Francisco Dias Professor
Francisco Dias works as an adjunct professor for the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (Portugal), where he holds the positions of teacher and coordinator of the Bachelor's degree in Tourist Entertainment in its Campus 4 - Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar. He also collaborates as a teacher for the International post graduation of Branding and Business at UNIVATES, located in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
He directs the EJTHR magazine – European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation (www.ejthr.com) – and was a coordinator at the GITUR – Grupo de Investigação em Turismo do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria (Polytechnic Institute of Leiria’s Tourism Research Group) – between 2010 and 2013.
He is also part of the editorial board of various scientific publications, such as: Current Issues of Tourism Research, COGITUR – Journal of Tourism Studies, Journal of Tourism and Services, and Brandtrends, Journal of Strategic Communication and Branding.
On top of all of the above, he is also involved in the creation of the Euro-Asia Tourism Studies Association, and in the organization of various international scientific conferences throughout several different countries: the 2nd International Conference of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, at the city of Poznan, Poland (May 19-21, 2014), the 6th International Tourism Congress, at the Sultanate of Oman, from the 2nd to the 4th of December, 2014, and the 1st EATSA International Conference – Taiwan, from the 12th to the 15th of June, 2015.
As a researcher, Francisco Dias participates in the creation of network projects, both at a national level – with an emphasis for the ONAT (National Obervatory for the Touristic Animation Activities: www.onat.ipleiria.pt – and also at a global level, namely the creation of DBI (Destination Brabdin Index).
Notwithstanding, he is still able to find some extra time to run the ART&TUR – Festival Internacional de Filmes de Turismo (International Festival for Tourism Movies), which will be host in the city of Porto.
His interests in investigation are focused on the socio-anthropological and psychosocial aspects of tourism, specifically: imagery, touristic motivation, social representations, destination brands and touristic entertainment.