Bernd Eisenstein

Prof. Dr. Bernd Eisenstein serves as Director of the German Institute for Tourism Research and Professor at the School of Economics at West Coast University of Applied Sciences. His research focuses on destination branding, sustainable tourism development, and tourism policy. He leads the 'DestinationBrand' research series analyzing destination management strategies. Key areas of expertise include resilience in tourism sectors, community-tourism relationships, and climate change impacts. He holds leadership roles in tourism research institutions and collaborates with industry stakeholders. His work combines academic rigor with practical applications in destination marketing and economic impact analysis. Current research emphasizes post-pandemic tourism recovery strategies and measuring tourism acceptance through novel metrics like the Tourism Acceptance Score.

Prof. Eisenstein's career spans over 30 years with significant contributions to tourism economics, destination governance frameworks, and market segmentation studies. He advises regional development projects and has published extensively on topics ranging from business travel effects to wine tourism synergies. His institute collaborates with Tourismus NRW and other organizations to implement balanced scorecard methodologies for destination management.

• Key Roles: Director of German Institute for Tourism Research
• Research Foci: Destination branding, sustainability, crisis management
• Methodologies: Mixed-method approaches combining quantitative metrics with qualitative stakeholder analysis
• Geographic Expertise: Northern Germany, DACH region, international case studies