The 6th  International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA) Biennial conference was held at the University of Greenwich, London, UK from 17-19 August 2016 and attracted 130 international delegates.

This was the first time that the conference had been held in Europe and it provided a unique opportunity to meet, hear from and network with tourism scholars and professionals from Asia, Australasia, North and South America and Europe on a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Europe's most visited tourism city.

Conference themes

The main theme of the conference was 'Tourism in Contemporary Cities' with the four conference sub-themes of:

Tourism cities and urban tourism

Urban tourism; tourism around major metropolitan regions; destination management; destination marketing; events in tourism cities; tourism planning; MICE sector

The Chinese market for European tourism

Tourist typologies; marketing; destination welcome; host-guest relations; product development; impacts studies; public policy; workforce development; innovation in tour operations.

River, cruise and maritime tourism

Sustainability; impacts studies; coastal tourism; island tourism; cruise operations; destination management; destination marketing; product development; water sports tourism.

Heritage tourism in cities

Tourism in UNESCO World Heritage Convention sites; cultural heritage tourism; sustainability; conservation; visitor management; education; innovations in technology.

These themes were chosen to reflect the unique location of the 6th ITSA conference on the UNESCO Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.

Sponsors and partners

Conference sponsors and partners included:

Visit Greenwich

City Cruises

Royal Museums Greenwich