Kazem Vafadari Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan

Kazem Vafadari is Associate Professor and Division Head of Tourism and Hospitality at Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu, Japan. He studies tourism policy and planning and community-based tourism. Engaged in advising tourism development in the rural traditional landscapes of Satoyama and Satoumi, he is an expert on agricultural heritage landscapes and rural development, and served the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as an advisor and scientific committee member for the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems program. He has published internationally on tourism applications of globally important agricultural heritage systems and on planning for sustainable tourism development.