Chris Cooper is Professor in the Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University in the UK. He gained his undergraduate degree and PhD in Geography from University College, London.
Chris has more than forty years’ experience in tourism and hospitality and has worked as a researcher and teacher in every region of the world. He gained experience in tour operation working for Thomson Travel before returning to academic life. He spent 10 years at the University Surrey, before moving to Australia to establish the School of Tourism at the University of Queensland. On return to the UK, he was Dean of business and Pro-Vice Chancellor International at Oxford Brookes University.
Chris co-founded of Progress in Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation Research and the International Journal of Tourism Research and is now the Co-Editor of Current Issues In Tourism. He is a member of the editorial board for leading tourism, hospitality and leisure journals and has authored a number of leading text and research books in tourism, including ‘Essentials of Tourism’ for Sage. He is the co-series editor of the influential Channel View book series ‘Aspects of Tourism’.
Chris works with international agencies including the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the European Union, the International Labour Organization, the OECD, the Inter American Development Bank and ASEAN. He held the Chair of the UNWTO’s Education Council from 2005 – 2007 and was awarded the United Nations Ulysses Medal for contributions to tourism education and policy in 2009.
