Keynote Speakers

 

Professor Matthias Fuchs
Professor of Business Administration, faculty of Economics and Management,
Free University of Bolzano, Italy.
Director of the Competence Center for Tourism and Mobility, Brunico, Italy

Matthias Fuchs, Ph.D., was tenured in Business Administration at University of Innsbruck, Austria in 2003. Subsequently, he was the director of the e-Tourism Competence Center Austria located at Innsbruck, Austria. From 2008 until June 2024, Matthias worked as a Full Professor of Tourism Management & Economics at Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden. Since July 2024, Matthias holds the position of a Full Professor of Business Administration at the faculty of Economics and Management at Free University of Bolzano, Italy. He is also the director of the Competence Center for Tourism and Mobility, located at Brunico, Italy. Matthias’ main research interests include digital transformation in the tourism domain with a focus on big data and business intelligence applications, such as topic detection and sentiment analysis based on tourists’ online feedback. Moreover, Matthias’ research interests comprise network analyses and input output methodologies for conducting socio-economic impact analysis in tourism. Matthias also steered relevant studies in the field of customer-based destination brand equity. Finally, Matthias developed critical epistemologies grounded on Buddhist philosophy to foster more just and regenerative types of tourism (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2023.103688). Recently, Matthias’ research interests also cover the assessment of tourism’s contribution to sustain regional circular economies. Prof. Matthias Fuchs is Associate Editor of the Journal of Information Technology & Tourism. Matthias is also the co-editor of the recently published Springer Handbook of e-Tourism (https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-3-030-48652-5). Finally, Prof. Matthias Fuchs serves the editorial board of the Journal of Travel Research, Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Analysis, and the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management.

 

Professor Behzad Behdani
Professor in Supply Chain and Operations Management
USN School of Business, University of South-Eastern Norway

Behzad Behdani is a Professor in Supply Chain and Operations Management at the Department of Business, Strategy, and Political Science, University of South-Eastern Norway. He also leads Collaborative Innovation, Societal Transformation, and Operations Management (CISOM) at the USN School of Business. Behzad has done significant research on some ground-breaking aspects of operations and supply chain management, including supply chain analytics and operations management at early-stage innovative companies (the link between innovation/technology management and operations management) and global intermodal logistics. His current research is focused on smart manufacturing and logistics, particularly how digital technologies help transform the existing business models in the logistics sector. Behzad’s research also deals with how we can embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the design and operations of global logistics systems. Behzad’s research has been published in leading academic journals in the field of supply chain and logistics management, including IJPE, IJPR, CAIE, TRE, and Transport Reviews, among others. He has served on the editorial board of the World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research and Strategic Planning for Energy and the Environment Journal. He has been involved in organizing several conferences, including International Conference on Computational Logistics, and served on the guest editorial team of several special issues.

Invited SpeakerS

 

Professor David Bejou
SUNY Empire State University, USA

Dr. David Bejou is a Professor of Marketing at SUNY Empire State University. For the past 30 years, he has taught marketing courses and served in executive roles in higher education administration. Dr. Bejou is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Relationship Marketing, which is ranked among the top 8% of journals internationally. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed academic proceedings, journal articles, and six books. Dr. Bejou has promoted diversity and race relations and served as a steering committee member for the Institute for the Study of Race Relations (ISRR). He is also the founder of the International Human Rights Conference, which promotes social justice and the rights of women, children, minorities, and the LGBTQ community, among others. Professor David Bejou completed his Ph.D. in Business Administration, with a major in marketing and a minor in psychology, at the University of Memphis, an MBA in Aviation, with a minor in aviation management, from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics, with a minor in English literature, from the College of Literature and Foreign Languages.

 

Professor Irene (Eirini) Kamenidou
School of Business and Economics Administration, Department of Management Science and Technology, International Hellenic University, Kavala Campus, Greece

Irene (Eirini) Kamenidou, (PhD, MSc, BSc, BSc, BA), is a Professor of Marketing at the International Hellenic University of Greece and a visiting professor at the Hellenic Open University. She has published articles in several academic journals such as Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, EuroMed Journal of Business, Sustainability, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Her research interests focus on marketing (agricultural, food, tourism, retailing, health, social), consumer/customer behavior, generational cohorts and sustainability. She has served as Dean at the School of Business and Economics of the Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology.

 

 

Professor Krzysztof Kompa
University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Prof. Krzysztof Kompa, Ph.D., is a scientist with over 50 years of professional experience. He is a Senior Research Associate at the IPPM Department of the College of Business and Economics at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa) and Executive Vice President of the CEST International Research Association. Dr. Kompa is Assistant Professor Emeritus and former Chair of Financial Engineering at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (Poland). Before the pandemic, he was twice a visiting professor at the Shandong University of Finance and Economics (Jinan, China) and twice at the Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting & Finance (Shanghai, China). He has given invited lectures at universities in Albania, Belgium, China, Czechia, Germany, Iran, Montenegro, Republic of South Africa, Spain and the USA.
Dr. Kompa is the author or co-author of 7 books, more than 115 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and more than 155 conference papers and invited talks.

 

 

Dr. Fawaz Khaled
Senior Lecturer in Real Estate Investment and Finance
School of Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University, UK

Dr. Fawaz holds Ph.D. in Real Estate Economics and Finance. His doctoral studies were successfully concluded at Brunel University London in 2017. Alongside this, he possesses a Master's degree in Modelling and Management of Risk. His dedication to academic excellence and pedagogical competence is further underscored by recognition as Fellow from the Higher Education Academy and attainment of an Academic Practice Certificate from the University of Gloucestershire. Currently, Dr. Khaled occupies a role of senior lecturer at Oxford Brookes University. His teaching endeavors encompass a broad spectrum, predominantly centered on real estate investment, finance, economics, and development appraisal. His responsibilities encompass a diverse range of activities, including teaching, research, administration, and managing careers and employment at the School of Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University.
Dr. Fawaz's research interests revolve around the exploration of economic and financial aspects of real estate markets. His proficiency extends to the application of advanced econometric models to develop policy-oriented research methodologies. Currently, he supervises a Ph.D. student and several other students embarking on their final dissertations. Dr. Khaled is also a member of the Land, Design and Development (LDD) research group and contributes as a peer reviewer for Routledge at Taylor & Francis Group and International Journal of Finance & Economics (IJFE). He is also member of the editorial board at Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences (AEMPS) and keynote speaker at the International Conference on Business and Policy Studies (CONF-BPS 2024)