Prof. Dr. Dagmar Lund-Durlacher
Dagmar Lund-Durlacher is Professor for Sustainable Tourism Management and currrently serves as Executive Director of the Institute for Tourism Sustainability (ITS) in Vienna. She is also affiliated with Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development and works as Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Sustainable Tourism (ZENAT) in Berlin.
Her current work focuses on sustainable tourism, destination transformation, tourism sustainability measurement, data-driven tourism management, and capacity building for destinations, professionals and institutions.
She has extensive experience in higher education, organisational leadership and university administration. At Modul University Vienna, she led the Department of Tourism and Services Management from the university’s opening in 2007 until 2019 and served as Dean of the Undergraduate School from 2007 to 2015. Previously, she directed a market research institute in Berlin from 1996 to 2004 and was Professor for Tourism Management at the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde from 2004 to 2007.
She completed her doctoral studies at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, focusing on market research and tourism. She is well connected in the international scientific community and is a member of several scientific associations. From 2010 to 2014, she served as acting Chair of the BEST Education Network.
Prof. Dr. Lund-Durlacher provides extensive services and training to the academic and industry communities. She regularly participates in international expert teams for quality assurance of international tourism and hospitality programs. She is also part of advisory and expert groups of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Tourism, UNEP (UN Environment Program), UNWTO (UN World Tourism Organization) and Futouris and regularly conducts training courses on sustainable tourism. Her public speaking, writing and research focuses on Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility as a transformative force towards sustainable tourism development and measuring the sustainability of tourism as well as climate change, circular economy, and sustainable food issues in the tourism and hospitality industry. She is currently engaged in international research and expert services related to smart tourism, data collection, sharing and analysis, climate change and sustainable food operations in tourism.
Professional Record
2023 – Founding Member, Centre for Sustainable Tourism (ZENAT e.V.), Berlin, Germany (former Centre for Sustainable Tourism at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development.
2021 – Executive Director, Senior Researcher, Institute for Tourism Sustainability GmbH, Vienna, Austria.
2007 – Professor, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany
2007 – 2021 Full Professor, Department Head, Dean of the Undergraduate School, Modul University Vienna, Department of Tourism and Service Management, Vienna, Austria.
2004 – 2007 Professor for Tourism Economics and Marketing, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Department of Economics, Germany.
1995 – 2004 Managing Director and Researcher, Institute for Tourism and Market Research, Berlin & Lecturer, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
1992 – 1995 General Secretary, Austrian Society of Applied Research in Tourism (ÖGAF), Vienna, Austria.
1990 Research Fellow, University of Central Florida, Department of Hospitality Management, Orlando, USA.
1987 – 1995 Assistant Professor, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies, Vienna, Austria.
Education
1989 PhD in Socio-economic Sciences, Vienna University of Business and Economics, Vienna, Austria.
1986 Magister rer.soc.oec, Business Administration with a specialization on Tourism and Leisure, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.
Community Engagement
Board Member of the Travel Industry Club Tourismus (TICT)
Austrian SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Ambassador appointed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions, and Tourism (BMLRT)
Member of UN World Travel Organization (UNWTO) Working Group “Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism”
Expert Council member at the UN Environmental Programs (UNEP), Sustainable Consumption and Production Unit, Paris
Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of Futouris
Executive Committee Member of BEST EN – Building Excellence for Sustainable Tourism Education Network (Chair 2010 – 2014).
Honours and awards
BEST EN Outstanding Paper Award 2018 at the annual BEST EN (Building Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Education Network) Think Tank, 2018 “Can Direct Communication at the Point of Consumption Reduce the Attitude-Behavior Gap regarding Food Waste in Hotels?”, together with Hannes Antonschmidt.
ISTTE Best Paper Award 2012 at the annual conference of the International Society of Travel & Tourism Educators (ISTTE), 2012 for “A holistic approach for sustainable tourism education: an example from a European University”.
Sustainability Award 2012, 3rd place in the category ‘Teaching and Curriculum, International Co-operations’ presented
by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research for the co-development and participation in the “TEFI Global Tourism Course”.
Fulbright Scholar.