The Department of Marketing Management at the University of Pretoria hosted Prof Alessandro Inversini from 30 September to 11 October 2024. Prof Inversini is a marketing professor at the EHL in Switzerland. EHL is the world's first hotel school, founded in 1893. In 2024, for the sixth year in a row, EHL was ranked the world's best hotel management school by QS World University Rankings.

 

Prof Inversini is an expert in digital marketing, digital communication, mobile marketing and eTourism, with extensive international academic and industry experience. His research has been funded and supported by public and private bodies in Switzerland, Italy and the United Kingdom and published in prestigious international research outlets.

 

During his visit, Prof Inversini shared his expertise with students and staff. He delivered a guest lecture to the Tourism Management honours students, which added value to the preparations for their industry projects. He also presented a seminar to staff members on how to write successful grants. His visit overlapped with the annual honours excursion, and he used the opportunity to join students on their trip to Dinokeng and Cullinan, where he shared valuable insights with them and other industry partners.

The main goal of Prof Inversini's visit was to plan and execute a collaborative research project with Prof Anneli Douglas from the Department of Marketing Management at UP and Prof Izak van Zyl from Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The interdisciplinary project focuses on regenerative tourism from the perspectives of three disciplines: marketing management, tourism management and anthropology. The topic of regenerative tourism is very relevant and essential, especially in South Africa. During his visit, Prof Inversini and Prof Douglas also engaged with South African National Parks and the Department of Tourism as possible collaborators in the project.

 

The visit by Prof Inversini was a great success, and his engagement with staff and students added much value to their learning and research journeys. The Department wishes to express gratitude to the benefactors of the Stephan and Pierre Viljoen Award, which made this visit possible. The 2024 recipient of this award, Prof Anneli Douglas, used the funds to invite Prof Inversini to the University of Pretoria.