Conference Committee Chair: Deborah Pownall        

Deborah Pownall is a Curriculum Leader within the Centre for Tourism, Consumer and Food Studies, her research interests include tourism education and skills development within the tourism and leisure industry. These interests have informed her developing of Foundation Degrees with industry and a PGCE for Tourism and Leisure (14-19)'.

Capitalising on culture

Theme Leader: Dr. Hazel Andrews
Hazel Andrews is based in the Centre for Tourism, Consumer and Food Studies at Liverpool John Moores University, and is a social anthropologist who has undertaken ethnographic research amongst tourists in Mallorca. With a particular focus on practices of embodiment, consumption, habitus and place, her research and publications have examined social and symbolic constructions of national, regional and gendered identities. Current research involves the application of existential-phenomenological anthropology to understandings of tourists' experiences and an examination of discourses of nationalism in tourism imagery. She is a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute, and member of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on International Tourism. Recent publications include: Andrews, H, Roberts, L, Selwyn, T (2007) Hospitality and Eroticism. International Journal of Culture, Hospitality, and Tourism Research, 1 (3), 247-262. Andrews, H. (2006). Consuming Pleasures:Package Tourists in Mallorca. In Meethan, K, Anderson A And Miles, S Tourism (Eds), Consumption and Representation. (pp217-235). Oxford: Cabi. Andrews, H. (2005). Feeling at Home: Embodying Britishness in a Spanish Charter Tourist Resort. Tourist Studies, 5, (3), 247-266.

Substance or surface? Sustainability in leisure and tourism

Theme Leader: Dr. Mark Meadows
Mark Meadows is a senior lecturer/researcher in the Faculty of Education, Community and Leisure at Liverpool John Moores University. His Doctoral Thesis was concerned with social policy and its impact upon lone parents and from this he developed an interest in how social policy may be affected by wider political landscapes. Mark is the Deputy Project Manager for the Gender Discrimination and Ageist Perceptions (GDAP) (ESF funded research) and was on the team that developed the GDAP Training Initiative 2006 - 2008. He is also currently on the supervisory teams for doctoral studies looking at, homelessness, gender and age discrimination and employment barriers for the visually impaired.

Image, performance and identity in leisure, tourism and sport

Theme Leader: Dr. Martin Selby
Martin Selby works as Senior Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University. As a geographer specialising in the experience of tourism, Martin's research interests include phenomenological approaches to tourism research, cultural analysis of tourist destinations and landscapes, urban tourism, and representations of tourist destinations. Martin has published research on these themes in book chapters and journal articles, and in a sole-authored book entitled 'Understanding Urban Tourism: image, culture, and experience'. He has delivered keynote speeches and invited talks for various organisations, including one entitled, 'Curly Perms or Culture' at the Institute of Travel and Tourism's Aspire Conference.

Culture, consumption and community well being

Theme Leader: Dr Allan Hackett
Allan Hackett is a Reader in Community Nutrition, based in the Centre for Tourism, Consumer and Food Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. Most of his 30 year research career has involved measuring food intake and promoting healthier eating habits. He has written chapters in text books on Community Dentistry (2007, Quintessance) and Sports Nutrition (2007, Churchill Livingstone). He has also published some 80 research papers including: Trends in fruit, vegetable and salad intake in 9-10 year-old schoolchildren living in Liverpool, 2000-2005 (2007) & Is overweight and obesity in 9-10 year-old children in Liverpool related to deprivation and / or electoral ward? (2005). His latest research involves mapping eating habits across the city of Liverpool in order to better understand the influence of the (built & leisure) environment on food choice, physical activity and hence obesity.