Professor Ross K. Dowling

BSc, MSc (Hons) [Auckland], PhD [Murdoch], Grad Dip Ed Admin [Deakin], Dip Tchg, Dip Sec Tchg, Dip Rec & Spt [NZ]
Foundation Professor and Head of Tourism

Contact Information

Tel:

+61 (0)8 6304 5891

Fax:

+61 (0)8 6304 5840

E-mail:

r.dowling@ecu.edu.au

Campus:

Joondalup

Room:

2.350

Current Teaching:

TSM2105 Tourism Planning & Development II
TSM3105 Contemporary Issues in Tourism & Hospitality III
(Wildlife Tourism III)
TSM3107 Ecotourism III
TSM3109 Special Interest Tourism III (Cruise Ship Tourism)
TSM3212 Supervised Research Project III
MBA5113 Principles of Tourism V
MBA5116 Ecotourism Management V

Background

History:

Professor Dowling was born and raised in New Zealand where he attended Auckland Grammar School and the University of Auckland. His first professional position was as a foundation Advisory Officer with the newly created NZ Government Department, the Ministry for the Environment, in Wellington. Later he also taught in a number of Schools and helped to establish two Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) Schools in Christchurch and Auckland. Through his work in Environmental Education he established the NZ Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE) and the NZ Federation of Social Studies Teachers Associations.

Professor Dowling moved to Australia in 1988 where he completed a PhD in Environmental Science at Murdoch University and helped found Ecotourism Australia in 1991. He worked as an Ecotourism Consultant in the International Investment and Development Division of Jones Lang LaSalle before becoming a foundation staff member of the University of Notre Dame Australia in 1994. Whilst at UNDA he founded degrees in Geography, Environmental Studies and Tourism.

In addition he worked on a number of Tourism Plans including the Queensland Ecotourism Plan, North West Cape Tourism Development Plan, South West Tourism Plan and Abrolhos Islands Sustainable Tourism Plan.

He joined Edith Cowan University in 1998 as Associate Professor of Tourism, was Head of the School of Marketing, Tourism & Leisure from 2001-2003, and was appointed Foundation Professor of Tourism in 2003. At ECU he is currently a member of the University's Promotions Committee and Chair of the Environment Committee.

He is an Executive Board Member of the Indian Ocean Tourism Organization (IOTO) and a founder and former Vice President of Ecotourism Australia. In Western Australia he is a Council Member of the Royal Automobile Club, the Royal Agricultural Society and the National Trust. He is also Chair of the Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco Tourism (FACET) and Coordinator of the WA Network of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre.

He is an international speaker and consultant on tourism providing advice for the industry in a number of countries around the world. In recent years he has established a Tourism degree for Emirates Airlines, United Arab Emirates; convened an International Tourism and Hospitality Conference in Malaysia; lead an Australian team giving Tourism Industry Development Workshops for the Vietnam Government; and completed an extensive lecture tour for the Chinese Government, throughout China, Hong Kong and Macau. He is currently providing advice for the Minister of Tourism in Oman.

Specialisation:

Ecotourism
Geotourism
Cruise Ship Tourism
Wildlife Tourism

Passions/Life Outside University:

Outside University I enjoy travel as a Cruise Ship Lecturer (eg. Cunard, Silversea), Tour Guide to World Heritage and Wilderness Areas (eg. Oceania, Asia and Antarctica) and Conference Organizer (eg. Australian Ecotourism Conference, 1995, 1996; Inaugural Australian Wine Tourism 1998; Hosting the World, Malaysia 2002, Borneo Ecotourism Conference, Sabah, 2005, Australian Wildlife Tourism Conference, 2006, Borneo Ecotourism Conference, Sarawak, 2007, International Geotourism Conference, Perth, 2008).

Research and Selected Recent Publications

Current Research Area:

Cruise Ship Tourism growth and industry impacts
Geotourism sustainability, impacts and opportunities
Ecotourism planning and development

Research Interest:

Cruise Ship Tourism
Tourism and the Environment
Ecotourism
Geotourism
Wildlife Tourism

Recent Research Grants:

2006 - Tourism and the Kimberley Coastal Waterways (CRC Sustainable Tourism)
2005 - Assessing the Socio-economic impacts of Ningaloo Marine Park (CRC Sustainable Tourism)
CRC Sustainable Tourism – to develop a Sustainable Forest Ecotourism Model
WA Tourism Commission - to develop a Wine Tourism Strategy for the State

Monographs:

Page, S.J. & Dowling, R.K. (2006) Ecotourism. Wu-Nan Books, China.

Dowling, R.K. ed. (2006) Cruise Ship Tourism. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK.

Dowling, R.K. & Newsome, D. eds. (2005) Geotourism. Elsevier, Oxford.

Fennell, D.A. & Dowling, R.K. eds. (2005) Ecotourism Policy and Planning. Nankai University Press, China.

Newsome, D., Dowling, R.K. & Moore, S.A. (In Press) Wildlife Tourism. Channel View Publications, Clevedon, England.

Newsome, D., Moore, S.A. & Dowling, R.K. (2005) Natural Area Tourism: Ecology, Impacts and Management. Viva Books, India.

Fennell, D.A. & Dowling, R.K. eds. (2003) Ecotourism Policy and Planning. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK.

Singh, S., Timothy, D.J. & Dowling, R.K. eds. (2003) Tourism in Destination Communities. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK.

Page, S.J. & Dowling, R.K. (2002) Ecotourism. Pearson Education, Harlow, England.

Newsome, D., Moore, S.A. & Dowling, R.K. (2002) Natural Area Tourism: Ecology, Impacts and Management. Channel View Publications, Clevedon, England.

Dowling, R.K. & Vasudavan, T. eds. (2002) Winds of Change – Creating Strategic Excellence. Proceedings of the Hosting the World 2002 Conference, Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 7-11 July 2002. Edith Cowan University, Perth.