John Fletcher

John is an internationally renowned economist, highly regarded for his pioneering work in tourism impact and development research.

He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters including co-author of the leading textbook, Tourism Principles & Practice, now being drafted in its 5th edition. He is also the Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Tourism Research. John is a Fellow of the Tourism Society and a Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism (IAST). Prior to BU, John was Head of Research and Postgraduate Programmes at the University of Surrey and Director of the Institute of Economic Research, University of Wales, where he undertook his PhD in Economics.

John’s research interests span tourism development, impacts, economic model building, terrorism and climate change. His specialist knowledge of small island economies has taken him all over the world to some of the remotest and most exotic places on the planet.

His work has been endorsed by the World Tourism Organisation, the World Travel and Tourism Council, the World Bank, the EU, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He’s also presented to the House of Commons Select Committee on the scope and accuracy of tourism statistics in the UK and provided keynote presentations to Westminster.

One of John’s proudest moments was creating the International Centre for Tourism & Hospitality Research in 1996, to help attract and nurture future generations of postgraduate researchers, “something that will carry on long after I have retired”. He was also responsible for setting up BU’s Graduate School in 2002, which offers training and support for PhD students across the University.