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 of Economic Excellence.

The endowed chair for the S.C. 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, Hudson spent several years working in the tourism industry in Europe. Hudson has written six books. His first, written in 2000 and 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 10,000 copies, and "Tourism and Hospitality Marketing: A Global Perspective" was published by Sage in 2008. His 2010 book, "Golf Tourism," was the first text written about this vast and growing worldwide industry, and his latest book focuses on customer service in the tourism and hospitality sector. The marketing of tourism is the focus of his research, and in addition to the books, he has published over 50 journal articles from his work. Hudson is frequently invited to international tourism conferences as a keynote speaker. His personal website address is www.tourismgurus.com.

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Simon Hudson, Director
Center of Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development

College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
Phone: 803-777-2705

Email: shudson@hrsm.sc.edu

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