Birendra KC is an Associate Professor in the Department of Hospitality, Event, and Tourism Management at the University of North Texas. His research focuses on ecotourism, tourism policy and planning, community-based tourism, sustainable destination marketing and management, tourism entrepreneurship, and protected area management.

Mr. Robert Robbins is the Founder and Managing Director of Harmony Bridge Travel and Kunming Harmony Bridge Tourism Information Consulting Co., Ltd. He holds a B.A. in Political Science (2001) from Texas A&M University and an M.S. in International Sustainable Tourism (2022) from the University of North Texas in partnership with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica. Mr. Robbins specializes in Sustainable Tourism Development, Destination Management, and the strategic implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His current work focuses on cross-cultural tourism and sustainability initiatives in Yunnan Province, China, in collaboration with the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Planning and Research Committee and local industry stakeholders. He is an active member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), and regularly engages in global tourism networks advancing sustainable and community-based tourism.

Shuangyu Xu is an Assistant Professor in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Missouri. Her research is primarily focused on developing and promoting sustainable tourism (with an emphasis on wine tourism, nature-based tourism, heritage tourism) for communities using a combined stakeholder theory and GIS approach.