Vote for tourism professor Marina Novelli in the upcoming sustainable tourism AACT awards

Professor Marina Novelli has been nominated for a Changemaker Award in the impact category at the upcoming Aviators Africa Conference and Tower (AACT) Awards.

The AACT Awards recognise, celebrate and honour excellence and sustainability within the African aviation and tourism sector. 

Marina teaches tourism and international development at the School of Business and Law. Her research has contributed to changing national tourism policy and training practices across Africa and beyond.

You can vote for Marina on the Aviators Africa website. Voting closes on 25 September, with the awards ceremony taking place between 20 to 22 October.

“This nomination means a lot to me as it comes from colleagues in the African travel and tourism sector, where I’ve spent much of my working life trying to do things differently,” says Marina.

“I’ve been privileged to work with fabulous colleagues and learn from the wisdom of many local practitioners, such as Judy Kepher-Gona who’s also nominated in the sustainability category, which I would encourage colleagues and students to vote for too.

“Judy and I are part of the team working on the British Council – Innovation for African Universities project. Working with people like Judy have dramatically influenced the way I think and operate in my field. 

“I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given over the years by the University of Brighton to travel and work in the continent.” 

Marina is a member of the Centre for Change, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (CENTRIM) and founding member of the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Research Group. She has carried out significant research into tourism industry practices and policy challenges around topical sustainable tourism issues across Africa and Europe.

In Africa, Marina’s research has advanced skills and practices among tourism stakeholders in over 50 destinations, in countries such as Burundi, Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya, Gambia, South Africa and Ghana.

“A lot of the work done over the past 20 years has been captured in our Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact case studies of  2014 and 2021, and I remain committed to forging more fruitful collaborations in the future that will hopefully lead to more learning and impact.” 

Read more about Marina’s research on her University of Brighton profile.