[Conference presentation] Presented papers at the CAUTHE Annual Conference 2017 in Dunedin, New Zealand

Five researchers (Prof. Kumi Kato, Prof. Michiyo Yoshida, Prof. Yuji Yashima, A/Prof. Adam Doering and Dr Hayato Nagai) from Wakayama University’s Center for Tourism Research (CTR) presented their papers at the 27th Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) annual conference hosted by University of Otago in New Zealand between 7 and 10 February 2017. Two students from Wakayama University, Mr. Ricardo Nicolas Progano and Ms. Saori Iwanaga also attended the conference and presented their work. During the four-day conference, the CTR researchers actively discussed and exchange their research ideas with researchers from around the world including Wakayama University’s three Distinguished University Professors, Prof. Graham Miller (University of Surry, UK), Prof. Tom Hinch (University of Alberta, Canada) and Prof. Brent Ritchie (University of Queensland, Australia).

The CAUTHE is one of the most active international academic associations in the field of tourism and hospitality in the world and publishes one of the leading international journals ‘Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management’. This year’s conference attracted more than 250 researchers and about 200 papers were presented during the conference.

Presented papers that Wakayama University’s researchers were involved:

• ?Spiritual tourism trends in Japanese pilgrimage routes: The case of Kumano Kodo (Ricardo Nicolas Progano)
• ?Surf City Miyazaki: A genealogy of surf tourism development in rural Japan (Adam Doering)
• ?The early emergence of Japanese DMOs: Exploratory insights from Miyazaki, Japan (Hayato Nagai, Adam Doering, Yuji Yashima)
• ?Transforming the image of a former industrial area with art projects: The case of Kitakagaya, Osaka, Japan (Saori Iwanaga, Kurumi Shimakawa, Michiyo Yoshida)
• ?Enmusubi tourism: Commercial and regional development in Izumo city, Japan (Michiyo Yoshida)
• Loss, hope and world heritage: Narratives of endings and beginnings along Japan’s Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail (Adam Doering, Hazel Tucker, Kumi Kato)

¡ôCAUTHE Annual Conference 2017 official website: http://www.otago.ac.nz/cauthe2017/index.html

¡ôCAUTHE official website: http://cauthe.org/