact of new technologies on business performance.

Susan Spibey

“My work is about guiding individuals and organisations to make a difference both through internal and external communication activities and events”

Before founding SJS International in 1992, Susan was previously employed in the Conference Division of NATO at its Headquarters in Brussels and then for more than 10 years with the United Nations Specialist Agency in Rome, where she managed a wide range of events across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Since 1992, Susan has worked as a PCO with clients in a number of business and industry sectors on assignments ranging from small meetings to large scale congresses [up to 15,000 delegates], major exhibitions and special events for inter-governmental agencies, government departments, public sector organisations, professional bodies, associations, societies and private sector organisations in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and North America. Susan’s international consultancy role included sub-contractor for European Commission Projects, consultant to the United Nations Development Programme, the German Fair Authorities of Frankfurt and Leipzig, and private clients in the USA. Susan continues to advise companies and organisations on creative strategies for the organisation, management and delivery of events for business development. Her ‘fresh ideas’ approach is consistently innovative.

More recently Susan has put her lifetime experience in the events sector into championing the recognition of Event Management as a Profession, assisting People 1st in the development of new national occupational standards in event management and completed the A1 Assessor Course. She is now leading on the development of the Institute of Event Management and creating awareness of the importance of raising skill levels for economic benefit. Susan acts as Adviser on professional development to the EFAPCO Board [European Federation of Associations of Professional Congress Organisers], and has been involved the UNEP GRI on Sustainable Events and ISO20121 Committee.

Email: susan@sjsinternational.com
Tel: 0560 366 0524 or Mob: 07714 245 745

Mr Jon Weaver

Jon has been working in the Leisure and Tourism Industry for 30 years. He began his career being responsible for programming and marketing of two leisure centres in Bournemouth and Wales before successfully launching and managing a major tennis complex and outreach programme, on behalf of the Lawn Tennis Association.

Jon moved back to Bournemouth in 1990 where he has been, coordinating and managing events and marketing across the local authority’s leisure centres, parks and gardens, recreational spaces, the seafront and town centre.

As Marketing and Events Manager for Bournemouth Tourism, Jon’s key areas of responsibilities are marketing the destination to the UK and Europe. This includes providing in-resort information for visitors and holidaymakers, developing and managing tourism events, including the award-winning Bournemouth Air Festival attracting 1 million visitors a year. Jon gained an MBA from the Open University, and has a major input in the strategic development and marketing of the resort, and seafront operations.