CTLM at University of South Australia has been leading tourism research and impact in the South Australia tourism economy

2017 has been a record year of successes for the Centre of Tourism & Leisure Management (CTLM) at the University of South Australia. Aspiring to become one of the nation’s leading research groups in tourism, hospitality, events, sport and leisure, the CTLM continuously demonstrates a great performance in research output and industry impact.

Research members, partners and support staff of the CTLM have gathered on the 12^th December 2017 to celebrate together the Centre’s achievements and to honor those who have kindly supported it during the year. Professor Marianna Sigala (Director of CTLM) provided a general overview of the Centre’s activities and outputs during 2017.

2017 started with a great recognition for CTLM; i.e. the best IFITT Talk workshop award for its industry engagement events organized in 2016. The University of South Australia is now offering an updated and modern Bachelor program in Tourism & Events Management, addressing topical and important issues in tourism such as: entrepreneurship and innovation; digital revolution; social media marketing; destination management; sharing economy. The Centre is also currently undertaking a major revision of the curriculum of its Master program to be launched in 2018.

“Industry engagement is one of our highest priorities in CTLM and thus, building industry partnerships and workshops had been one of our priorities… this has also been one of the secrets of our success but also our contribution to the local tourism economy” as stated by Prof Marianna Sigala (Director of CTLM).



For example, in collaboration with CAUTHE, IFITT and Open State (the SA government’s annual conference), CTLM has successfully organized the following four major industry workshops that each one: featured numerous keynotes speeches, discussion panels and industry presentations; gathered more than 100 participants; generated great exposure and press releases in printed and social media; and resulted in useful educational videos for industry and academia. 

• two IFITT Talk Workshops (one in digital marketing and another one in smart tourism/destinations)  
• the 2017 CAUTHE Tourism Research Symposium
• an Open State workshop on “sharing economy in tourism”

“Partnership is also evident in our approach in carrying out tourism research” stated by Prof Sigala. In 2017, CTLM research members have gained research projects in partnerships with several organisations such as: Le Cordon Blue, Department of the Premier and Cabinet (SA Government), New Wines of Greece, Beijing Normal University, and the Korean-Australian Foundation. Research projects vary in topics including numerous topical issues affecting our industry: disruptions in sharing economy; women food entrepreneurship; wine destination management and marketing; culture and place making; crowdfunding in wine tourism; and the impact of the sharing economy in entrepreneurship and labour structures. Numerous outcomes are expected from these research projects in early 2018 related to journal publications, industry workshop, books and industry publications.

“For 2018, our commitment is to further expand on our existing partnerships, but also to seek and build some new ones. Innovators do not do it alone; we need to unlock the power of partnerships and contribute more through synergies and collaborations. We extremely value our engagement with the tourism and leisure industry and we want it to be positive and rewarding for all parties” Prof Sigala clearly stated. To that end, the CTLM has recently confirmed a partnership on a collaborative research scheme with the South Australia Tourism Industry Council (SATIC), the leading body representing the tourism industry in SA.

The CTLM has also taken the lead by establishing an Industry Advisory Group (IAG), the first ever industry group in SA that brings together under one roof leading tourism professionals representing all major tourism sectors in SA. The IAG will engage and guide the research activities of the CTLM with the aim to ensure they are timely, relevant and have good industry impact. By developing a common and strong voice in the SA tourism economy, the IAG aims to identify the major issues and challenges facing the SA tourism economy and take the lead in driving and supporting collaborations to ensure that appropriate political and private actions are taken to address them. The IAG is chaired by Theo Maras (Chair of Maras group) a well respected and recognized both professional and contributing citizen in SA. The other members of the IGA include:

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