The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia, is one of the world’s premier teaching and research institutions. Striving for excellence through the creation, preservation, transfer, and application of knowledge UQ ranks in the top 50 Universities as measured by the QS World University Rankings. UQ is one of only three Australian members of the global Universitas 21 and a founding member of the Group of Eight (Go8) universities. UQ is recognized for its world standard specialized research and teaching excellence; having won more Australian Awards for University Teaching than any other in the country.

Founded in 1909 UQ is Queensland’s oldest university and has produced more than 250,000 graduates. UQ has a diverse community of over 51,000 students including 13,300 international students from 141 nations. It has one of Australia’s largest Ph.D. enrolments, with more than 14,700 postgraduate students. UQ employs 6,700 staff spanning six faculties and eight research institutes.

Meet your Instructors

Sara Dolnicar

Sara currently works as the Research Professor in Tourism at UQ Business School. She has previously worked at the School of Management & Marketing at the University of Wollongong and the School of Tourism at the Vienna University of Economics & Business where she also served as the Secretary-General of the Austrian Society for Applied Research in Tourism. Sara’s core research interests are the improvement of market segmentation methodology and the testing and refinement of measures used in social science research. She has investigated a range of different applied research areas, including sustainable tourism and tourism marketing, environmental volunteering, foster carer, and public acceptance of water alternatives and water conservation measures. Sara has (co-)authored more than 300 refereed papers, including more than 140 journal articles, and led a total of twelve Australian Research Council (ARC) grants. In 2011 she took up a prestigious ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship. Sara holds a Masters and Ph.D. degree from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and a Masters degree in Psychology at the University of Vienna.

Sally Driml

Sally’s current research interests in tourism draw on a background in economics and environmental economics and experience in government in developing environmental policy and managing natural environments that are also tourism destinations. She is currently undertaking research on the economic impacts of protected areas and of wildlife attractions. Sally has recently published on the economic value of tourism to national parks and on issues for tourism investment in Australia. Sally holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) from Griffith University, a Master in Science from the University of Queensland, and PhD from Australian National University.

Sheranne Fairley

Sheranne’s research focuses on three major streams: sport and event tourism, volunteerism, and the globalization of sport. Sheranne has conducted various research and consultancy projects in the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Recent projects she has been involved in include the globalization of Australian Rules Football in international markets, the sport tourism behaviors of friends and family of athletes who travel to the Olympic Games, and the legacy of Olympic volunteerism. She currently serves on the advisory board of the United States Australian Football League. Sheranne holds a Bachelor of Business with Honors and a PhD from Griffith University.

Karen Hughes

Karen’s research interests include interpretation and environmental education, wildlife tourism, heritage tourism, visitor behavior, and sustainable tourism. Her recent projects include designing and evaluating interpretive signs at the Chengdu Panda Research Base in China, exploring the travel patterns of Chinese students, and evaluating and designing interpretive materials for Canterbury Cathedral in the UK. Her Ph.D. focused on designing and evaluating the impact of interpretive resources on families’ adoption of environmental behaviors following a visit to Mon Repos turtle rookery. Karen has over 20 years of tourism research experience and has also been a lecturer and researcher at James Cook University, Charles Darwin University, and the Queensland University of Technology. Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) and Master of Arts from James Cook University, Graduate Diploma in Further Education and Training from USQ and Ph.D. from the University of Queensland.