Denis Tolkach

Dr Tolkach is an Associate Professor in Tourism and Hospitality Management at James Cook University, Cairns. He teaches various subjects in Bachelor of Tourism, Hospitality and Events and Masters of International Tourism & Hospitality Management. Prior to joining James Cook University in 2020, Dr Tolkach has worked as an Assistant Professor at School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Dr Tolkach has earned a PhD degree at Victoria University, Melbourne in 2013. The topic of his thesis was Community-based tourism in Timor-Leste: A collaborative network approach. Dr Tolkach research interests are predominantly within areas of sustainable tourism: ethics of tourism, community-based tourism, nature-based tourism, cultural tourism, regenerative tourism, tourism in Southeast Asia and in Small Island Developing States.

Geographically, Dr Tolkach is predominantly involved in research and engagement activities in Asia Pacific, including East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Pacific Islands. This is exemplified by the recently completed DFAT Australia-ASEAN Council funded project titled "Cultural Tourism Recovery: Sharing Best Practices", which involved Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. 

Dr Tolkach has published his research in top tourism journals such as Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management and Journal of Sustainable Tourism. He is an associate editor of Tourism Geographies. He is also a Guest Editor for "Monitoring and evaluating sustainable tourism" curated collection of articles in Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights. Dr Tolkach serves on editorial boards of Tourism Recreation Research, Tourism Review and International Journal of Tourism Research. Dr Tolkach also serves as a reviewer for various highly ranked journals.