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
The Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute is grateful for the volunteer participation of industry leaders on our Industry Advisory Board. These individuals share their experiences and perspectives with our staff, researchers, and students.
The Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute had a great presence on the Travel and Tourism Research Association Annual International Conference which happened in Melbourne between June 25 and June 27, 2019. EFTI was a Bronze level sponsor and was represented by nine researchers.
On Friday, April 19th the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute hosted its final Seminar Series for the Spring semester, and concluded the year with Justin Gressel, PhD, Channel Analytics Manger for Universal Orlando Resorts. The conversations began with more insight into Universal Orlando Resort’s use of data in management decision making. Here are some photos from the seminar:
On Friday, April 12th the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute had its annual Industry Advisory Board (IAB) meeting with board members in both the Tourism and Events industries from around the United States. Our board was invited to Gainesville, FL to the College of Health and Human Performance and were given a handful of presentations about the programs that EFTI works under and some of the projects our researchers have been apart of over the past year.
Whether it is hosting Universal Parks and Resorts executives to come and speak to our faculty, staff, and students, or taking a trip to Marlins Park, the department of TRSM and EFTI partner to make sure our students and faculty are making the best of their time while at UF. Being able to bring our students into the industry and put them in front of the decision makers is help building up our students to be the thinkers and innovators in the future. Below are some videos on some of the amazing trips and seminars EFTI has partaken in the academic year!
EFTI is always looking ahead to our future innovators, decision makers, and researchers in tourism. One of our many incredible students, Larissa Neuburger is 2nd Year PhD student in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sports Management at the University of Florida. Larissa is originally from Salzburg, Austria - home of the famous musical drama film “The Sound of Music. Before finally coming to the United States and UF to begin her PhD, Larissa worked as a Marketing Manager for a publishing house in Vienna, Austria where she managed all marketing activities for their B2B events.
Dr. Yang is currently an assistant professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple University. He received his Ph.D. in Geography, Master of Statistics, and M.A in Economics from University of Florida, as well as an M.Phil in Hotel and Tourism Management from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Dr. Yang’s major research interests lie in tourism demand analysis, big data analytics, as well as hotel financial and real estate analysis.
This summer, the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management is offering students the option to study abroad in a variety of international locations in the South Pacific. These study abroad programs are being put on by AUIP (American Universities International Programs Limited) where students have the opportunity to study a wide range of topics within ecotourism, resource conservation, and cultural studies.
The Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management was invited to take place in a networking opportunity and site visit of the Yellow Shoes Creative Group, the in-house ad agency for the Walt Disney World Company in Celebration, Florida. This award winning agency houses a wide range of writers, artists, and creatives who are campaign designers for all of Walt Disney World Companies brands, i.e. Disney Parks, Resorts, Disney Cruise Lines, etc.
Brian Mills, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management at the University of Florida. His research interests encompass topics such as the sports labor market, industrial organization and sports league policy (demand, competitive balance, revenue sharing, etc.), public policy and economic development related to sport, and advanced analytics in the sports business. He is especially interested in applying economic lessons and quantitative analysis to problems that sport managers face in their everyday decision making.
Jin-Won Kim, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management at the University of Florida, USA. The overall goal of his research is to identify the role of tourism, recreation and parks in the creation of active, vibrant, sustainable and resilient communities. In one of his more recent projects, Dr. Jin-Won Kim looked at the spatial variations among hotel room price as well as hotel attributes. One of the other projects Dr. Kim has been hard at work with is his cutting edge research being done with a GPS-Based Mobile Exercise Application.
EFTI is always looking to the ahead for our future innovators, decision makers, and researchers in Tourism. One of our many outstanding students, Danielle Barbe is a doctoral student in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sports Management at the University of Florida (UF). Danielle’s research is focused more on present-day trends, where she looks at the strategies and risk perceptions behind social media influence and crisis communication in terms of travel influence.
We are so excited to welcome back one of TRSM professors, Dr. Andrei Kirilenko as he just returned from serving as the Global Environment Outlook Author/Expert of Climate for the United Nations Environment Programme. “The Global Environment Outlook (GEO) is a consultative and participatory process to prepare an independent assessment of the state of the environment, the effectiveness of the policy response to address these environmental challenges and the possible pathways to be achieve various internationally agreed environmental goals“ (GEO, UNEP website).
Over the past year, Professor Lori Pennington-Gray has published a number of articles in the realm of destination resilience as well as crisis communication and management. This type of research has arisen from the increased frequency and intensity of threats to the tourism industry; whether terrorism, natural disasters, or even health and wellness (diseases).
One of our PhD students, Pamela Montero-Alvarez has been selected to take part in a semester long business development program with the UF Warrington College of Business. This program was created to assist students with entrepreneurial ideas by teaching those selected to partake how to properly build a business plan and what steps they need to take for the future.
Here at EFTI, we are working with the state of Florida in a number of different ways to push tourism and development progress. One of our EFTI Faculty Members, Dr. Heather Gibson spoke at Visit Tampa Bay’s 4th Annual Marketing Summit on behalf of the institute and gave a presentation on “Girlfriend Getaways” and really hammered on the importance. Dr. Gibson then gave the group some ideas on how to market to the niche segment.
EFTI is very happy to announce that two of our PhD candidates, Hongping Zhang and Yuhua Xu were recognized within the University of Florida International Center (UFIC) with a Certification of Outstanding Merit. Both Hongping and Yuhua we’re recognized for their work for the College of Health an Human Performance, specifically within the department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism.
Dr. Angelica Almeyda-Zambrano, Assistant Professor in the Tourism, Recreation & Sport Management department and her husband Dr. Eben Broadbent along with their two field assistants (pictured to the side) this past summer did some extensive research across a variety of ecosystems: ranging from the Amazon in Peru, tropical rain forests in Costa Rica, and ancient Mayan archaeological sites in Mexico while utilizing new drone technology and the Light Detection and Ranging sensing method (LIDAR) for land surveying and 3D modeling and mapping of the various terrains.
Professor Emeritus Stephen Holland was invited to do a presentation on the 'Benefits of Ecotourism' at the Citrus County, Florida forum on Economic Development hosted by the Economic Development Authority for Citrus County, November 15, 2018. His talk generated a discussion about the need to create a training program for local hospitality front-line workers (e.g., waitresses, hotel front-desk clerks) to educate them about local nature-based attractions to able to encourage tourists to enjoy the local parks and waterways. Also, the importance of natural areas and parks to sustain perceptions of high quality of life in the region as a factor in attracting new companies and workers to the area was noted.
With 20 years’ experience at Disney, Gary Daniels (Vice President of Digital Experience) leads teams that create end-to-end, digital-plus-physical experiences for Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products globally. Gary also serves as a member of the Walt Disney World Resort steering committee, leading digital efforts across Marketing, Sales, and Guest Experience. In this seminar, Gary discussed recent trends and how Disney Parks & Resorts is evaluating their strategy for the future.
