PAST THINK TANK: THINK TANK XVII

Keynote Speakers

Dr Susanne Becken is a Professor of Sustainable Tourism at Griffith University, Australia, and an Adjunct Professor at Lincoln University, New Zealand. Susanne is a globally recognised expert in the field of sustainable tourism, in particular climate change, resource management, resilience, and environmental behaviour. Her research, which is published in more than 100 journal papers, reports and books, is widely cited by academics around the world, and has also influenced government policy and industry practice. 

Susanne acted as a contributing author to the Fourth and Fifth IPCC Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change and represented Asia-Pacific on the World Meteorological Organisation’s Expert Team on Climate and Tourism.  Susanne has undertaken consultancy work for a range of Government organisations, the United Nations and industry and contributed to linking academic theory with sustainable business and tourism management.  Susanne is frequently invited as a keynote speaker at international conference and she is on the editorial boards of Annals of Tourism Research, the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, and Tourism Review. In 2011, her achievements were formally recognised through the Emerging Scholar of Distinction Award from the International Academy of the Study of Tourism.

Dr Scott Cohen is Head of the Department of Tourism and Events in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Surrey. He formerly led the School’s research group on Sustainability and Wellbeing in the Visitor Economy. Scott primarily researches sociological and consumer behaviour issues in tourism, transport and leisure contexts, with particular interests in sustainable mobility, hypermobility and in lifestyle travel. His research has been published in high impact journals across tourism, transport and geography, and featured in media outlets such as CNN, Newsweek and The Economist.  Scott has been awarded as "Researcher of the Year" by his Faculty at the University of Surrey (2015), as an "Emerging Scholar of Distinction" by the International Academy for the Study of Tourism (2013) and was co-recipient of the Journal of Travel Research's "Charles R. Goeldner Article of Excellence Award" (2015).