Project Team

Pierre Benckendorff
Associate Professor, Business School, University of Queensland

Pierre is an award winning university lecturer specializing in tourism education and training. He has held several teaching and learning leadership positions at both The University of Queensland and James Cook University. His experience includes coordinating a team of teaching and learning staff, program quality assurance and accreditation, and curriculum reviews of undergraduate and postgraduate coursework programs in business, tourism, hospitality and event management. In 2007 he received a Carrick (now Office for Learning and Teaching) citation for outstanding contributions to student learning. His research interests include visitor behaviour, tourism information technologies, and higher education. His work in the higher education area has focussed on flexible delivery, work-integrated learning and technology-enhanced learning in business and tourism. He has recently co-authored the second edition of the textbook Tourism Information Technology

Dr Gui Lohmann
Senior Lecturer, Aviation Management, School of Natural Sciences, Griffith University

Dr Gui Lohmann is Senior Lecturer in Aviation Management and Postgraduate Program Convenor at Griffith University’s Aviation Department (Australia). He has authored several books and peer-reviewed journal articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese on transport and tourism related topics. He has worked as a consultant for the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism, the World Tourism Organization and the United Nations Environmental Program, apart from giving training to the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority personnel (UAE) and Danang Center for Tourism Promotion, Vietnam. Gui is the founder and previous executive director of ABRATUR, the International Academy for the Development of Tourism Research in Brazil. www.guilohmann.com

Dr Marlene Pratt
Lecturer, Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University

Marlene Pratt is a lecturer in the department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management at Griffith University. Her research interests include consumer behaviour, wine tourism, and student learning. Her teaching is currently in hotel and tourism management including the capstone course Hotel Service Operations Management and Food & Wine Tourism. Marlene has been a visiting professor at the University of Angres and regularly lecturers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has been using a management simulation program, HOTS, for over seven years as part of a course involving over 3,000 students in Australia and Hong Kong. Marlene’s previous employment includes roles as a Market Research Project Manager, an Events Director, and a partner of an imaging technology company. She is currently involved in consultancy project for a major events organisation, and has published in the Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Journal of Hospitality Research, Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Education, and Current Issues in Tourism.

Paul Reynolds
Senior Lecturer, School of Management, University of South Australia Business School

Paul has many years of expertise in training and development in the tourism and hospitality field in both South East Asia and Australia and has lectured extensively in the areas of hospitality management, quality improvement and service industry management. He also has wide-ranging experience in advising and implementing tourism plans in local areas of China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, UK and Australia, and has helped multinational hotel companies in several countries in setting strategies for quality management and training and development. Research interests include customer motivation and satisfaction, making the management of services effective in different cultures and countries, and effective sustainable management for the natural and built environment. Paul has presented to several conferences on his current research into food ethics and purchasing behaviour, as well as food sustainability and security. Paul has been a visiting professor and regularly collaborates with academics from the following Universities: Département Tourisme, hôtellerie et industries de l'alimentation (CETIA),University of Toulouse le Mirail France; The Graduate School of Commerce Waseda University, Japan; Division of Culture & Tourism Studies Sookmyung University,Korea; Escuela de Administración Turística, Anahuac University, Mexico; and the Facultad de Administración, University de los Andes Bogota, Colombia.

Paul Strickland
Lecturer, La Trobe Business School

Paul Strickland is a Lecturer at the La Trobe Business School. He has worked in industry for over twenty years including large 5 star rated hotels, pubs, taverns, cocktail bars, numerous restaurants, private functions and weddings, international events and in a variety of countries. Working in the UK, Paul has served a diverse range of aristocrats and world leaders including the Queen of England. After joining La Trobe University as a lecturer, Paul obtained a Master of Arts and is currently enrolled in a PhD based on wine festivals and social media. Paul has been using HOTS simulation for 6 years in a capstone subject in a Bachelor of Business program. Paul has other relevant experience using technical programs both in industry and in classroom environments including Micros for restaurants, Fidelio/Opera for accommodation and event management plus Galileo for travel and tour bookings. These are incorporated into the undergraduate programs exposing students to industry relevant technologies. Other research interests include wine tourism, Bhutanese and ethnic restaurant studies, fashion and space tourism.

Paul Whitelaw
Associate Director Higher Education and Quality, William Angliss Institute

Paul is the Associate Director, Higher Education and Quality at William Angliss Institute. He was Chair of the Council of Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) from 2008-2013. Prior to joining William Angliss Institute, he was a senior lecturer at Victoria University. Whilst at Victoria University he received the VC's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001. Paul co-chaired the University's Task Force into Student Transition and Attrition in 2002. Paul has been the senior investigator in several projects worth more than $250,000 in total for the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre. He has published in the areas of the development and deployment of digital supported pedagogies. In 2007 Paul led the highly successful Academic Literacy Project at VU. He is co Chief Investigator with Dr Fiona Henderson on CG8-766 “Investigating The Efficacy Of Culturally Specific Academic Literacy And Academic Honesty Resources For Chinese Students” and SP12-2329 “Working from the centre: supporting unit/course co-ordinators to implement academic integrity policies, resources and scholarship”. Paul also holds academic service positions, including journal editorial board membership, that will facilitate dissemination and publication of project outcomes.

Lainie Groundwater
Project Manager, University of Queensland

Lainie Groundwater is the Project Manager of the OLT Project entitled “Enhancing student learning outcomes with Simulation-based Pedagogies”. Lainie has over 20 years experience working in tertiary institutions in administrative, project management and research assistant positions. In addition to the OLT Simulations Project, Lainie is also supporting another OLT Project, entitled, “Building institutional capacity to enhance access, participation and progression in Work Integrated Learning”. Lainie worked at Griffith University for over a decade providing support to Deans, Heads of School, Director’s of Research Centres and most recently, supporting a Strategic Learning and Teaching Grant with the Griffith Institute for Higher Education. Whilst at Griffith University Lainie also supported an ALTC Fellowship led by Professor Stephen Billett.