I have been at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) since 3 August 2020 and hold the position of Associate Professor. Prior to joining the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, I was an academic at the Department of Tourism, University of Otago, New Zealand where I worked for eight years (2012-2020). My major leadership role at that university included serving as Associate Dean International for Otago Business School. Prior to 2012, I worked as a Research Fellow at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.

As a tourist behaviour researcher, I am leading an emerging platform of scholarship in tourism and positive psychology (study of well-being). Despite working in a small, emerging field with limited numbers of academics in this area, my Google Scholar h-index of 19 (30 June 2021) is well above the median of 15 for Associate Professors in the tourism field (Benckendorff and Shu, 2019). I have produced 76 published outputs, 50 lead or single authored, 21 in top-tier Australian Business Deans’ Council List (ABDC) 2019 A/A* journals, 10 in SHTM A/A+ journals. 

According to Scival (accessed on 30 June 2021), 40% of my total publications are in top 10% journals by CiteScore Percentile. Core outputs include 3 major book volumes (by Routledge), co-published with leading names in the field of tourism and positive psychology (Philip Pearce, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi).

Beyond academia, international engagement with government institutions and the media is highly regarded in my field. My research leadership roles with government ministries in the Asia-Pacific region (Indonesia, Vanuatu) have allowed me to make an impact on the development of sustainable tourism policies internationally. My work on tourist behaviour and psychological well-being has been well received by the media, especially in New Zealand, Australia and most recently in Hong Kong.