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Professor Elisa Zentveld

Professor, Social Justice

Contact

Campus

Mt Helen Campus

Biography

Elisa Zentveld, PhD, is a professor of social justice at Federation University. She is a multi-disciplinary expert with a focus on tourism and family violence. Elisa is a TEQSA panel expert and has also been an Australian Research Council ERA reviewer and an Australian Awards for University Teaching winner and reviewer. 

Her tourism research contributions have led to her induction into the International Urban Tourism Research Hall of Fame. She has also received 14 awards to recognise her outstanding contribution to tourism research and education, and is on the editorial boards of 11 journals. Her main research interests are Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel, family tourism and family violence. 

Fields of research

  • Crime and social justice
  • Sociology of family and relationships
  • Tourist behaviour and visitor experience

Available for

HDR Supervision

Professional Comment

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More about Elisa

Qualifications

  • PhD, Southern Cross University 
  • Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (Learning & Teaching), Southern Cross University 
  • Bachelor of Business in Tourism (Honours), Southern Cross University 
  • Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Studies, University of New England 
  • Bachelor of Economics, University of New England

Areas of interest

  • Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel 
  • Family tourism 
  • Family violence 
  • Regional development 
  • Tourism systems 
  • Academic freedom 
  • Partial industrialisation in tourism 

Areas of expertise

Elisa is ranked number one in the world for expertise in Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel (based on both citations and volume of publications). She has particular expertise in the interrelationship between family violence and tourism. Family violence spikes during peak holiday times, which is an under-researched area.  

Awards

International and national 

  • 2015: Certificate of ‘outstanding contribution in reviewing’ from Tourism Management Perspectives 
  • 2015: Certificate of ‘outstanding contribution in reviewing’ from Tourism Management 
  • 2014: Conference paper (topic: VFR travel) was in the ‘top three best papers’ out of 250 papers at the Global Tourism & Hospitality Conference, Hong Kong 
  • 2014: Recipient of ‘Fellows Award’ by Council of Australasian University Tourism & Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) – an award given to an academic from Australia or New Zealand who is seen to have made the greatest contribution to Australasian tourism and hospitality education and/or research from those who have been nominated  
  • 2013: Office for Learning and Teaching Citation – national award to recognise outstanding contribution to student learning  
  • 2012: Australian National Competitive Research Symposium (third place in Arts, education, business division at national heats) 
  • 2012: Award recipient of ‘Early Career Researcher Bursary Winner’ by Council of Australasian University Tourism & Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) 

Local 

  • 2016: Recipient of the ‘Award for Quality in Research’ in Federation Business School 
  • 2014: Recipient of the ‘Vice-Chancellor Award for Teaching Excellence’  
  • 2014: Australian National Competitive Research Symposium (first place in local heats) 
  • 2012: Recipient of ‘Vice-Chancellor Citation Award’ to recognise outstanding contribution to student learning  
  • 2012: Australian National Competitive Research Symposium (equal first place in Arts, education, business division at local heats)  
  • 2011: Second prize – ‘Best oral presentation’ University of Ballarat Annual Research Conference  
  • 2009: Recipient of ‘Most Outstanding Teacher’ award, University of Ballarat School of Business 

Current

  • PhD student, Federation University, ‘Worklife balance for women’, principal supervisor.

Past

  • PhD student, Federation University, 'Comparative analysis of Motivational Factors of Chinese and non-Chinese tourists visiting Melbourne', principal supervisor.  
  • PhD student, Federation University, 'Visiting Friends and Relative (VFR) Travel in Australia: An examination of the role of VFR hosts', principal supervisor. 
  • PhD student, Federation University, 'Feature Film: Script driven production methodology', principal supervisor.  
  • Honours student, Federation University, 'An examination into the use and management of social media in a sporting organisation context', supervisor.  
  • Honours student, Federation University, 'Beyond the brochure: Impacts of mobile web technologies for Australian regional tourism organisations', supervisor. 
  • Honours student, Federation University, 'Ballarat’s tourism in 2020: How demographic changes will influence tourism industries', supervisor. 
  • Honours student, Federation University, 'Victorian State Emergency Service (VICSES) controllers and their opinions on volunteer retention', supervisor. 

  • Tourism 
  • Events 
  • Management 
  • Marketing 
  • Business communications 
  • Family violence 
  • Human resource management 

Specialist roles

  • TEQSA panel expert 
  • Past Chair, Academic Board, Federation University 

Journal editorial board memberships 

  • Tourism Management 
  • International Journal for Tourism Research 
  • Tourism Analysis 
  • International Journal of Tourism Cities – Theme editor VFR travel 
  • Tourism Review 
  • eReview of Tourism Research 
  • Journal of Vacation Marketing 
  • Smart Tourism 
  • Tourism and Hospitality 
  • International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management 
  • Tourism Critiques

Media engagement

  • Publications

Academic freedom: You can discuss any flavour you like, as long as it is vanilla

Tourism and Other Disciplines: Shall We Dance?

Family violence on family holidays: the Christmas gift nobody wants