Catalyzing the blue economy in Guinea-Bissau: Increasing sustainability and inclusion of Guinea-Bissau's coastal nature-based tourism value chain
Start date
October 2023End date
April 2024Overview
Funded by World Bank Group, this project aims to catalyze the Blue Economy in Guinea-Bissau by enhancing sustainability and socio-economic inclusion of marginalised communities in the country's coastal nature-based tourism value chain. The project focuses on designing two programs for the Bijagos Archipelago (a group of about 88 islands and islets located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Guinea-Bissau), to be implemented through the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilient Investment Project (WACA). It will conduct a baseline diagnostic, gap analysis, and opportunity identification to enhance inclusion and sustainability in Guinea-Bissau's coastal tourism sector. The project will design programs for 'greening' the tourism sector and increase local economic benefits of coastal tourism by strengthening its linkages with alternative livelihood opportunities.
The Gender Entrepreneurship and Social Policy Institute at Surrey is the academic lead on this project.
Funding amount
$60k
Funder
Team
Project team
In collaboration with PD Consult.
Dr Alector Ribeiro
Associate Professor in Tourism Management
Biography
Dr Manuel Alector Ribeiro is an Associate Professor in Tourism Management at Surrey Business School. He joined the University of Surrey as a Lecturer in Tourism Management in September 2017 and previously served as Associate Lecturer in Tourism at the Middlesex Business School, Middlesex University, London.
The overcharging focus of Dr Ribeiro research is firmly grounded on sustainable tourism development and consumer behaviour in travel and tourism. Within this, he is building his research agenda around three streams of research: sustainable development (social and environmental sustainability, circular economy, community support for tourism development, and social entrepreneurship), consumer behaviour (consumer acceptance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices in service industry, emotional aspects of consumption, and pro-environmental behaviour), and methodological and theoretical developments (scale development and theory building). He is interested in research that generates theoretical, methodological, and practical implications for tourism development and management.
To date, Dr Ribeiro has published 55 peer-reviewed articles (51 on the ABS list). His work has been published in leading international journals such as the Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, as well as in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. His scholarly work has been cited more than 3540 times, according to Google Scholar.
Also, he serves as a reviewer for more than 30 journals in tourism and management fields and as a Guest Editor of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism (Vol. 31 (3) special issue on Theoretical and Methodological Advancement of Social Impacts Assessment within Tourism). He has co-edited the “Routledge Handbook of Tourism in Africa”, and “The Handbook of Tourism Experience: Design, Marketing and Management”. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Consumer Behavior in Tourism and Hospitality and sits on the editorial board of the leading tourism and hospitality journals such as the Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, and International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. In addition, he attends to international conferences and delivers workshops and seminars on advanced quantitative research methods and research publication strategies.
Dr Ribeiro has been awarded around £23m in research funding from prestigious research funding agencies such as the European Commission, The Global Challenge Research Fund (UK) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq (Brazil). He frequently works as an international consultant for the World Bank, Green Climate Fund, UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), and other organizations in the field of sustainability, circular economy, and blue economy in the context of tourism. He also serves as a research grant evaluator for several international organisations and universities, and he is an expert member in the field of tourism and leisure for the Portuguese Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education (A 3ES).
Dr Ribeiro earned his PhD in Sustainable Tourism Development (summa cum laude) from the Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve, Portugal, where he also obtained a MSc in Tourism Management and Development. Dr Ribeiro pursued a BA (Hons) in Translation Studies from the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, Portugal. Prior to joining academia, he gained extensive industry experience in restaurant operations and management both in Portugal and in the UK, and he is also willing to work with businesses and organisations to consider the application of his research.
Research groups and centres
We have a world-class reputation for our research in hospitality, tourism, transport and events.