State funds and legislatively mandated matching private funds provide support for the hiring of world-class researchers to serve as endowed chairs of the centers.

The endowed chair for the SC Center of Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development is Dr. Simon Hudson who joined the University of South Carolina in January 2010. He has held previous academic positions at universities in Canada and England, and has worked as a visiting professor in Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Fiji, New Zealand, the United States, and Australia.

Prior to working in academia, Dr. Hudson spent several years working in the tourism industry in Europe. Dr. Hudson has written five books. His first, written in 2000 called Snow Business, was the first book to be written about the international ski industry, and Sports and Adventure Tourism was published by Haworth in 2003. His third book, Marketing for Tourism and Hospitality: A Canadian Perspective, has sold more than 7,000 copies, and Tourism and Hospitality Marketing: A Global Perspective was published by Sage in 2008. His most recent book called Golf Tourism is the first text for both students and practitioners of this vast and growing worldwide industry. The marketing of tourism is the focus of his research and in addition to the books he has published more than 40 journal articles from his work. Dr. Hudson is frequently invited to international tourism conferences as a keynote speaker. His personal website address is www.tourismgurus.com.