Qualifications:
BRM in Community Tourism (Acadia); Dip.MIB; MBA in International Business (Saint Mary's); Ph.D. in Rural Planning and Development (Guelph);
Honours/Awards: James Bayer Leadership Award; Certificate of Recognition: Tourism Industry of Nova Scotia; Certificate of Recognition: Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage; Nominated in 2008 for MSVU Excellence in Teaching Award; 2009 International Sharing Cultures Conference, Portugal – Best Paper of Conference Award.
Joined MSVU: 2004
Relevant Prior Work Experience:
Graduate research assistant; academic tourism coordinator; project coordinator; editor, liaison/ public relations officer; lecturer; associate faculty; small business owner.
Courses taught at MSVU:
THMT 1101 (Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality), THMT 2201 (Alternate Forms of Tourism), THMT 2202 (Communications Management), THMT3380 (Study Tour), THMT 4442 (Special Topics in Tourism), THMT 4405 (Destination Planning), THMT 4406 (Destination Development); GTHM 6701 (Tourism Policy and Sustainability); GTHM 6405 (Destination Development).
Research Interests:
Commodification of culture for tourism; cultural heritage tourism, rural tourism development; UNESCO World Heritage Sites; attitudes of residents living in tourism destinations; island tourism; collaborative and comparative research.
Recent Research Grants:
1) 2009 - 2011 SSHRC Research grant ($34,000)- Co-applicant, in partnership with researchers from the University of Alberta, University of Ottawa, University of Manitoba, University Leuven, Belgium and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, to further advance the research goals of the World Heritage Tourism Research Network (WHTRN) internationally, including developing a searchable database of World Heritage Site (WHS) related tourism researchers from around the world, and a new open access database of bibliographic resources on WHS and related tourism, new logo and revamped web site.
2) 2009 – 2010 MSVU Internal Grant ($6,900) - Principal investigator, research project that involves an investigation of tourism development in Îles de la Madeleine, QC.
3) 2008 –Grant/Sponsors ($20,000) – International Collaborative Workshop Initiative, funded by MSVU, Parks Canada, Pacrim Hospitality Inc. and NS Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, to develop collaborative and comparative research agenda to study tourism at UNESCO World Heritage sites around the world.
4) 2005-2006 - Internal Research Grant: ($4,600). Study of attitudes of Lunenburg residents towards tourism related to WHS designation.
Academic Activities and Publications (since 2000)
Books, Chapters, Journals and Conference Proceedings:
1. Blayney, C., & George, W. (2010). The potential of international mobility projects as vehicles to disseminate sustainable tourism education: Partnerships and shared curriculum. The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, 6(1), pp.257-266).
2. George, E. W. (2010, in press). Intangible cultural heritage in rural communities: Issues of ownership, appropriation, commodification and tourism. A book chapter in Sério Lira & Rogério Amoêda, Constructing Intangible Heritage, Greenlines Institute, Portugal.
3. George, E.W. (2010). Intangible cultural heritage, ownership, copyrights, and tourism. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol 4 (4).
4. George, E. W. (2009). Intangible heritage and tourism, ownership and copyrights: Does a community own its intangible cultural heritage? In Sharing Cultures 2009, Greenlines Institute: Portugal.
5. Mair, H. & Reid, D.G. (2009). Rural Tourism Development: Localism and Cultural Change. Channel View Publications:UK.
6. George, E. W. (2008). UNESCO World Heritage site Designation: Transforming tourism spaces - A site community's perspective. Turyzm Journal, Vol. 18 (2).
7. George, E. W. (2007). Against all odds: Through music and song, new tourism destinations are born. In Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) Annual Conference: Destinations Revisited- Perspectives on Developing and Managing Tourism Areas, Book of Abstracts and Conference Proceedings:Viana do Castelo, Portugal.
8. George, E. W. (2006). The Transformation of tourism spaces: UNESCO World Heritage site designation: Transforming tourism spaces – A site community’s perspective. In Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) Book of Abstracts: Conference Proceedings: Lotz, Poland.
9. George, E.W. (2006). Who are these visitors? Profiling Lunenburg’s tourists. In Atlantic School of Business Conference, Conference Proceedings. Mount Allison University:Sackville, NB.
10. George, E. W. & Reid, D. G. (2005). The power of tourism: A metamorphosis of community. Journal of Tourism & Cultural Change, Vol. 3 (2), p.1-20.
11. George, E. W. (2005). Commodifying local culture for tourism development: Theorizing the commodification process. In CCLR-11 Congress on Leisure Research, The Two Solitudes: Isolation or Impact? Conference Proceedings. Malaspina College: Malaspina, BC.
12. Mair, H., Reid, D. & George, W. (2005). Globalisation, rural tourism and community power. In Hall, Kirkpatrick and Mitchell, Aspects of Tourism Series: Rural Tourism and Sustainable Business. Chapter 10, p.165-179. Channel View Publications.
13. . Reid, D., Mair, H. & George, W. (2004). Community tourism planning: A self-assessment instrument. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 31 (3), p. 623-639.
14. George, E. W. (2004) Local culture: A rural community’s most valuable capital asset? In Atlantic Schools of Business, Conference Proceedings. Mount Saint Vincent University: Halifax, NS.
15. George, E. W. (2002). Tourism, globalization and sustainable development: Are these contravening concepts? In CCLR-10 Congress on Leisure Research, Conference Proceedings. University of Alberta: Edmonton, AB.
16. George, E. W., Mair, H., Reid, D. G. and Taylor, J. (2002). Towards a demographic process for planning community tourism development: A participant action research approach. In CCLR-10 Congress on Leisure Research, Conference Proceedings. University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.
17. George, E. Wanda. (2002). Tourism and culture in rural communities: A dichotomous affair. In Canada: Rupture and Continuity. McGill Institute for the Study of Canada: McGill University, Montreal, PQ.
18. George, E. W. & Robertson, J. A. (2001). Community planning & economic diversification: A community action learning model (CALM). In Rising Tide: Community Development-Tools, Models, and Processes, Conference Proceedings. Edited by David Bruce and Gwen Lister. Rural and Small Town Programme. Mount Allison University: Sackville, NB.
19. Mair, H., Reid, D. G. George, W. George and J. Taylor. (2001). In our image: globalization, rural tourism and community power. In New Directions in Managing Tourism & Leisure, Conference Proceedings. Ayrshire Scotland, Sept. 5-8.
Professional Activities
Organizations and Memberships:
Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia
Travel and Tourism Research Association (Canadian Chapter), former Board of Directors
Heritage Canada Foundation
Canadian Association for Leisure Studies
Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council (6-years), former appointed Council member.
Halifax Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee, former member.
Halifax Chamber of Commerce Surface Transportation Sub-Committee, former member and Co-Chair.