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In early October, the first working meeting of the executive of the Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST) took place. This meeting was also attended by two representatives from the Czech Republic, Petr Štumpf and Petr Janeček, who are associate professors at the University of West Bohemia. At the end of August, they were elected to the six-member executive body of the association at the AIEST conference in Bolzano, northern Italy.

They will sit on the board with the newly elected AIEST President Kirstin Hallmann from Germany, Vice President Judit Sulyok from Hungary, and section directors Sara Dolnicar from Australia and Stanislav Ivanov from Bulgaria. "It is a great honour and challenge for me to represent not only the University of West Bohemia and our faculty, but also the whole Czech Republic at this level. AIEST is an international platform with a long tradition, where the first international concepts of tourism as a scientific field were born," says Petr Štumpf from the Faculty of Economics of the University of West Bohemia, who is now the director of the AIEST section for membership and internal relations.

On the other hand, external relations and partnerships with other organisations and institutions in the field will be the main agenda of Petr Janeček, who serves also as an associate professor at the Prague University of Economics and Business. "Long-term partnerships with important institutions in the industry, such as the World Tourism Organization UN Tourism or the European Travel Commission, can be very beneficial for the development of our association. I would also like to establish more intensive cooperation with national organisations bringing scientific capacities in tourism together," explains Petr Janeček, Director of AIEST Partnerships Section and Chairman of the Czech Society of Scientific Experts in Tourism SVECR at the same time.

For at least the next three years, the Czech Republic, as well as the University of West Bohemia, will be the only country and university to have one-third representation in the executive body of this important international organisation in the field of tourism. Founded seventy-three years ago in Switzerland, AIEST is the longest-established international organisation of its kind in the world and currently brings together scientists and experts from every continent. 

Contacts:
doc. Ing. Petr Štumpf, Ph.D., phone: 776 732 662, email: stumpf@fek.zcu.cz
doc. Ing. Petr Janeček, Ph.D., phone: 777 111 174, email: janecp00@fek.zcu.cz