Welcome to My Website
This website will provide you with an overview of my 35-plus years of experience in tourism research, policy, planning, and education.
I am Professor in the School of Hospitality, Food, and Tourism Management, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada where I teach and advise graduate students on various aspects of tourism. I am also Professor Emeritus in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo; and Associate Editor for "Publications in Review", Annals of Tourism Research.
In addition to my academic responsibilities, I have extensive involvement in the tourism sector. I was the original Chair of the Canadian Tourism Commission's Research Committee, a member of the Waterloo Regional Tourism Marketing Corporation, and have extensive consulting experience with destination marketing organizations, industry associations, and individual tourism enterprises.
Areas of Research
My research covers a diverse range of topics including:
- Tourism statistical systems, including the definition and measure of tourism
- Visitor profiles and statistics
- Economic impacts of tourism
- Tourism Satellite Accounts
- Tourism policy
- Impediments to the growth of tourism
- Benefits and costs of liberalization of trade in tourism services
- Destination marketing organizations
- Culinary tourism
Some of the topics my graduate students are currently working on, under my supervision are:
- Perceptions of risk in the events management industry (Linda Robson)
- The meaning of cruising to senior citizens (Reg Swain)
- Assessing destination competitiveness (Marica Mazurek)
- The development of a culinary tourism destination (Yaduo Hu)
- Visitor perceptions of authenticity versus local realities in connection with “Dracula tourism” in Transylvania (Maria Banyai)
- Airbnb as a form of creative destruction in the accommodation industry (Daniel Guttentag)
I am an Elected Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism and of the International Statistical Institute; I serve as Vice Chair of their Marco Polo Committee on Tourism Statistics. I am active with the International Travel and Tourism Research Association, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, and Slow Food International. I am on several tourism journal editorial boards and book review editor for Annals of Tourism Research.
I may be contacted at:
School of Hospitality, Food, and Tourism Management
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
Tel: 519 824 4120, ext 56319
E-mail: stesmith@uoguelph.ca
This website will provide you with publication details of some of my articles, books, and reports, as well as links to a few of the organizations with which I am involved.
Thank you for visiting!