Prof. Dr. Cevdet Avcıkurt was born in Kaynarca, Sakarya in 1968. He graduated from Uludağ University Balıkesir School of Tourism Management and Hotel Management in 1988 and started working as a research assistant at the same school in 1989. He completed his master's degree at the University of Surrey in England in 1992, having won a scholarship from the Ministry of National Education. Avcıkurt received his doctorate in Tourism Management and Hotel Management from Balıkesir University in 1997, became an associate professor in 2000, and a full professor in 2006. Having held various administrative positions within the university, Avcıkurt served as the Director of the Balıkesir University School of Tourism Management and Hotel Management from 2003 to 2013. On April 25, 2013, by a decision of the Council of Ministers, he was appointed as the first dean of the Faculty of Tourism, which was established in place of the School of Tourism Management and Hotel Management, and he held this position until December 19, 2020. Avcıkurt, who also has sector experience in the field of tourism, has numerous publications both domestically and internationally. He has also served as a project manager in various European Union projects. Since January 2023, Cevdet Avcıkurt has been serving as the Vice Rector of Balıkesir University. Fluent in English and German, Avcıkurt is married and has two children.

Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu is currently the Provost at Virscend University in Irvine, California. Previously, he served as the Dean and the McKibbon Endowed Chair Professor of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM) in the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida (USF), where he also held roles as the Director of the M3 Center for Hospitality Technology and Innovation, Coordinator of International Programs for the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Director of Global Partnerships for the Muma College of Business between 2010 and 2025. Dr. Cobanoglu is a renowned expert in hospitality and tourism technology. He was a Fulbright Specialist commissioned by the Fulbright Commission from 2018 to 2021. Additionally, he is a Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP), certified by Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP) and the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). He serves as the Editor of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology (JHTT), which is indexed in SSCI with an Impact Factor of 6.4. Dr. Cobanoglu has co-authored over 10 books and contributed to more than 20 conference proceedings. Additionally, he is currently serving as the President of the Association of Global Educators (AGE).

M. Mithat Üner completed his BA degree at Hacettepe University School of Business, MBA degree at Gazi University, M.Sc. in International Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Ph.D. at the Gazi University Graduate School of Business. Professor Üner also completed postdoc studies at the Pisa University in Italy. He has a long record of service as an academic leader, scholar, and advisor to industry. He taught and served as Dean at Gazi University in Ankara for over three decades. Currently, Professor Üner teaches and serves as Dean at Atılım University School of Business. He has published widely in leading journals on such topics as internationalization of the firm, foreign market entry strategies, services marketing, marketing strategy. Public and private organizations frequently seek him as a speaker and consultant

Erdogan Ekiz joined TEAM University in Tashkent Uzbekistan as Full-Professor of Marketing and Dean of Faculty. He was previously Associate Professor at Westminster International University in Tashkent, and Ad-Hoc Professor at The Ostelea in Morocco. Before this Dr. Erdogan was the Founding Dean of the School of Hospitality Business and Management at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. He was an Associate Professor at King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Tourism, Saudi Arabia, where he served as Director of both the Postgraduate Studies and International Relations and Agreements Unit. He also served as the launching Head of the Travel and Tourism Department. He worked as a Director of Studies at the London School of Commerce, and Associate Professor at the University of Derby, University of Worcester, and University of Northampton’s common degree program (held in Saudi Arabia) on an ad hoc basis. Dr. Ekiz is a certified trainer, recognized by the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) of Saudi Arabia, worked with MEHRAT and BETA training centers on an AdHoc basis.
Dr. Ekiz completed his Ph.D. in tourism and hospitality management at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has a B.Sc. in tourism and hotel management and an M.B.A. in services marketing from Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus. He is a ‘Certified Hospitality Educator’ (CHE) from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute and ‘Qualified Learning Facilitator’ (QLF) from École hôtelière de Lausanne. He is an ‘Advanced Trainer’ with Distinction of International Air Transport Association (IATA). He has over 20 years of teaching experience in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Cyprus, Turkey, Malaysia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. He is the Middle East Representative of the Association of North America Higher Education International.
Dr. Ekiz is acting as the Asia-Pacific Coordinating Editor of the Journal of Travel and Tourism as well as the Middle-East Coordinator of the Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Tourism. His expertise includes service failure, consumer complaining behavior, tourist behavior, and culture. He has around 200 published journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers. His papers have appeared in respected refereed journals such as the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, Tourism Analysis, etc. He is an editorial board member of top-tier journals, such as the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, the Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Tourism Analysis, and several more.
He has successfully completed several consultancy projects with major companies in the industry and is still working on a dozen grants and consultation projects for both government and private sectors. Dr. Ekiz has a wide range of hands-on management experience within the sector, from fast food to 5-star hotels.

Azize HASSAN Gazi Üniversitesi Mesleki Eğitim Fakültesi Turizm İşletmeciliği ve Otelcilik Eğitimi Bölümü’nden mezun oldu (1985). Yüksek lisans derecesini Gazi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Üretim Yönetimi ve Pazarlama Programı’ndan (1989), doktora derecesini de İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Turizm Programı’ndan aldı (1993). Gazi Üniversitesi Mesleki Eğitim Fakültesi Turizm İşletmeciliği ve Otelcilik Eğitimi Bölümü’nde Araştırma Görevlisi olarak çalışmaya başladı (1986). Yardımcı Doçent Dr (1994), Doçent Dr (1999) ve sonrasında ise Profesör olarak görevine devam etmektedir (2004). Halen Gazi Üniversitesi’nin bölünmesi ile Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi, Turizm Fakültesi, Turizm İşletmeciliği Bölümü’nde Profesör olarak görev yapmaktadır (2018-devam ediyor). Temel çalışma alanları, turizm işletmelerinde pazarlama ağırlıklı olmak üzere, dijital pazarlama, sosyal medya pazarlaması.

İstanbul’da doğdum. Saint Benoît Fransız Kız Lisesi mezunuyum. Lisans eğitimimi İstanbul Üniversitesi’nde tamamladıktan sonra, İstanbul Üniversitesi İktisat Fakültesi Turizm Yüksek Lisans Programını 1985, Turizm Doktora Programını 1988 yılında bitirdim. 1994 yılında Doçent, 2000 yılında Profesör oldum. . Turizm ile ilgili kitaplarım, yurt dışı ve yurt içinde sunulmuş tebliğlerim, makalelerim bulunmaktadır. Fransızca ve İngilizce bilmekteyim.