Dr. Myriam Jansen-Verbeke, distinguished geographer of Belgium, paid a visit to the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR, CAS) on March 22, 2011 to seek academic exchange.

Verbeke delivered an academic report on controversies and synergies of heritage conservation and tourism development, emphasizing that future research should focus on policy-making and capacity building, tourism management in heritage sites, analysis for potential development of tourism, and the identification for controversiesbetween heritage conservation and tourism development.

Verbeke is a member of the International Academy for Tourism Studies and professor emeritus of the Catholic University of Louvain. She is one of the founders for World Heritage Tourism Research Network (WHTRN) and an editorial board member for international tourism journals including Annals of Tourism Research. She is very productive as she has accomplished dozens of works and over 100 papers.

Verbeke has recently got CAS Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists which was set to enhance the science and technology innovation capacity of CAS institutes by inviting accomplished researchers from overseas to participate in research in CAS.

It is Verbekhe’s third time to IGSNRR as she has ever made her visits here in 2008 and 2010 respectively.