Tourism industry in geopraks

The multidisciplinary nature of the concept of Geopark and  tourism promotion in geoparks, in the holistic nature, differentiates itself from other models of sustainable tourism. In fact, sustainable tourism promotion in geopark actually encompasses many of the subdivisions of sustainable tourism including: geotourism (geo-site tourism: as a basic factor), community-based tourism and integrated rural tourism(as a vital needs), ecotourism, cultural heritage tourism and etc. Finally tourism promotion in Geopark, as a geographically sustainable and applicable tourism model, aims to sustains, or even enhances, the  geographical character of a place.

Geotourism PhDs in the world

Fortunately, some true studies is in progress around the world, But, It is required to mention that we can rarely find true geotouristic focus phd thesis(major works) in the world, such as Thomas Hose(2003)(As a pioneer work) and Mamoon Allan’(2011)(as second one) studies, but in the multi -disciplinary approach, more phd thesis can be added to the below list.

1. Thomas Alfred Hose - 2003- (Geotourism- study on the effective geo-interpretation in  geo-museum(secondary geosites) & geo-site)- He holds a doctorate from the University of Birmingham in England (As a  self conducted and a groundbreaking study). Now, Dr. Tom Hose , works as a Honorary Research Associate at School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol ,the UK.

2. Aise KyoungJin Kim- 2007 - (Geo-interpretation- study on visitors' geo-environmental Attitudes and Behaviour),She holds a doctorate from the University of Surrey,the UK, under Prof. Airey' supervision.(Now, Dr.Aise Kim, is a senior lecturer of tourism management in the School of Management at the University of South Australia, Australia. Her research interests include sustainable tourism, interpretation, tourist behaviour, tourism marketing,and geotourism). Her book,extracted from her PhD thesis is:' Kim A.k.(2011)Environmental interpretation and sustainable tourism: Promoting Visitors' Environmental Attitudes and Behaviour, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 436 pages.

LINK:http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-interpretation-sustainable-tourism-Promoting/dp/384542995X "

3. Mamoon Allan -2011- (geotourism- understanding of motivations for a geo- experience ), He holds a doctorate from Edith Cown University in Australia under Prof. Dowling' supervision.(to find some details of Dr. Allan' book , extracted from his phd thesis, please go to blog Archive in 2011 and into the geoturism books .

4. Young Ng – May 2012 - (Geo-interpretation- He completed his Phd thesis on geoparks and geotourism. He studied the two geo-parks in China - at Leiqiong and Danxiashan - and applied lessons learned from the case studies to help the Hong Kong geopark),he holds a doctorate from  the school of geosciences at the the University of Sydney, Australia, Associate Professor Phil McManus, along with Associate Professor Deirdre Dragovich, supervised his PhD thesis. (Now He teaches geotourism in Hong Kong and works as a geoconservation expert at the Hong Kong Global Geopark of China. . In July 2012, Dr. Ng was awarded a Medal of Honour by the Hong Kong SAR for his work on geoconservation generally).

5. Ms. Chris Grant, PhD student (now, works on her geotourism phd thesis) at Manchester Metropolitan University. Also she is a lecturer in Business at University of Bolton, the UK.

6. Mr. Ari Brozinski currently working on his geotourism PhD in Turku, Finland.

7. Mr. Đorđije A. Vasiljević, PhD student (now, works on his geo-tourism Phd thesis) at  Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad. Also he is Teaching Assistant and  Research Associate at the aforementioned department, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.

Title of His PhD thesis : "Geodiversity and geoheritage of Vojvodina Province - conservation and tourism", and is in progress.

  -(Please help improve this post by adding more PhD stories in geotourism and some more data to our colleagues around the world)-
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Hose, T. A. (2003)" Geotourism in England: A two-region case study analysis. unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham, Birmingham.

KyoungJin Kim, Aise (2007) “Visitor Interpretation and Sustainable Tourism: a study of the role of interpretation in influencing attitudes and behaviour toward environmental conservation”, PhD thesis, School of Management , University of Surrey.UK (Published PhD thesis in 2011).

Allan, Mamoon (2011) “Geotourism: Toward A Better Understanding Of Motivations For A Geotourism Experience(A Self-Determination Theory Perspective)”, PhD thesis, Edith Cowan University, Australia.(published thesis in 2012)

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Geo- Tourism Education

After releasing the first comprehensive book on the subject Geotourism in 2006, now geotourism education is gradually emerging in  some countries but generally speaking, interdisciplinary nature of geotourism makes it difficult for easily developing. Now, geotourism education is divided into the two formal educational programmes in  the few countries, such as: Iran, Australia, and  in Pakistan.

1.     the geology programme In Iran , at Payame Noor University, Bachelor‘s degree courses on geology offer optional geotourism unit. And the Earth Science Division of the University, introduced a new geotourism reference book, written by B. Nekouie Sadry and  B. Hajalilou in 2011, in the PNU’ self-study style, for geology students.

2.     the tourism programme A. “In Australia, at Edith Cowan University in Perth, a geotourism unit is offered in the tourism programme as part of a tourism degree in a faculty of business” (Newsome and Dowling , 2010) for tourism students. B. The book,” Fundamentals of Geotourism” written by B. Nekouie-Sadry, offered for all faculties of tourism management in Iran. Samt organization  in Iran listed this book in 2009, as tourism management curriculum supplement in Bachelor and Master  level for the geography of tourism units. Also, a geotourism unit offered in the ecotourism Master programmes in Iran and recently at Science and Culture University in Tehran aforementioned textbook introduced as a  source book to students.

Newsome, D. and Dowling , R.K. (eds) (2010) Geotourism: The Tourism of Geology and Landscape. Oxford: Goodfellow Publishers. Dowling ,R. and Newsome, D.( eds )(2006) Geotourism . Elsevier/ Heineman , Oxford, UK. Hajalilou, B. &  Sadry, B.N. (2011)” Geotourism” , Payame Noor University Press. 250 p.( in Persian).  Sadry, B.N (2009)" Fundamentals of Geotourism: with a special emphasis on Iran", Samt Organization publishers, Tehran.220p. (English Summary available Online at: http://physio-geo.revues.org/3159?file=1).