Professor Dieter Müller appointed chairman of international tourism commission
NEWS
Dieter Müller, professor in Human Geography and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Umeå University, has been appointed chairman of the Commission of Tourism, Leisure and Global Change at the International Geographical Union Congress in Cologne.
“I am pleased and honoured that I have been entrusted to lead the tourism commission's activities over the next four years,” says Dieter Müller. “It is also a great acknowledgement for me personally and my colleagues here in Umeå who succeeded to position Umeå University as an important and recognised research environment for tourism geography during the last ten years.”
The International Geographical Union (IGU) was founded in 1922 as a global organisation to support international cooperation on geographical issues, and has since developed into the leading organisation for geographical research. The IGU is represented in the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC). It is organised in commissions that work with different topics within the area of geography.
The Commission of Tourism, Leisure and Global Change is one of GU's more active commissions and has more than 600 members. It is led by a committee of 10 scientists.
“As chairman, it is my mission to encourage research and to help organising conferences and publishing opportunities for the members,” says Dieter Müller.
The office of the chairman is limited to four years and ends at the next International Geographical Union Congress in Beijing 2016.
Dieter Müller is also a board member of the International Polar Tourism Research Network (IPTRN) and the Nordic Society for Tourism and Hospitality Research (NORTHORS) and serves on the editorial board of the journals “Tourism Geographies” and “Current Issues in Tourism”. His own research deals with issues of tourism and regional development with special focus on second homes and the Northern areas.
