Geoffrey Bird, PhD - School of Tourism and Hospitality Management
Topics
- Sustainable tourism
- Cultural and heritage tourism
- Globalization and tourism
- Tourism training and education
- Tourism policy delivery
- War and remembrance tourism
Before joining Royal Roads University's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Geoffrey Bird taught at Capilano College in the Department of Tourism and Outdoor Education. Bird managed a project to establish sustainable tourism in two communities in Vietnam and provided sustainable tourism training in Malaysia. As a program co-ordinator with the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education, Bird developed tourism diplomas and degree programs and helped to create the B.C. tourism learning system policy framework. His research interests include the extent to which battlefield tourism informs remembrance. As such Bird is studying the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France as tourism destinations.
"Tourism is often misunderstood. It’s not just about customer service and running an amusement park. Tourism is both an economic and social phenomenon. It has the potential to destroy communities or, if done properly, it can be a force to alleviate poverty and empower women. The role of education is to make sure tourism is done in a sustainable way that is economically, socially, culturally, and environmentally appropriate for an area.”
“Tourism allows us to learn about ourselves. Whether the traveler is discovering the beaches of Tofino or a heritage site in Vietnam, the sense of place can evoke a strong sense of personal meaning. This is the magic of travel, and something that offers so much opportunity to not only travelers, but to the communities that choose to engage in a healthy approach to tourism development.”
Media queries for staff and faculty should be directed to Doug Ozeroff in Community Relations, 250-391-2526. For other queries, contact Geoffrey Bird directly.
