Noel Salazar

University of Leuven (Belgium)

 

Provisional title of IRFGT 2015 presentation - Tour guiding versus guided tours: A mere play upon words or a world of difference?

Noel B. Salazar is research professor in anthropology at the University of Leuven, Belgium. He is co-editor of Tourism Imaginaries (Berghahn, 2014) and author of Envisioning Eden (Berghahn, 2010) and numerous journal articles and book chapters on the anthropology of tourism. He is president of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (2013-15), board member of the Young Academy of Belgium, chair of the IUAES Comission on the Anthropology of Tourism, and founding member of the AAA Anthropology of Tourism Interest Group. He has been involved in tour guide trainings in Belgium, Indonesia, Tanzania and Malawi.

 

 

 

Carles Picazo

Barcelona Guide Bureau (Spain)

 

Provisional title of IRFGT 2015 presentation - "Quality guided tours - planning an management"

Carles Picazo has a Master Degree in Business Administration and Management of School of Business Administration. He is a founding partner and the vice-chairman of the Management Board of Barcelona Guides Bureau - BGB (www.barcelonaguidebureau.com) and has worked both as tourist guide and tour manager for over 25 years.

He has been a lecturer in courses related to guiding for over 25 years. Currently Carles is Director of BGB as well as Quality and Training Manager (www.barcelonaguidebureau.cat).

Always linked to training issues within the Tourism industry, Carles delivers lectures and provides courses at schools of Tourism and cultural centres.

He is the author of the book Assistence and Guidance for Tourist Groups, Publishing Co.Síntesis, first edition 1996, fourth edition 2014.  

 

Ester Pereira

Florida International University, Miami (USA) and University of Stavanger (Norway)

 

Provisional title of IRFGT 2015 presentation - "Tours guides and the sustainability discourse: Putting talk into action"

Ester M. Pereira holds a PhD in sustainable tourism from the University of Stavanger in Norway. She is owner of EPR Enterprises, LLC, specializing in travel consultancy by facilitating research for organizations to develop customized educational travel programs. She has held teaching and research positions at Florida International University, Miami, and University of Stavanger, and published several articles and book chapters.  She has also worked as an expedition leader, been involved in guide training programs in Brazil, Ecuador, Tanzania and Rwanda, and been project leader for a long list of international tourism projects.