Festival and Event Tourism: Building Resilience and Promoting Sustainability

Dr Sharma is an Associate Professor in the Department of Commerce and Management, University of Kota, Kota, Rajasthan, India. In 2015, she received a Research Award from the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, for her project "Analysis of the Status of Tourism in Hadoti and Shekhawati Region/Circuit (Rajasthan): Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Prospects." Her doctorate from the University of Rajasthan is in Tourism Marketing, and she completed her dissertation research on Tourism in Rajasthan - Progress & Prospects. She has two postgraduate degree specialties: International Business (Master of International Business) and Business Administration (Master of Commerce). Her particular interest areas are Tourism, Tourism Marketing, Strategic Management, and International Business Management. She has edited six books to date and authored a further two. A member of 17 professional bodies, she has attended a number of national and international conferences and presented 45 papers, and has been invited as a keynote speaker to events in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Dr Sharma also handles training sessions at the Rajasthan Police Academy in Jaipur, on such topics as Change Management, Communication Skills, Gender Discrimination, and Personality Development.

Dr Kumar is Senior Lecturer in the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events, Taylor's University, Malaysia. His doctorate is from Taylor's University in Hospitality and Tourism, with research on economic impacts of business events in Malaysia. He has two postgraduate degree specialties; Professional Master's in Hospitality Management and International Tourism from University of Toulouse, France and the other in Business Administration (MBA - Marketing) form Hamdard University, Pakistan. His research areas include Economic Impacts, Economic Modelling, MICE, Medical Tourism, Behavioural Studies. He has worked on consultancy and research projects at the national level and authored 35+ publications including research articles and book chapters. He is an active member of several national and international associations, conference and journals. He has attended/presented a number of papers in national and international conferences. Recently he has offered webinar session of numerous universities in Philippines, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

Bakhodir Turaev, PhD is a professor in the Department of General Professional and Special Disciplines, Silk Road International University of Tourism Samarkand, Uzbekistan. His doctorate from Tashkent State Economic University is in Management and Marketing. He has published books on five books, and attended a number of national, regional and international conferences, presenting 60 papers and acting as keynote speaker. He has served as a visiting professor in universities across Russia, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan.

Priyakrushna Mohanty is an U.G.C. Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Tourism Studies,          Garden City University, India. He is an awardee of the prestigious Travel Corporation (India) Gold Medal for his outstanding performance in Master's Degree in Tourism Studies from Pondicherry University, India. He also holds a Master's Degree in Commerce along with three PG Diploma Degrees in Rural Development, Research Methodology, and Teaching Skills. He has served the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. for two years following which he was recruited as a Guest Faculty in the Dept. of Tourism Studies, Pondicherry University. He has published more than fifteen articles and chapters in both international and national journals and edited books. Mr. Mohanty is passionate about academic areas of Tourism Sustainability, Sustainable Livelihood, Technology, and Tourism along with Gender issues in Tourism Development.