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ABOUT TEFI

Tourism Education Futures Initiative 

In 2006, the TEFI network was formed and the first conference was convened at Modul University in Vienna a year later. Since this time, TEFI has gained both momentum and a reputation for being the leading-edge network for innovation in tourism education.

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Our Journey

2006 Beginnings

TEFI was born in a conversation between Professors Pauline Sheldon and Dan Fesenmaier

2008 Honalulu, Hawai'i

An Academy of Hope

2007 Vienna, Austria

Tourism Education Futures

Professors Pauline Sheldon and Dan Fesenmaier convened the first conference at Modul University, Vienna, with a focus on the need for change in tourism education.

2010 San Sebastian, Spain

Tools for Change

2009 Lugano, Switzerland

A Values-based Tourism Curriculum

2011 Philadelphia, USA

Activating Change in Tourism

2011 India

Vision, values and principles in tourism education

2012 Milan, Italy

Transformational Leadership

2013 Oxford, UK

Global Citizenship, Lives of Consequence

2014 Guelph, Canada

Transformational Leadership

2016 Kamloops, Canada

The Disruptive Power of Caring

2014 Nepal Walking Workshop

Tourism and Social Entrepreneurship

2016 Nepal Walking Workshop, Nepal

Tourism and Social Entrepreneurship

2017 Nepal Walking Workshop, Nepal

Tourism and Social Entrepreneurship

2017 Copenhagen, Denmark

Building our stories, co-creating tourism futures

2020 Vietnam Walking Workshop, Vietnam

Tourism and social enterprise

2018 Rovaniemi, Finland

Knowing with Nature: Tourism and the Anthropocene

2020 Virtual Conference

Re-purposing tourism
Amid global disruption, this online gathering reimagined tourism’s role in a post-pandemic world.

2022 - Virtual Conference

About
Our Journey
Intentionally co-creating holistic caring spaces (For post-graduate students and early career researchers)

2025 - 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: 𝗥𝗲-𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆

2023 - Virtual Conference

Slowing Down Tourism Practice and Scholarship in the era of the Anthropocene (Virtual)
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3rd Symposium: Slowing Down to Re-Humanize the Tourism Academy partnered with Tourism RESET, Critical Tourism Studies, Leisure Studies Association, and the Geographies of Leisure and Tourism Research Group (GLTRG).

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Over the years, our friends and colleagues have laid out the foundation for what TEFI is today. We are incredibly grateful for their work.

 

Our future relies on a diverse, robust, flourishing community of learners who believe passionately in a different future for tourism. So we call all learners, educators, coaches and mentors to stand up, join our community, and take action to secure a sustainable, responsible and inclusive future for tourism. 

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