Faculty member wins prestigious award for Smart Cities project SCITHOS

Dr Lidija Lalicic (pictured above left) from the Department of Tourism and Service Management wins the Peter Keller Award 2019 after presenting a co-authored paper regarding SCITHOS (Smart Cities Hospitality).

SCITHOS, an EU funded project with a duration of three years, aims to develop Smart City Hospitality guidelines and tools for cities that could help them find solutions to achieve sustainable tourism. The paper presented by Dr. Lalicic, which is a collaborative effort between multiple universities, includes the innovative method of using serious gaming for the purpose of planning more sustainable destinations.

The paper, which was written together with Dr. Irem Önder (previously of MU Vienna, now working at the University of Massachusetts), Dr. Ko Koens and Dr. Jessika Weber-Sabil (both of the Breda University of Applied Sciences) was recognized for uniting practice and research.

"We are very proud of this achievement and hope to support more cities in transiting into more sustainable places" says Dr. Lalicic.

Dr. Lalicic's latest academic recognition, which was awarded at the 69th AIEST (International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism ) conference in Varna, Bulgaria, comes just one month after winning the Emerald Literati Award in September for her work on Airbnb tourist loyalty.

More information about the SCITHOS project can be found at www.scithos.eu.