Researcher biography

Dr Lisa Ruhanen (PhD, GCEd, BBusHons) is a Professor in Tourism and the Director of Education with the The University of Queensland Business School. She has undertaken more than 30 academic and consultancy research projects in Australia and overseas in the areas of Indigenous tourism, sustainable tourism and policy, planning and governance. Lisa has more than 100 academic publications and in 2017 she and colleagues co-edited a book on Indigenous Tourism: Cases from Australia and New Zealand.

Lisa teaches in sustainable and responsible tourism, ethics, and tourism in developing countries. She has worked closely with the United Nations World Tourism Organization over the last decade including a secondment to the UNWTO headquarters in Madrid. She is currently an Advisory Board member and auditor for the UNWTO's TedQual accreditation program. Lisa is actively engaged with a range of start-up Indigenous tourism businesses in Australia using her research expertise to explore visitor demand, market opportunities and product development strategies and has led research and consultancy studies for the Federal and State governments in Australia on Indigenous tourism, including the inaugural 'Queensland Indigenous Tourism Strategy'.