ATLAS About us

To promote the teaching of tourism, leisure and related subjects.
To encourage the exchange of staff and students between member institutions.
To promote links between professional bodies in tourism, leisure and associated subjects and to liaise on educational issues, curriculum development and professional recognition of courses.
To promote transnational research which helps to underpin the development of appropriate curricula for transnational education.

ATLAS promotes links between member institutions through regular meetings and information exchange. The main activities of ATLAS are:

Organising conferences on issues in tourism and leisure education and research. Regional conferences are also held in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region;
Information services and publications, including the ATLAS website, member portal and the yearbook ATLAS Reflections;
Designing and coordinating curriculum development projects under the SOCRATES programme;
Running international courses, such as the ATLAS Winter University in Europe and the Summer Course in Asia;
Organisation of and participation in transnational research projects, for example on cultural tourism and sustainable tourism, and information technology;
Research publications and reports.

ATLAS is also represented at regional and local level by sections such as ATLAS Europe, ATLAS Asia-Pacific and ATLAS Africa. ATLAS Europe was founded in 1991, and still attracts the bulk of ATLAS members. Other sections are growing rapidly, however. ATLAS Asia-Pacific, established in 1997, currently has 70 members. ATLAS Asia-Pacific has staged conferences in Indonesia and China, Japan and New Zealand. ATLAS Africa was launched in 1998 and held its inaugural conference in 2000 in Mombasa Kenya and since then in Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. ATLAS Africa currently has 34 members. At the moment initiatives are taken to develop ATLAS Americas. The regional sections of ATLAS have developed their own programme of activities and publications to respond more closely to the specific needs of members located in these regions and those with related research interests. Membership of ATLAS regional associations and special interest sections of ATLAS is open to all ATLAS members.

ATLAS Special Interest Groups

Members of ATLAS can form Special Interest Groups (SIG's) related to specific education and research topics or for specific geographical areas. SIG's run research programmes and can organise special events and publications related to their area of interest. The current special interest groups are:

What are the benefits of Membership?

Regular mailings of information, including updates on ATLAS projects, conferences, meetings, publications and other activities.
Access to the ATLAS Member Portal on Internet with exclusive access code.
The annual ATLAS conference, which provide an opportunity to network with other members.
Conferences organised by regional associations, such as ATLAS Asia-Pacific and ATLAS Africa.
ATLAS members can participate in a wide range of projects run by ATLAS in the areas of tourism and leisure education and research.
ATLAS members are listed on the ATLAS homepage, giving teachers and students easy access to information about your institution via Internet.
ATLAS members have access to research information gathered through ATLAS international projects.
Distribution of information about your programmes, projects and products via the ATLAS mailing list.
ATLAS members are entitled to substantial discounts on ATLAS conference fees and selected ATLAS publications.

How is ATLAS organised?

ATLAS is co-ordinated by René van der Duim who is situated at Wageningen University in Wageningen, The Netherlands. ATLAS is run by a secretariat based in Arnhem, the Netherlands, which is accountable to the ATLAS executive, elected from the ATLAS membership.

The elected executive members are currently:

René van der Duim (Coordinator/chair)
Kevin Hannam (Vice Chair/SIG coordinator)
Rebecca Finkel (Treasurer)
Anya Diekman (Coordinator ATLAS Europe)
Wilber Ahebwa (Coordinator ATLAS Africa)
Ana Goytia (Coordinator ATLAS Americas)
Vacancy (Coordinator ATLAS Asia/Pacific)
Petri Hottola (Research coordinator)
Antonio Paulo Russo (Research coordinator)
Greg Richards (Publication coordinator)
Angelique Lombarts (Events, promotion and sponsorship)
Ilie Rotariu (Coordinator Winter University)
Carina Ren (Coordinator Student membership and PhD colloquium)
John Beech (Publications/editorial assistance)
Razaq Raj (Publications/editorial assistance)

All full members of ATLAS are eligible to stand as candidates for the executive and the boards of the regional associations.

Joining ATLAS

Who can join?

ATLAS membership is open to bona-fide educational institutions and professional bodies with educational, research or professional interests in tourism, leisure and related areas.

How much does it cost?

The 2012 annual fee for ATLAS full members is € 275. For organisations situated in countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and South America the fee will be € 150. Patron members pay a fee of € 500.

How can you join?

Simply complete and submit an application form here...

How to end membership?

ATLAS membership will be renewed automatically each year. Membership can be terminated by the member notified in writing at the end of the financial (=calendar) year. More details about the membership and the association can also be found in the ATLAS Constitution.

Constitution

You can read the ATLAS Constitution here.

Addresses

ATLAS Administration

Leontine Onderwater

Jantien Veldman

Travit - POBox 3042

6802 DA Arnhem

The Netherlands

Tel: +31-26-4452699

Fax: +31-26-4452932

E-mail: admin@atlas-euro.org

ATLAS

Chair: René van de Duim

Wageningen University

Cultural Geography Group

PO Box 47

6700 AA Wageningen

The Netherlands

Tel: +31-317-485395

E-mail: renevanderduim@wur.nl

ATLAS Europe

Coordinator: Anya Diekmann

Université Libre de Bruxelles

IGEAT

Av. Franklin Roosevelt 50, CP 130/02

Bruxelles 1050, Belgium

Tel: +32-2-6504310

Fax: +32-2-6504324

E-mail: adiekman@ulb.ac.be

ATLAS Africa

Coordinator: Wilber Ahebwa

Makerere University

Department of Geography

PO Box 7062

Kampala 256-41

Uganda

E-mail: ahebwawilber@yahoo.com

ATLAS Asia-Pacific

Coordinator: Vacancy

ATLAS Americas

Coordinator:Ana Goytia Prat

University of Deusto-Bilbao

Tourism (Faculty of Social and Human Sciences)

Avda. Universidades, 24

48007 Bilbao

Spain

Tel: +34-944139003

E-mail: agoytia@deusto.es

Association for Tourism and Leisure Education

mail: info@atlas-euro.org