Xavier Font (Reader)
Dr Xavier Font is co-director of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism at Leeds Metropolitan University, and contributor to the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change. In the last five years he has been contracted by UNEP, UNCTAD, WTO, EC, WWF, Ford Foundation and the Travel Foundation amongst others. He has a degree in tourism management from the University of Girona (Spain), masters in tourism marketing from Surrey (UK) and PhD in sustainable tourism certification from Leeds Metropolitan University (UK). Formerly he lectured at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College and was Project Officer for an EU project on forest tourism. His research focuses on the marketing of sustainable tourism, including standard setting and certification, and supply chain management. He has co-authored and co-edited four books and published in a variety of academic journals, including recent papers in Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.
Selected Outputs
Ecotourism certification: potential and challenges. In J. Higham (Ed.) Critical Issues in Ecotourism, Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, 2007
Training needs analysis, sustainable tourism product development, B2B marketing and European tour operator matching for Laos Tour Operator Association and SNV Laos, Trainer, for EU ASIA INVEST. 2006 - 2008.
Sustainable tourism development strategy for Quirimbas National Park, Mozambique. Project for WWF Mozambique. 2006 - 2007.
Tourism and climate change in coastal and marine areas. In S. Gössling & M. Hall (Eds.) Tourism and global environmental change: ecological, social, economic and political interrelationships, London: Routledge: 107-127. (2005) with Craig-Smith, S, Tapper, R.
Sustainable tourism standards in the global economy. In Theobald, W. (Ed) Global tourism, 3rd Ed, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 213-229. (2005)
Which tourism rules? Green standards and GATS, Annals of Tourism Research 31(1) 139-156. with Bendell, J. (2004)
Does Stewardship travel well? Benchmarking accreditation and certification. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 11 121-132 with Skinner, E. and Sanabria, R. (2004)
Sustainable tourism certification marketing and its contribution to SME market access. In R. Black, & A. Crabtree (Eds.), Quality control and certification in ecotourism. Wallingford: CABI. with Epler Wood, M. (forthcoming)