The Panel consists of six leading academics – each with their own area of expertise in travel tech, sustainability, mobility, hospitality and in tourism innovation. As part of the first phase of XNTC, the panel will meet two times to discuss the main challenges and problems of the Nordic tourism sector and industry. The panel discussions will feed into the mapping of the key challenges facing the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of Nordic tourism.
In addition, the six panel members will also advice on how to best shift from the identified problems to calling for solutions and engaging universities and innovation ecosystems in solution development.
Trude Furunes
Trude is Head of Institute at the Norwegian University of Hospitality (NHS) and professor of management. She is also editor of the international journal Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism (SJHT). Her research work focuses on Hospitality and workforce, especially in the context of ageing, accessibility and well-being.
Juho Pesonen
Juho is professor of tourism business at the University of Eastern Finland. He is an expert in the field of tourism technology, and addresses a wide range of topics in his research – from tourism marketing, information and communication technologies, online business development in tourism, market segmentation and customer research.
Anne-Mette Hjalager
Anne-Mette is professor at University of Southern Denmark and holds expertise in the field of tourism innovation. Her research areas include business and innovation, especially focusing on rural areas and physical planning in terms of creating attractive and inclusive landscapes and architecture.
Gunnar Thór Jóhannesson
Gunnar is professor in the Department of Geography and Tourism at the University of Iceland. He has done extensive research on actor–network theory i.e. studying the relationships among different stakeholders in tourism. In addition, he also has a research focus on tourism entrepreneurship and innovation in Iceland, labour market, destination development, and arctic tourism.
Stefan Gössling
Stefan is professor at Lund University and Linnaeus University in Sweden. He works with tourism and transport in the context of sustainability, and is especially interested in climate change, transport policies, transport psychology, and transport economics.
Håvard Utheim
Håvard is the founder of several startups in tourism and a passionate tourism professional actively working towards sustainable tourism development. Based in Norway, he is guiding thousands of tourism entrepreneurs and startups to be more environmentally and socially responsible. His participation will help link and direct insights and conversation towards the industry, specifically smaller companies and start-ups.
