Young academics at the International Federation for IT in Travel & Tourism

At just 30 years old, Dr. Lidija Lalicic of the Department of Tourism and Service Management is making a name for herself in travel and e-tourism research. She recently co-chaired the Doctoral Summer School of the International Federation for IT in Travel & Tourism (IFITT), where she holds the position of IFITT Next Generation Director. She is responsible to engage the younger generation of young academics with the community and join the IFITT events.

This year in cooperation with ISCONTOUR (International Student Conference in Tourism Research) and hosted by the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, the IFITT Doctoral Summer School offers a unique forum for early-career researchers to actively exchange, share and challenge state-of- the-art research and industrial case studies on the application of information and communication technologies to travel and tourism.

In her function as IFITT Next Generation Director, Lidija held a keynote speech providing insights about the life of a young academic. She joined the panel discussion with Dr. Lorenzo Cantoni (Universita' della Svizzera Italiana), Dr. Neuhofer (FH Salzburg) and Dr. Clemens Költringer (Vienna Tourists Board) discussing the career possibilities and challenges for graduates.

''The IFITT Doctoral Summer School is a great event for PhD students to present their work, get the best insights from the field, and share experiences. It was a honor to give a key note and inspire the PhD students and represent the IFITT community as well,'' says Lidija. ''It's important to engage early career academics and foster a dialogue of the challenges we have to solve for the future.''

Overall, more than 150 participants from 35 nationalities participated in the conference and discussed their latest research in the field of e-tourism. For more information about IFITT visit the homepage, and for more information about the yearly ISCONTOUR see here.

Photo L-R: ISCONTOUR co-founder Roman Egger (Salzburg University of Applied Sciences), Dr. Lalicic, Dr. Neuhofer, and Prof. Cantoni