CALL FOR PAPERS
BEST EN Think Tank XII: Mobilities and Sustainable Tourism
June 24 – 27, 2012, Le Château de Laval in Gréoux les Bains, Provence, France

Dear Colleague,
We cordially invite you to the BEST EN Think Tank XII entitled, “Mobilities and Sustainable Tourism”, to be held in Gréoux les Bains, Provence, France, from June 24–27, 2012 in conjunction with SKEMA Business School and La Cité de la Culture et du Tourisme Durable.

The BEST Education Network is a long established international consortium of educators committed to furthering the development and dissemination of knowledge in the field of sustainable tourism. It is open to all students, academics and professionals who are interested in furthering education for sustainable tourism. At a BEST EN Think Tank, research is presented, sustainable tourism topics are addressed, and research and educational materials for use in tourism education are developed. A BEST EN Think Tank is about more than presenting papers; it is an opportunity to work with others to create new knowledge and produce new ways of communicating that knowledge.

The focus of Think Tank XII is “Mobilities and Sustainable Tourism”. Tourism exists within an inherently dynamic world, and the complexities of emergent mobilities of people, goods and experiences are issues of increasing concern. In tourism, mobilities emerge in a wide range of guises, and such movement inevitably has profound impacts on our environment, economy and on social structures. The theme of this year’s think tank focuses on mobility in the context of sustainable tourism, not only addressing transportation issues but also aspects of social and economic mobility.

Participants are also welcome to present conceptual and empirical papers on a range of topics including:

• Transport trends
• Mobilities and technology
• Mobilities and consumer behavior
• Tourism flow and patterns
• Accessible tourism
• Slow tourism
• Tools and techniques for encouraging sustainable mobility
• Mobilizing change in mobility
• Climate change and mobility
• Socio-cultural change
• Social and economic mobility
• Mobilities and education
• Other topics relevant to sustainable tourism and mobilities

We invite potential authors to submit either an abstract or a full paper for consideration by the Think Tank’s scientific committee. Early submission of abstracts and papers is encouraged and will expedite the review process for those needing advanced notification of the status of their submission.

Abstracts should be approximately 1,000 words with a title page containing full name and contact information. Deadline for submission of abstracts is March 1, 2012. Authors will receive feedback by April 15, 2012.

Alternatively, authors can submit full papers for blind review. In this case please submit a 15 page (double-spaced) paper in APA format by March 1, 2012. The author will receive notification of acceptance by April 15, 2012. Full papers should include a title page with author name and affiliation; introduction; methods; findings; application of results; conclusions and references. The author’s name should appear only on the title page.

Abstracts and full papers will go through a double blind review process. Final versions of abstracts and full papers submitted by June 1, 2012 will be published by BEST EN in the Think Tank’s electronic proceedings and will be distributed at the Think Tank.

The winner of the BEST EN Outstanding Paper Award will be selected from full papers that reflect the theme of Think Tank XII.

The submission of a paper or abstract requires that at least one author attends the Think Tank to present the paper.

Selected full papers will be considered for publication in a proposed special issue of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

The conference will take place in a castle located in a small thermal town in the middle of Provence, within minutes of the lavender fields and other local attractions.
For more information please visit our website http://www.besteducationnetwork.org/ttxii/