Category: Overall

Polytechnic Institute of Leiria is a public higher education institution, at the service of society, dedicated to the production and diffusion of knowledge, creation, transmission and diffusion of culture, science, technology and arts, applied research and experimental development. IPLeiria develops its activities in the aim of education and training, research, provision of services to the community and extending cooperation in educational, cultural and technical areas. Presently, IPLeiria has more than 11.500 students, distributed mainly in post-secondary education, degree and master courses. In the tourism field, the IPLeiria is present in Peniche with the School of Tourism and Maritime Technology (ESTM) and the CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation.

João Paulo Jorge leads the team of the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria. He is a coordinator professor of the School of Tourism and Maritime Technology at the Polytechnic of Leiria, since 1999. He holds the position of a director of the master programme of Sustainable Tourism Management. He is an effective member of the Academic Council of the Polytechnic of Leiria, and a member of the Direction Board of CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation. He participated in various educational and research projects, both Portuguese and international. His research interests are focused on coastal planning and marine tourism, strategic management in tourism, coastal destinations competitiveness and beach sustainability management.

Luís Lima Santos has been working in the School of Tourism and Maritime Technology since 2001. Currently he his coordinator of Leiria hub of the CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation. His scientific interests are focused on management accounting in the hotel industry, mainly studying the factors that impact the hotel competitiveness. Cooperating with researchers representing other disciplines, he investigates the profitability and attractiveness of tourism businesses. He has regularly been participating in mobilities granted by Erasmus+ Programme.

Verónica Oliveira was graduated in geography and regional planning and received doctoral academic degree in marketing and international commerce. She is an associate professor of the School of Tourism and Maritime Technology at the Polytechnic of Leiria, since 2002. Currently she is coordinating the Events Management undergraduate programme. She is also member of the CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation. Her main areas of research are related to marketing, consumer behaviour, eco-certification and sustainability. She is an academic teacher of several courses related to environment, tourism and sustainable development.

Ana Sofia Viana graduated in economics and defended her doctoral dissertation in marketing and international commerce. Since 1999, she is coordinator professor of the School of Tourism and Maritime Technology at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria. Currently she is a coordinator of the master programme in the Hotel Management. She is a member of the Direction Board of CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation. Her mains areas of research are related to economics of tourism, sustainability management, human resource management marketing.

Cátia Malheiros obtained PhD diploma in business sciences. She is an associate professor in Polytechnic of Leiria. Her teaching speciality is in hospitality management, food and beverage management and revenue management. She is also full member of the CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation. Her research interests relate to hospitality management, hotel and restaurant management performance evaluation. She is co-author of two books published in Portugal and in Brazil, both about hospitality management accounting.

Fernanda Oliveira is graduated in Spatial and Environmental Planning and obtained her PhD in Tourism from the Faculty of economics, University of Algarve. She is an associate professor of the School of Tourism and Maritime Technology at the Polytechnic of Leiria, since 1999. As an author has participated in several national and international projects, with some international publications in the field of tourism and environmental planning. She is reviewer of some scientific journals and participated in international scientific meetings. She mainly conducts research in the areas of environmental management, tourism planning, environmental economy, social responsibility and sustainability. She is also member of the CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation.

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Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences operates on six campuses in south-eastern Norway: Blæstad, Elverum, Evenstad, Hamar, Lillehammer and Rena, and have approximately 13,000 students and about 1,000 faculty and staff. The institution offers 35 one-year study programs, 52 bachelor programs, 31 master programs and 4 PhD programs (plus one in cooperation with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology) in addition to a number of teacher education and further education programs. The academic offer covers a wide array of subject areas: ecology andagricultural sciences, psychology, sports, law, music, pedagogy, health sciences, social sciences, teacher education, language and literature, biotechnology, film, tv and culture, tourism, animation and game sciences, economics, leadership and innovation. The Inland School of Business and Social Sciences has about 120 faculty members and includes Department of Tourism, Creative Industries and Marketing with about 20 members.

The SPOT project utilizes effects of previous project run in a cooperation between the Norwegian partner and University of Lodz: “SCHEDULE. Significance of competitions in higher education” financed by EEA and Norway Grants under the agreement No FSS/2013/IIC/W/0008/U/0023.

Norwegian team is leaded by Even Tjørve. He is presently a professor at the Inland School of Business and Social Sciences at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and adjunct professor at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has taught tourism since 1995, with focus on sustainability, ecotourism, nature-based tourism, mountain resorts, and winter-sport tourism. His scientific interest includes destination management, resort development, and second-home tourism, as well as other topics as land use, biogeography, biodiversity, and growth modelling. Much of the research has revolved around spatial problems and non-linear models.

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The University of Lodz is a higher education institution, focusing its actions on intercultural and social integration. The University of Lodz boasts the oldest and most recognized School of Polish for Foreigners. International relations of the University are visible in various areas. Currently, within direct cooperation agreements, the school cooperates with about 260 partner institutions from all over the world. Within the Erasmus+ Programme, the University has so far signed 700 agreements with almost 400 partner institutions. In 2021, the University of Lodz has been recognised the best Polish university educating in the tourism.

Tomasz Napierała is the SPOT Project Manager. Since 2011 he has been working at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences in the Institute of Urban Geography, Tourism Studies and Geoinformation, and cooperating with CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation (Portugal). His scientific interests are focused on spatial aspects of competition in the hotel industry, mainly spatial volatility of hotel prices and its impact on hotel competitiveness. Cooperating with researchers representing other disciplines (spatial econometrics and ICT), he investigates the competitiveness and attractiveness of tourism destinations. He has regularly been participating in mobilities granted by Erasmus+ Programme and EEA and Norway grants. Since 2020 Tomasz Napierała has been proudly holding the position of the Secretary General of Polish Geographical Society.

Katarzyna Leśniewska-Napierała holds the position of SPOT Project Coordinator. She is a geographer with special interest in socio-economic geography. She works at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences in the Institute of the Built Environment and Spatial Policy and cooperating with CiTUR Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation (Portugal). In her research she is mainly focused on the social aspects of spatial planning and the use of qualitative methods in geographic sciences. She participated in educational and research projects, both Polish and international. She has been regularly participating in mobilities granted by Erasmus+ Programme and EEA and Norway grants. She is Polish representative in the AESOP Association of European Schools of Planning.

Jacek Kaczmarek works at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences in the Institute of Urban Geography, Tourism Studies and Geoinformation. His scientific interests are focused on human behaviour in urban space, geobiography, urban geography with special regard to the concept of a place, and tourism economy, including creating the image of the city. He participated in an academic internships in Tbilisi and Manchester.

Sylwia Kaczmarek is an associate professor at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences in the Institute of Urban Geography, Tourism Studies and Geoinformation. Her scientific interests are focused on problems of spatial, functional and social transformations of the cities, with special regard to the revitalization of degraded urban areas, living conditions and tourism in urban areas. She cooperates with research centres in Great Britain and France. She also participated in the implementation of international research projects.

Marta Nalej works at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences, at the Institute of Urban Geography, Tourism Studies and Geoinformation. She is geographer and engineer in the field of geodesy and cartography with the speciality of Spatial Information Systems. In her research she is mainly focused on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), spatial data and spatial analysis especially on issues related to Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) and land cover studies. She also applies GIS and spatial analysis methods in tourism research.

Iwona Pielesiak works at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences in the Institute of the Built Environment and Spatial Policy. Her scientific interests are mainly focused on urban geography, spatial policy, urban resilience and metropolization of space. She is also interested in spatial connections, transport, and cooperation of local government units.

For several years Bogdan Włodarczyk is employed as an associated professor and the director of the Institute of Urban Geography, Tourism Studies and Geoinformation. Since 2016 he holds a position of a Dean of the Faculty of Geographical Sciences. His research interests are focused on tourism geography and tourism destination management, theory and use of tourism space, tourism flows and tourism product. He holds the chairman position of Tourism Geography Commission of Polish Geography Society.