Neoliberalism in the Tourism and Hospitality Sector

Bilan Sahidi is a senior lecturer and Programme Manager at University of Sunderland in London. He is holder of a PhD in Philosophy, Politics and Sociology from the RWTH-Aachen University (Germany). He holds also three masters’ in Business (University of Sunderland), Marketing & Innovation from Anglia Ruskin University and Strategy. He is specialised in the Hegelian Philosophy and very active in the current research on the Ultimate foundation of Raison and ethics.

Muhammad Azam is a senior academic with extensive experience in teaching, developing and leading academic, professional and executive education programmes in business management and has held many senior academic roles in higher education institutes. Currently, he is working at the University of Sunderland in London as a postgraduate lecturer where he delivers lectures and workshops to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Business Management (MBM) students. His academic and research interests lie within international business, marketing, strategy, and entrepreneurship. He is a keen advocate of entrepreneurial learning in higher education programmes. He has previously worked in commercial organisations at a senior level and now trains and advises entrepreneurs and established businesses. He has been invited as a guest speaker and participated in many higher education and business management-related international conferences and trained various organisations, including delegates from European Union agencies.

Dirisa Mulindwa has an educational background in tourism development and has a PhD, awarded in 2009 by Anglia Ruskin University, and has a thesis titled: An Investigation into the relationship between community-based ecotourism and poverty alleviation in Bigodi Parish near Kibale National Park, Western Uganda. He is interested in researching how local communities in developing countries can move away from being dependent on external organisations to initiate development projects to these communities developing a sense of independence and empowerment by initiating their own projects through tourism. This research brought together the concepts of tourism, community development, community empowerment, conservation, poverty alleviation and participation. His personal research interests include: tourism in developing countries; poverty alleviation; rural and community development; tourism destination management; new technologies in tourism and hospitality; tourism and hospitality education; and sustainability. His current research is primarily concerned with analyzing the authenticity, ethnicity and representation of food in ethnic restaurants. This involves research on migrant mobility and their relationships with their culture in the diaspora. [Editor]