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SUITE 301 FUNGER
Dr. Larry Yu Dr. Yu returned from his sabbatical leave in Cambodia where he taught three short courses on hospitality service management to both DBA and BBA students at the National University Management. He also conducted research on international tourism and hospitality development in Cambodia.  Dr. Yu with Cambodian BBA students on the Campus of NUM. Dr. Raynald Brouard Dr Brouard, Director of AMTA, is finally back in office after having a successful surgery. He was out recuperating for most of the semester. Plans are confirmed for the AMTA program study abroad trip to Jamaica in Spring 2008. AMTA welcomed Cohort 23, enrollments are increasing and reflects diversity in terms of students national origins, industry experience and concentrations within the program. Plans are on the way to welcome the 24th Cohort in the Spring 2008. Dr. Douglas C. Frechtling Dr. Frechtling spent most of the summer re-designing his distance-learning version of TSTD270 Tourism Research for the AMTA program. This course employs an improved dynamic presentation technology and was presented in the fall semester. He also headed up a Team that audited the traveler survey system of D.K. Shifflet and Associates (DKS&A) and submitted a report in December. The DKS&A Integrated Metrics Model produces estimates of visitors, characteristics and expenditures for hotels, airlines and individual U.S. destinations, and serves as the basis for reports of travel activity published by the Travel Industry Association of America and other organizations. The Team found that the Shifflet Model was basically sound but could be improved by better handling of nonresponse, calibration to external sources of data, and observing UNWTO definitions for international comparability. Dr. Donald Hawkins In addition to traveling abroad, taking on new projects and authoring a number of articles over the fall semester, Dr. Donald Hawkins also celebrated his birthday on November 9th. Additionally in the month of November, Dr. Hawkins spent time in Johannesburg, South Africa working with the Tourism Training Network. In this capacity, Professor Hawkins works as a primary advisory to faculty from African business schools in Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal. The network is an initiative of the International Finance Corporation to develop high-quality education for managing tourism in the African region. Later in the semester Dr. Hawkins traveled to Cartegena, Colombia to attend the UNWTO General Assembly meeting. While there, he was elected to serve as Vice-Chairman of the Committee of Affiliate Members. Outside of this meeting, he was a featured speaker at an investment conference. Dr. Lisa Delpy Neirotti Dr. Delpy Neirotti had a busy Fall semester working on numerous projects and speaking at various conferences. The conferences included American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) in Las Vegas; Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Convention in Chicago; International Olympic Committee Sport & Environment conference in Beijing, China; Road Race Management in Fort Lauderdale, FL; and Athletic Business in Orlando, FL. Dr. Sheryl Elliot Dr. Elliott and Dr. Neirotti's research paper on "Challenges of Tourism in a Dynamic Island Destination:The Case of Cuba," was accepted for publication in 2008 by Tourism Geographies. Her research on "Development, Poverty and Tourism: Perspectives and Influences in Sub-Saharan Africa" was accepted pending revisions by Tourism Management in the Fall 2007 semester. She is currently working with Amanda Charles on a national survey of cultural heritage tourism organizations in the U.S. analyzing various organizational structures as they relate to performance measurements. The pilot survey will be vetted to the Coalition of Cultural Heritage Tourism Networks at their February meeting. In December of 2007, Dr. Elliott attended on meeting convened by the Pan American Health Organization in Managua, Nicaragua on regional approaches to tourism and health issues and problems. She was appointed to a regional task force that will be deploying a strategic regional management plan addressing tourism and health. Dr. Soyoung Boo Dr. Soyoung Boo recently submitted research articles to Tourism Management, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, and Journal of Convention and Event Tourism. Additionally, she has submitted articles accepted to the 2008 International Convention and Exposition Summit, in Singapore February 14-16, 2008; and the 13th Annual Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism in Orlando, FL, January 3-5, 2008. Dr. Boo is also a member of the Doctoral Committee for the GW Business School as an outside examiner of one student’s dissertation and a presider for a doctoral student’s final defense. Dr. Stuart Levy Dr. Levy is thrilled to be back in Washington, DC! Back in the late 1990s Dr. Levy was an MBA student at Georgetown University - however his passion for tourism and hospitality remained. Dr. Levy enrolled in a number of MTA courses with Dr. Hawkins and Dr. Frechtling, and was very impressed by the program. Years later, as he was completing his PhD and focusing on an academic career, GW was at the very top of his list. He found that the DTHM is very unique due to its applied, international focus as well as its close connections with industry, government and NGOs. Also, he had a great comfort level and respect for the faculty and staff from my experiences a decade ago, and knew it would be a wonderful environment to work. Courtney Douglass (December 2008)-Sustainable Destination Management Courtney has almost adjusted to the DC weather, since leaving sunny Florida in August for the MTA program. Working as a Graduate Assistant to Dr. Donald Hawkins has made her first semester experience an enjoyable one. In the MTA department, you can find Courtney working on an upcoming collaborative conference “Peace through Commerce: Harnessing the Power of the Global Tourism Industry”, researching business case studies or operating the video camera of your favorite guest lecture. Next semester, Courtney looks forward to even more exciting moments with her new MTA friends. Keith Dokho (May 2009)- Sustainable Destination Management Keith Dokho is originally from Royal Oak, Michigan where most of his family still resides. Prior to entering the MTA program, he was working in the finance industry in Chicago. Through independent travel (30 + countries) Keith has developed a deep passion for sustainable tourism and international development. This past summer Keith completed a trans-Siberian railway trip where he incorporated a volunteer project at the national orphanage in Mongolia. Eneida Fernandes (August 2008) – Individualized Studies Eneida is originally from Brazil but has lived in France, Switzerland, Las Vegas, Jamaica and for the past 12 years has been living in Bahia, Brazil. She has 10 years experience in hospitality and food service operational training and has worked with tourism destinations project implementation focusing on occupational and food safety training and certification. For the past three years her focus has been working directly within the scope of the Professional Quality and Sustainable destination management program with the 565 SMEs in 30 destinations in Brazil. Additionally, in the same program she worked with the sustainability team as a trained multiplier providing technical assistance implementing Sustainable tourism Best Practices. Eneida holds an undergraduate Hotel Management Degree from the Swiss Hotel Association School Les Roches. Natalie Gempesaw-Pangan (December 2008) - Event and Meeting Management Natalie comes to Washington D.C. from her undergraduate institution- The University of Delaware, and her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the University of Delaware, Natalie received her B.A. in both Communication and International Relations, May 2007. Natalie’s experience in planning student-centered programs and events, as well as special events has inspired her to pursue the Event and Meeting Management concentration. This past semester, Natalie was working hard researching contracts and international destinations. Her first semester in the MTA program has whizzed by and she is looking forward to another amazing semester. Gergana Nikolova (December 2008) – Individualized Studies Gergana is originally from Bulgaria and has moved to the US in My 2007 to work at Sheraton-Reston. She has a Bachelor degree in Tourism Management from Sofia University, Bulgaria. Before starting her career in the hospitality industry Gergana has worked for several years in international development in her native country. She has worked on projects encouraging public-private partnership, supporting governmental public relations, promoting competitiveness and cluster development. Tiffany Sy (December 2008) – Sport Management Tiffany was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. She earned a B.S. in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in February 2007. After graduating, Tiffany worked as the Communications Coordinator for The Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce; where she still works on a part-time basis during the school year. She had previous internships with the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation in Lake Placid, New York and EagleBank in Bethesda, Maryland. Lin Wang (May 2009) – Individualized Studies, Hospitality Lin is originally from Hangzhou, a famous tourism city in China, and holds a B.A. in Foreign Language and Literature from the Fudan University. He is a first-year MTA student focusing his studies mainly on International Hospitality Management. He intends to work on an international level of Chinese outbound tourism and its impacts to hospitality development. Lin’s favorite sports are soccer (he calls it football though) and basketball, however, he only watches games, doesn’t play. Paige Williams (August 2008) – Sustainable Destination Management Paige was born and raised in Oklahoma City and attended Oklahoma State University. She received her undergraduate degree in Hotel Restaurant Administration with a minor in speech. Prior to moving to Washington she worked at the historic Skirvin Hilton in Downtown Oklahoma City as a catering and event coordinator. Upon graduation she plans on moving back to Oklahoma and working in community tourism development.
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