The Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute welcomes exciting leadership changes this Summer. Dr. Rachel J.C. Fu assumes the role of Director of EFTI, as well as Chair of the Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management at the University of Florida.
Although some communities are just now having to deal and learn from a crisis, this time caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, facing the importance of resilience for a crisis is not a new concept for some communities. Yu-Hua “Melody” Xu is a PhD candidate whose research focuses on destination resilience, community development, and sharing economy
Mr. Robert (Bob) Schalow is the new Chair-Elect for the EFTI Industry Advisory Board starting July 1, 2021. He is a Gator Alum and currently the VP of Franchise Operations at Jack in the Box. Learn more about Bob and join us welcoming him to the board. Read More
By: Dr. Rachel J.C. Fu
In 2000, in my first semester teaching Introduction to Travel and Tourism as a young assistant professor, I asked students in my class to imagine what the exciting future of the travel and tourism industries would be; “space tourism” was one of several mentioned categories on the list in addition to robotics and artificial intelligence, sustainable tourism, cruise tourism, dark tourism, and medical tourism.
To celebrate National Plan for Vacation Day, we talked to UF THEM expert Heather Gibson, Ph.D., professor, about how you can still plan for a vacation this year. Since there is still a lot of worry associated with traveling due to the global pandemic, we wanted to provide those who are traveling with safe travel tips.
The Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute and the Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management are proud to announce that our faculty and researcher Dr. Andrei Kirilenko and Ph.D. graduate Dr. Shihan (David) Ma won first place at the category of Short Paper Award at ENTER21 eConference this January 21.
The Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute and the Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management are proud and grateful to welcome two of our very own THEM students as interns this Spring. Both will be working closely with Dr. Rachel Fu, our Director and Department Chair, and Karen Tavares, our Communications Coordinator.
The Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute and the Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management are grateful for the contribution of the industry leaders who part of our Industry Advisory Board. We take this opportunity to thank all members who have been with us for the past years sharing their experiences and insights with our faculty, researchers, students and staff. As some of them are transitioning out (while continuing to be involved as Friends of EFTI), we have new members coming in.
The Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute has gone through some exciting changes this summer, including on our Industry Advisory Board. Howard Tietjen, professional with around 20 years of experience in the Travel and Tourism industry and a passion for new challenges, has started his term as IAB Chair this July.
Although some communities are just now having to deal and learn from a crisis, this time caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, facing the importance of resilience for a crisis is not a new concept for some communities. Yu-Hua “Melody” Xu is a PhD candidate whose research focuses on destination resilience, community development, and sharing economy
As we approach the end of our fiscal year, we want to recognize the accomplishments and thank our Industry Advisory Board for another year of dedication and support. In this past year, this group of outstanding professionals guided us on meaningful and timely research questions, helped us grow our Tourism Partners program with individual and corporate partnerships, and each one of them has been admirable in their own areas and positions supporting the industry during these tough times.
