Prof. Marina Novelli (PhD) is a globally recognised authority in the field of tourism policy, planning and development. She is Professor of Marketing and Tourism and Director of the Sustainable Travel and Tourism Advanced Research Centre (STTAR-C) at the University of Nottingham Business School (UK). She is a geographer with a background in economics, and over 20 years' experience of high-quality research, consultancy, knowledge exchange, PhD supervision, teaching and curriculum development and a keen interest in interdisciplinary research. She has advised on numerous international cooperation and research assignments funded by International Development Organisations (IDOs) including The World Bank, the European Union, The UN (UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO), the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Millennium Challenge Corporation as well as National Ministries, Tourism Boards, Regional Development Agencies and NGOs. She is known globally for her excellence in leading and collaborating with multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder and multi-cultural teams and for her commitment to generating new knowledge on ways in which tourism can play a key role in sustainable development by stimulating local economies, conserving the environment, developing people and changing lives.

Marina has an established track record of delivering projects funded by the World Bank, the EU, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the British Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), National Ministries and Tourism Boards, Regional Development Agencies, private and third sector organisations in Africa, Europe and Asia.

Her expertise includes: consortium leadership; diagnostic, monitoring and evaluation studies; designing and implementing development programmes in developing, emerging and developed economies; financing and fundraising mechanism for public, private and third sector organisations; sustainable development and responsible management and marketing approaches; niche (tourism) product development and marketing; value chain development; crisis management and communication; economic diversification and regeneration; community-based tourism product development; training needs analysis, workforce capacity building in public, private, third and academic sectors, train-of-trainers and curriculum development; governance and institutional development; cost benefit analysis; change management; service standards; optimization in hospitality and tourism.

She distinguishes herself for her ‘leadership by example’ and excellence in facilitating inclusive and supportive team development practices. With a creative and proactive mindset she has inspired many and identified strategic opportunities fostering an effective working environment and long-term positive impact.

She has deployed her own transferrable research frameworks, based on qualitative participatory techniques – i.e. the Peer2Peer (P2P) impact-oriented approach, which is based on co-constructed research and change management techniques in complex and culturally sensitive environments. Her research is widely cited and has demonstrated impact far beyond tourism by contributing to more effective economic growth, improved environments and inclusive societies.

She has worked internationally and travelled extensively in: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, The Gambia, Ghana, India, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, UAE (Dubai), UK, USA, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.