Professor Marina Novelli

Professor of Tourism and International Development University of Brighton

  • Brighton England

She is committed to generating new knowledge on ways in which tourism can play a key role in sustainable development.

Contact

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Areas of Expertise

Travel Policy
Tourism in Africa
International Tourism
Sustainable Tourism
International Development
Cultural Impacts of Tourism

Biography

Professor Marina Novelli is Professor of Tourism and International Development in the School of Sport and Service Management at the University of Brighton. She is committed to generating new knowledge on ways in which tourism can play a key role in sustainable development by stimulating local economies, conserving the environment, developing people and changing lives. Her work has demonstrated to have impact far beyond tourism by contributing to more effective economic growth, improved environments and more inclusive societies. She is the recipient of a special “Africa Tourism Leadership Award” in recognition of her contribution to sustainable tourism development in Africa.

With a background in economics, Marina has written and advised extensively in the field of international tourism policy, planning, development and management in Africa, Europe and Asia, for institutions such as the World Bank, the EU, UNESCO, UNIDO, the UNWTO, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, National Ministries and Tourism Boards, Regional Development Agencies and NGOs. Her areas of expertise include: diagnostic, monitoring and evaluation studies; sustainable development; value chain diversification; community-based development; training needs analysis, workforce capacity building, train-the trainers programmes and curriculum development; governance and institutional development; service standards and optimisation in tourism and hospitality.

Media Mentions

Travel with a vengeance after Covid-19

The Straits Times  online

2020-05-31

Tourism professor Marina Novelli, from England's University of Brighton, does not foresee a quick recovery for tourism.

"There will be people who may return to travel as soon as they are able to do so once the pandemic is declared over and borders reopen," she says.

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Airbnb kicks off host registration roadshow in UK cities

Short Term Rentalz  online

2020-02-17

The company has since appointed Dr. Marina Novelli, professor of tourism and international development at the University of Brighton, as an independent academic advisor for the project, and BritainThinks to support the coordination of the nine roundtables, manage an online form for digital submissions, and develop a white paper of recommendations that will be presented to the government in June.

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Want to See the Mona Lisa? Get in Line

New York Times  online

2019-08-12

The phenomenon now known as overtourism is frustrating everybody: visitors, host institutions and host countries, said Marina Novelli, a professor of tourism at the University of Brighton in England. “This perception that I have the right to travel and go wherever I like, whenever I like, is no longer possible,” she said. “We live in a world that is overcrowded, and travel is equally overcrowded.”

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Multimedia Appearances

Social

Accomplishments

Sustainability Leader for Tourism Development in Africa and Beyond

2019

Africa Tourism Leadership Forum - Special Award for “Contribution to Sustainable Tourism in Africa

2018

University of Brighton Excellence in Community Engagement Award

2016

Education

University of Bari

Ph.D.

Economic Geography

2000

University of Bari

PG.Dip.

Economic Geography and Territorial Planning

1998

University of Bari

PG.Dip.

Teaching Human Geography

1997

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Affiliations

  • Member, West Africa Tourism Organisation
  • Member, Ministry of Tourism and Culture of Ghana and Ghana Tourism Authority
  • Member, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife/Ministry of Tourism
  • Member, National Tourism Board of Sierra Leone
  • Member, Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute

Articles

Power in community-based tourism: empowerment and partnership in Bali

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

2020

In a tourism industry historically dominated by outside influences, the island of Bali has striven for greater local resident involvement. Community-based tourism (CBT) has thereby become an increasingly preferred tourism development approach rooted in promises of more inclusive opportunities for community empowerment, a notion reflected in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Overtourism and degrowth: a social movements perspective

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

2019

Overtourism is a contemporary phenomenon, rapidly evolving and underlined by what is evidently excessive visitation to tourist destinations. This is obvious in the seemingly uncontrolled and unplanned occurrence of urban overtourism in popular destinations and arguably a consequence of unregulated capital accumulation and growth strategies heavily associated with selling cities as tourism commodities.

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Overtourism and tourismphobia: A journey through four decades of tourism development, planning and local concerns

Tourism Planning & Development

2019

Over the past four decades, while the increasing demand for mobility, leisure and unique experiences have been examined as key factors in the growth of tourism, the attendant growth paradigm has historically centered around exponential increments in visitation and this has been at the centre of debates concerning the pressure from and dependence on tourism that has come to characterise destination communities.

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