Dr. Niki Macionis is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Program Leader of the Bachelor of Tourism, Hotel and Event Management at the UQ Business School, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, University of Queensland. A teaching-focused academic with more than twenty-five years of experience in tertiary education, she instructs courses in Service Management and Leadership and Principles of the International Tourism System at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Dr. Macionis is recognized as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and co-chairs the Teaching and Learning Special Interest Group of the Council of Australasian University Tourism and Hospitality Educators (CAUTHE), contributing significantly to pedagogical advancements in the field.

Holding a Doctor of Philosophy from Griffith University—where her thesis examined film-induced tourism—Dr. Macionis's research focuses on student experiences, the career paths of teaching-focused academics, and innovative teaching practices, particularly gamification. Her scholarly output includes peer-reviewed articles such as “Career development of tourism, hospitality and events graduates” (2023, International Journal of Tourism Research), “How successfully do we educate tourism, hospitality, and events graduates?” (2023, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education), “Can we buffer them? Supporting healthy levels of stress and anxiety in first year international students” (2023, Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education), and “International tertiary student experience in Australia: a Singaporean perspective” (2018, Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education). Additional contributions encompass conference proceedings on game-based learning, study tours to Disney World, diversity in hospitality education, and minimising student stress in post-pandemic environments. She has co-edited influential volumes like Food Tourism Around the World (2003) and contributed to Wine Tourism Around the World (2000), underscoring her earlier impact on tourism studies. Currently, she guest-edited a special issue of Tourism Cases on Work Integrated Learning and serves as an associate advisor for PhD research on social inclusion in LGBT+ events.

Professional Email: n.macionis@business.uq.edu.au