Jürg Stettler

Professor Jürg Stettler serves as Head of the Institute of Tourism and Mobility (ITM) and Vice Dean at the Lucerne School of Business, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. With a distinguished career spanning over three decades in tourism economics and destination management, he holds positions on multiple boards including Gstaad Saanenland Tourismus GST and Private Selection Hotel AG.

• Professor of Tourism Economics
• Head of Institute of Tourism and Mobility (ITM)
• Vice Dean of Lucerne School of Business
• Member of Standing Committee on Research and Services for Third Parties

His research focuses on sustainable tourism development, destination management, commercial hospitality, and economic impact analysis of tourism and events. Stettler pioneered the Event-Scorecard methodology for measuring economic impacts of sporting events and has led numerous national research projects including Swisstainable - Switzerland's tourism sustainability program. His work bridges academic research with practical implementation through extensive consultancy for Swiss tourism destinations and organizations.

Stettler's publications reveal a clear evolution from early work on tourism mobility and economic impacts toward contemporary research on sustainable destination transformation, overtourism management, and hospitality quality. His recent work centers on implementing Swisstainable framework across Swiss destinations and analyzing urban tourism impacts.

• Publikationspreis der Hochschule Luzern 2014
• 3rd Best Paper Award AIEST Conference 2012
• Best Research Paper Award THoR Conference 2012
• Publikationspreis der Hochschule Luzern 2012

As an advisor and researcher, Stettler has directed over 50 major tourism projects including destination strategies for Engelberg, Lucerne, and the Rigi mountain region. His consultancy work extends to Chinese tourism markets, ski resort economics, and event impact measurement. He leads the Smart Region Lab initiative analyzing tourism development under pandemic conditions and co-developed the Alpine Smart Tourism Destination framework. Stettler maintains active collaborations with international tourism organizations including UNWTO and AIEST.

Stettler directs the Institute of Tourism and Mobility (ITM) research team at HSLU, focusing on destination competitiveness, sustainable tourism transformation, and hospitality management. His current research agenda addresses overtourism challenges, destination sustainability measurement, and digital transformation in alpine tourism regions through projects like LUNA and Smart Region Lab.