Read a Changemakers interview with Dr. Hawkins in which he looks at ecotourism and geotourism.

As a leader in the field of tourism and tourism policy, Dr. Donald Hawkins is the At-Large Featured Tourism Expert in the National Geographic – Ashoka’s Changemakers Collaborative Competition: The Geotourism Challenge: Celebrating Places/Changing Lives.

Hawkins started his career as a park superintendent. When he came to Washington, DC in 1965, he was the first research director for the National Recreation Parks Association. He has been a university professor for 38 years, and is professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the George Washington University School of Business in Washington, DC where he was appointed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Tourism Policy (an endowed chair) in 1994.

Hawkins is internationally recognized for his leadership role and research in tourism policy development, particularly in recent years in St. Kitts and Nevis, Bulgaria, Dominica, Honduras, Jordan, Egypt, Jamaica, Venezuela, Argentina, Bermuda, Panama, St. Lucia, Romania and the United States (particularly, Loudoun County, and Miami-Dade County, Florida). His research interests include ecotourism development; tourism policy analysis and strategic planning; hospitality and tourism education; and destination competitiveness strategies integrating tourism marketing, economic development, environmental management systems and foreign investment.

Hawkins is chairman of the management committee of the International Institute of Tourism Studies. He is the author or editor of over 100 articles or books including Tourism in Contemporary Society, Ecotourism Planning and Management, and the Environmental Classroom. He is also the founding editor of the Journal of Leisure Research, serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Travel Research and Tourism Management, and served as the editor-in-chief of the World Travel and Tourism Review.

In 2003, Hawkins received the first United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Ulysses Prize for individual accomplishments in the creation and dissemination of knowledge in the area of tourism policy and strategic management. He coordinated the UNWTO Tourism Policy Forum focused on using tourism as a development assistance strategy, conducted at GW, October 18-20, 2004. He received the UNWTO Themis Foundation Science Fellow Award, in April, 2005 in Andorra. He also works with the UN Environmental Program, and the World Heritage Center of UNESCO. He is active in the World Center of Excellence for Destinations.

Hawkins is founder and chairman of Solimar International, an international tourism development firm with offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America. He describes it as “a group of very bright young men and women who have received their MBAs or their Master of Tourism Administration and want to get engaged in international consulting technical assistance activities.