ATMC

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• Programme
• Namur

Advances in
Tourism Marketing Conference

About ATMC

Following the success of the previous conferences held throughout Europe, the 8th ATMC (Advances in Tourism Marketing Conference) will be hosted by the University of Namur (NADI-Center for Research on Consumption and Leisure). In line with the former conferences, this eight ATMC aims to explore, analyze, and evaluate the state of the art in tourism marketing from an international perspective and bring together academic researchers, policy makers and practitioners, and provide a forum for the discussion and dissemination of themes related to the tourism system under a marketing and consumer behavior approach. In addition to this general goal, each ATMC conference proposes a topical theme in order to provide both scholars and practitioners with an opportunity to engage and explore that theme in a series of focal discussions.

Conference Theme

ATMC 2019 will focus on “Marketing for more sustainable and collaborative tourism”. Since the financial crisis of 2008, the tourism industry has been increasing more than ever before. According the WTO, tourism demand has tripled in the two last decades to reach 1.326 billions international tourist arrivals in 2017. Global tourism is expected to continue to grow in the next future as a larger number of aspiring travelers become more prosperous and their disposable income increases. The sector is expected to outperform the global economy in the next 10 years, increasing by an estimated 4% on average annually. Of course, such an evolution creates huge impacts from an environmental, economic, and societal perspectives. Tourism marketing should evolve and advance to rise up to these new challenges and opportunities.

More particularly, ATMC 2019 in Namur seeks to address two major challenges for the tourism industry. On the one hand, tourism marketing is more and more criticized as exploitative and fueling hedonistic consumerism. However, marketing skills and techniques can also be used for the good purpose, by understanding market needs, designing more sustainable products and identifying more persuasive methods of communication to transform tourist unsustainable behaviors. Papers presenting theories, methods and results for enhancing such a more sustainable marketing are particularly welcome. On the other hand, this conference intends to focus on the sharing/collaborative economy, which is affecting tourism to a large extent. Collaborative business models, with champions as Airbnb or Uber, are often presented as more sustainable than traditional ones, as they empower ordinary people and promote the shared use of resources. However, sharing practices in business raises new social challenges and ethical questions (Schor, 2014). Among the issues underlined by researchers and observers, we can quote governance problems (Malhotra & Van Alstyne, 2014), threats on traditional employment (Sundararajan, 2016), digital discrimination (Hardin & Luca, 2014), practices at the limit of laws and regulations (Katz, 2015), and uncertain impact on sustainability (Martin, 2016).

Conceptual and empirical papers are welcome. Contributions may be from both positivist and interpretive traditions, using qualitative and/or quantitative approaches. Laboratory or field experiments, longitudinal studies and CCT (Consumer Culture Theory) approaches are particularly welcome for a richer understanding of tourism and leisure choices and behaviors.

Venue

The conference will be hosted by the University of Namur in Belgium. Namur, capital of Wallonia, is a stone's throw from Brussels, in the heart of the European Union. The charming surroundings of a beautiful Province provide you with a welcoming setting. Namur is easily accessible by plane, train or car. Namur is close to three international airports (Brussels: 60 kms; Brussels-South: 40kms; Liège: 50 kms). London, Paris, Lille, Luxemburg, Rotterdam, Cologne are less than 3 hours away both by car or by train. All questions about the conference and submissions should be emailed to atmc2019@unamur.be

We are looking forward to seeing you in Namur!

Greetings from the ATMC President