CURRICULUM VITAE: Pr. François VELLAS

François VELLAS is a Professor of International Economy at the Toulouse I Capitole University. He has a PhD and is a Senior Lecturer in Economic Science, and runs the Master’s Degree 2 «Management, Economy and Politics of International Tourism» as well as the research work of PhD students in the field of gerontology and development of international tourism amongst seniors.

François Vellas is the Director of the Toulouse Third Age University and the President of the International Association of Universities of the Third Age.

He is also the director of the TED «Ethical Tourism and Development» Programme of the Acting for Life foundation, which organises programmes about sustainable tourism development, technology transfers and poverty reduction in Africa and in the Indian Ocean, in Madagascar, in Mozambique, in Djibouti and in Mauritius, in Asia, in Cambodia, in China, in Sri Lanka and in Bangladesh, as well as in Latin America, in Colombia, in Brazil and in Peru.

He participates in Geneva in the High-Level Group of Experts of the WTO and of the UNCTAD about the planning of sustainable tourism in developing countries and in the LDCs (Least Developed Countries). François Vellas is also a member of the Steering Committee of the UNESCO Chair «Tourism, Culture and Sustainable Tourism Development» (UNITWIN) and has carried out numerous international missions for the World Bank, the International Trade Centre, the World Trade Organization, the World Tourism Organization and UNCTAD, especially in Africa, in Djibouti, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Comoros.

François Vellas has additionally worked in Geneva in the United Nations during a sabbatical period to prepare international commercial negotiations in the field of services (GATS) and was appointed in 2011 as the writer of an introductory report of the meeting of the G20 Tourism Ministers in Paris about «The indirect economic impacts of international tourism».

He has authored numerous reference works about economy of tourism and tourism marketing as well as on international exchanges, amongst which stand out: «Economie et Politique du Tourisme International» Economica - Paris» translated into Spanish and into some other languages, «Le commerce sud-sud», «Échange international et qualification du travail» Economica - Paris), «International tourism: an economic perspective» and «The international marketing of travel and tourism» MacMillan – London with L. Becherel). The World Tourism Organization has also published several studies and reports by François Vellas, a special mention being deserved by “Tourism, micro finance and poverty reduction” and “The impact of rising oil prices on international tourism” (also available in French). François Vellas has become involved and has carried out numerous missions within the framework of European Union Programmes focused on the support to countries in transition, particularly with Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia.

He has published the manual «Grille de Lecture des Projets Touristiques à partir des Indicateurs de Tourisme Durable» mainly dedicated to stressing the importance of the environment in tourism development; to this publication are added a number of specific brochures on the topic “Sensibilisation à l’Environnement pour le Tourisme” translated into ten languages.