Dillip Kumar Das is currently working as an Associate Professor and Head in the Department of Tourism Management, The University of Burdwan, Bardhaman, West Bengal. He has been working in The University of Burdwan since 13 June 2005. The author has also worked in Sikkim University, Gangtok, as an Associate Professor and Head in the Department of Tourism Management for 1 year (on lien). The author has more than 20 years of teaching experience at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He was awarded PhD in the year 2008 in tourism management by Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on the topic ‘Economic, Socio Cultural and Environmental Impact of Tourism: A Case Study on Puri, Konark and Bhubaneswar’. He has completed masters in tourism management (MTM) from IGNOU, and also qualified UGC-NET (National Eligibility Test for lectureship) twice in December 2003 and in June 2004. He has completed masters degree in economics from Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, and also completed Diploma in Tourism Management from Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The author has attended and presented papers in more than 45 national and international conferences, and has 5 books to his credit with the prominent publishers. The author has also published more than 40 research papers on tourism in different international journals and books. He has contributed in many research projects sponsored by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. The author’s areas of research interest are eco-tourism, tourism impact studies and travel agency and tour operation management. Soumendra Nath Biswas is working as an Assistant Professor (senior scale) at IITTM (an autonomous organization of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India) since 2007. He is from Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. He has also served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Tourism Management, Sikkim University (on lien). He was awarded PhD in the year 2010 in tourism management by The University of Burdwan, on the topic ‘Food as a Marketing Tool for the Development of Hospitality and Tourism in India, with Special Reference to West Bengal’. He has obtained MTM and bachelor of hotel management (BHM). He has also qualified UGC-NET (National Eligibility Test for lectureship) twice and UGC-JRF. Dr Biswas has 18 years of teaching experience in MBA (Tourism), BBA (Tourism), BHM and diploma in hotel management (DHM), in various government and private institutions including 10 years of research experience. Dr Biswas has contributed a number of research papers in reputed national and international referred, peer-reviewed journals and edited books. He has contributed in many research projects sponsored by UNDP, Government of India and Government of Odisha. The author’s areas of research interest include tourism concepts and impacts, tour operation management, tourism geography, tourism marketing, hospitality management and so on.
