Dr.
Dani Blasco Franch, Associate Professor at the Department of Organization, Business
Management and Product Design, Faculty of Tourism, University of Girona.
I have a
strong commitment to make the university and the world we live in a little bit more
just every day. I cherish evolution, transformation and change as necessary
engines for the development of organizations and societies. I celebrate
diversity and non-binary positions to create promising futures. Following
these lines I will briefly present my curriculum, first with knowledge and research
achievements, then teaching & learning, followed by management positions, and
finally participation in international networks.
My research
interests are the understanding of tourism destinations as complex systems,
organizational networks and governance in tourism, and tourism destination planning and development. I have 33 publications: 23 in
academic journals, 5 book chapters, and 2 publications from conferences, with papers
published in journals such as Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of
Sustainable Tourism, Current Issues in Tourism, Tourism Geographies, Tourism
Review, Journal of Heritage Tourism, Tourism Planning & Development, Journal of Tourism Futures and European Journal of Tourism
Research. I hold 2
research sections accredited by the Catalan Government's Universitiy Quality
Agency.
I have supervised
4 PhD students who have already graduated and currently supervise 4 PhD
students in different stages of completion, including an Industrial PhD with
the Catalan Tourism Agency of the Catalan Government. Since November 2022, I am
a Senior Research Associate at the School of Tourism &
Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. I ama reviewer of
+25 international academic journals in the field of tourism (among which, 15
JCR indexed journals). I have attended +20 international conferences since
2009. Member of 2 scientific
committees of international congresses: TMS Congress, Management studies
international conference (Algarve, 2014), and XI Congreso Internacional de la
Academia Mexicana de Investigación Turística (AMIT): 30 años de investigación
turística en México (Guadalajara, 2017).
I have participated
in 8 competitive research projects since 2008 in programs such as INTERREG,
ERDF, COSME, and ERASMUS; and one tender for the TRAN Committee of the European
Parliament. I have also participated in 17 knowledge transfer contracts since
2003 for institutions such as International Union for the Conservation of
Nature (IUCN), World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Tourism Directorate
Generale of the Catalan Government, Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona,
Barcelona Town Hall, and Girona Town Hall. I hold +15 years of professional experience
working with tourism ecosystems building networks and engaging in collaborative
projects.
As for the
participation in teaching innovation projects, I have participated in 6
international projects: ERASMUS MUNDUS Design Measures - MATTeRS, Joint Master’s Programme on Tourism Transformations for Regenerative
Futures; 3I's, Impactful,
Inclusive, Integrated Higher Education in Eastern Africa; Nudge My Tour, Creation
of teaching materials to introduce the concept of 'nudging' in tourism; CAMPMASTER,
Development of a European Curriculum for sustainable camping resort management;
Know-Hub, Reconnecting universities and enterprises to unleash regional
innovation and entrepreneurial activity; and INNOVACT, Innovation for the
territorial cohesion in South American border regions.
Currently I
hold 2 teaching sections accredited by the Catalan Government's University
Quality Agency. Since June 2024, I am an external examiner at the School of
Hospitality Management and Tourism, Technological University Dublin, evaluating
their undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Tourism. With regards teaching activities in
other institutions, I have delivered teaching in the following international
institutions (all in person): Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez - Mexico; University of Ulaan
Bataar - Mongolia; University of Mauritius - Mauritius; Wageningen University
& Research - Netherlands.
In terms of
management positions, between April 2021 and April 2024 I was the coordinator
of the Master in Tourism Management and Planning program, Faculty of Tourism,
University of Girona. Currently I am a member of the Senate, the Governing Council,
and the Executive Committee for Teaching and Students of the University of
Girona.
I am a member of international academic
networks, such as ATLAS and TRINET, and also active participant in destination and
tourism organizations networks, such as the Network of
European Regions for Sustainable and Competitive Tourism (NecsTOUR), the Pacific Asia Travel
Association (PATA), and the Regenerative Travel Association. During the past 20
years I have contributed to create and foster international academic networks with several
Universities worldwide. AFRICA: South Africa (University of Johannesburg);
University of Mauritius and University of Technology Mauritius (Mauritius). AMERICA: Mexico (Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad
Juárez and Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas), Brazil (Universidade Federal
do Pará), United States (Arizona State University), Thompson Rivers (Canada). ASIA: Mongolia (National University
of Mongolia), Malaysia (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia), Russia (Nizhnevartovsk
State University). EUROPE: UK (Sheffield Hallam University; Leeds Beckett
University; University of Central Lancashire), Netherlands (Wageningen
University & Research; Breda University of Applied Sciences), Italy
(Bocconi University), Sweden (Dalarna University). OCEANIA: Australia
(University of Tasmania).
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6347-5340
Scopus ID: 9735677400
Researcher ID: Y-4067-2019