Our People

Steve Noakes

A leading Asia Pacific advocate for sustainable tourism practices, Steve is the founding Chairman of Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd. He has been involved in projects funded by the private sector and multi-lateral and bi-lateral agencies (WB, IFC, ILO, UNWTO, ADB, APEC, PATA, AUSAID, NZ AID, GTZ) and Governments at the National, State/Provincial and local area.

He currently serves on the Board of Ecolodges Indonesia (Bali, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Flores) and on the Board of the Washington DC based Global Sustainable Tourism Council in 2010/2011.  Member of the UNWTO World Committee on Tourism Ethics (Madrid) from 2007/2011 and continues active engagement on international projects with the UNWTO Themis Foundation for education & training. He has been a 30 year member of the Bangkok based Pacific Asia Travel Association, serving numerous terms on the PATA Board, Industry Council, Committees on Sustainable Tourism and Education and making voluntary contributions as Chair of PATA Task Forces.

Steve has served as an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University and the University of Queensland and is now a Senior Lecturer in Tourism at CQUniversity-Australia (www.cqu.edu.au). He has an extensive background in commercial project collaboration with leading academics & researchers in sustainable tourism throughout the world.

In Australia, he is an active Australian Partner with the AusAID sponsored Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development program (www.ayad.com.au) placing 18 to 30 year Australian volunteers on tourism related projects around the Pacific Asia region. In 2008, he was presented with the inaugural Ecotourism Australia ECOTOURISM MEDAL, recognizing his extensive 30 years active engagement in the Australian and international industry – particularly his interest and experience in ecotourism and the broader sustainable tourism development agenda.

Dr Paul Rogers

Paul is a Senior Associate of Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd. He has firmly established a professional reputation both in Asia Pacific, and globally in the fields of Sustainable Tourism Development, Tourism Planning and Development, and Tourism Policy development.

Paul is a highly valued contributor to both the research and practice of applying tourism as an effective tool to address the Millennium Development Goals, especially in relation to sustainable development, poverty alleviation and gender equity issues. His PhD studies in South Asia continue to provide foundations for leading-edge research into community-based tourism in developing economies and the preparation of (eco) tourism strategies to promote socio-economic development and the conservation of natural and cultural heritage in rural and protected areas. His academic work and hands-on in-field experiences have been recognised for their international significance from a range of donor, government, research and industry agencies including SNV (Netherlands), DFID (UK), GTZ (Germany), JICA (Japan), NZ AID, (New Zealand), AusAID (Australia), the UNWTO, the Pacific Asia Travel Association, IUCN (World Conservation Union) and the United Nations Development Programme.

Suzanne Noakes

Suzanne is one of those rare people who actually manage to deliver the nett benefits of international tourism into remote villages in many regions throughout Papua New Guinea, West Papua, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and other island nations in the South Pacific, Micronesia and South East Asia.

She has been in the service industry for 30 years and guiding expeditions into the cultures and places of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia for over 20 years. Most often the discerning clients on her expeditions with US based tour operators are from the Alumnis of the major Ivy League Universities from the USA. (www.asiatranspacific.com/ATJ/about/field-staff.aspx)  Suzanne is is attuned to the opportunities as well as the pressures of western influences and global markets on tribal kastom. For over 20 years, she has raised funds to support the supply of essential first aid resources, supplies for schools throughout Melanesia and provided funding for local people to receive training as teachers in village schools. For some of Suzanne’s Melanesian photos, go to https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AZ4ZhbjwUQsEZHdicmZ3Yl84ZGRrZng3OHo&hl=en

She conducts highly commended customer service and guide training programs (www.qtic.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=603&Itemid=298)  She also designs and operates walking trips into the world’s national parks with International Park Tours (www.parktours.com.au). Suzanne is part-owner of Ecolodges Indonesia (www.ecolodgesindonesia.com) operating wildlife conservation lodges in remote areas of Indonesia and a shareholder of Binna Burra Mountain Lodge in the Lamington National Park, Australia (www.binnaburralodge.com.au).

Dr Johannes Bauer

Johannes has worked for over 30 years in research, management and policy development for natural resources utilisation and protection as they apply to sustainable tourism, biology, wildlife management and forestry.

He is a member of Expert Panel for the International Council for Game and Wildlife and university lecturer in wildlife management, freshwater biology and conservation biology. His research interests in integrated conservation and development and conservation on production land (agriculture, pastoralism, tourism, forestry, hydrodevelopment), population and restoration ecology.Involved in more than 150 publications/research reports.

He has also contributed to numerous international tourism projects in China, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, PNG (REDD), Vietnam and India funded by national Governments, industry and development agencies including IUCN, UNEP, UNDP, GTZ and WWF.

Professor Jack Carlsen

Professor Carlsen has a PhD in Economics. He  is currently Chair in Tourism Studies at Curtin University, Western Australia, Co-Director of the Curtin Sustainable Tourism Centre and Program Leader of the Sustainable Enterprises research program for the Sustainable Tourism CRC in Australia.

Dr Carlsen has extensive tourism research experience in the university and private sector, which includes tourism development, planning and management. He has an excellent research track record, which has produced more than 100 scholarly publications on various topics related to tourism development and evaluation.

He has been Director of his own consultancy, Tourism Research Services since 1991 and undertaken research with the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre. Dr Carlsen was also the Chief Technical Expert leading the team that produced the Maldives Third Tourism Master Plan in 2006 and has extensive knowledge of Indian Ocean Regional tourism, particularly in island states.

Dr Frederic Thomas

Dr Thomas has a PhD in Economics (Distribution of the tourism rent and sustainable development) from the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis (IDEFI: ìnstitut du droit et économie de la firme et de l’industrie).  Specializes in tourism impact and sector analysis and market development strategies. Has extensive international development project engagement South East Asia, West Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.  Combines technical expertise in social and economic evaluation of tourism and development encompassing purely quantitative and economic approaches of tourism (demand and supply) as qualitative and social approaches. He has worked with international organizations including the International Trade Centre, UNCTAD, World Bank – FIAS, IFC, MPDF – Asian Development Bank, UNESCO several international NGOs and Think Tanks. His work has included studies on tourism impacts (LEI, PPI), yields and competitiveness, defining tourism market development strategies, studying socio-economic livelihood patterns and improving the understanding of economic related behavioral changes in developing economies.

Dr Pallavi Mandke

Pallavi has been involved in consulting, research and teaching in the areas of social development and tourism development for over 15 years. She has experience and skills in social impact assessment, stakeholder engagement, community consultations, community development, tourism and poverty reduction, community based tourism development and sustainable tourism management. She has worked on small community based projects as well as large infrastructure projects funded by CIDA, ADB, UNEP, UNESCAP and private organisations. She has managed projects in several countries in Asia such as India, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR and in Australia and has an understanding of multi-cultural issues and the need for culturally appropriate techniques required for development work. She has worked with multi-stakeholder and inter-disciplinary teams at local, national and international levels.

Dr Trevor Sofield

Dr Trevor Sofield is a senior tourism researcher, consultant and former Diplomat throughout the Pacific Asia region. He has extensive internationall project experience in China, the Mekong, the Pacific and South Asia including projects funded by a wide range of multi-lateral and bilateral development agencies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, AusAID, UNDP, the UN World Tourism Organisation, industry and national governments. He is a prolific author of tourism related books, chapters, Journal articles and conference papers.

Dr Sarah Fung Me Li

Dr Sarah Fung Me Li has worked on a variety of tourism research and consultancy projects in Asia Pacific based in China, Australia, Cambodia and Vietnam. In Cambodia she played a leading role in developing a plan for the Southern Tourism Corridor and Coastal Scenic Touring Route. She has been involved as an international expert for over a dozen consultancies on tourism planning and development in China, ranging from the formulation of an ecotourism strategy for nature reserves in Yunnan Province to Tourism Master Plans for Hubei and Hunan Provinces, Huangshan, and tourism development planning for Wolong National Nature Reserve (home of the giant panda) and Tibet.