Professor Dr. Mohd Hafiz Hanafiah holds the esteemed position of Professor of Tourism Economics within the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia. He also holds the title of Fellow at the Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (IBSD), UiTM. Additionally, he is recognized as a Certified Hotel Industry Analyst (CHIA).
From 2018 to 2020, Professor Hafiz served as President of the Tourism Educators Association of Malaysia (TEAM). He also contributed as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) of Malaysia from 2019 to 2023, actively participating in the working group for the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture of Malaysia. He earned his PhD in Hotel and Tourism Management from UiTM in 2016, distinguished as the best public university in Malaysia for hospitality and leisure subjects according to the QS Subject ranking. Notably, he was awarded the Graduate on Time (GoT) and Research Excellence accolades during his graduation, making him the first faculty member to achieve such recognition.
Professor Hafiz’s research predominantly focuses on the tourism sector, particularly in economic analysis and forecasting of tourism demand, behavioural economics, tourism competitiveness, and quantitative methods in tourist behaviour studies. His contributions have garnered significant attention, earning him recognition as a leading tourism researcher through numerous works and accolades. He has secured substantial research funding from local governments and industry entities and has been honored with several Best Research Papers Awards at various international conferences. In 2020, he was honored with the UiTM Promising Researcher Award for his outstanding contributions.
Furthermore, Professor Hafiz plays pivotal roles in scholarly publications as the Executive Editor of the Journal of Tourism, Hospitality, and Culinary Arts, Associate Editor for Heliyon (Tourism and Hospitality), and as a member of the Editorial Board for the Hospitality and Tourism Management Journal and Asia-Pacific Journal of Innovation in Hospitality and Tourism (APJIHT).
