Marianna Sigala is Professor of Marketing and Director of the International Hospitality Academy at the Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Australia. A globally recognized expert in tourism and hospitality management, her research focuses on the application of information technology in the tourism and hospitality sectors. She holds a Google Scholar h-index of 70 with over 26,000 citations, reflecting her outstanding academic impact. A core member of over ten international academic organizations including CAUTHE and IFITT, has chaired Euro-CHRIE, and has received numerous international academic honors, her work provides key theoretical foundations for the global digital transformation of tourism. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SSCI Q1, IF=7.8).

Prof. Cihan Cobanoglu is currently the Provost of Virscend University in Irvine, California. He previously served as Dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the Muma College of Business, University of South Florida, and held the McKibbon Endowed Chair. He also led the M3 Center for Hospitality Technology and Innovation. An internationally recognized expert in hospitality and tourism technology, he is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology (SSCI Q1, IF=6.9), President of the Association of Global Educators (AGE), and recipient of numerous honors including the 2023 International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism Lifetime Achievement Award. His research focuses on technology applications in the hospitality industry, with over 10,000 citations.

Hongmei Zhang is a Professor at Shanghai Normal University and Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Science (旅游科学CSSCI, IF=1.6). Her research focuses on tourist behavior, destination marketing, and national park management. She has led a number of funded research projects, including those funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and published over 120 papers in both Chinese and international journals, including Tourism Management. She has been consecutively listed among Elsevier’s “Most Cited Chinese Researchers” in Business and Management.