He has over 20 years of professional experience in marketing, both in senior managerial roles, as well as a consultant, in a range of sectors such as: tourism & hospitality, retailing, manufacturing, shipping & yachting, real estate, education, mass media, non-profit, as well as in local & regional government.
He also contributed, through various roles, to the development and successful completion of various E.U. / nationally funded projects, with a total budget in excess of 4.5 million Euros . A list of major consulting projects can be found here.
In October 2009 John moved to the UK after earning a fully funded PhD studentship in Bournemouth University, to study the impact of social media on consumer behaviour with focus on holiday travel products, under the supervision of Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis, Prof. Alan Fyall, and Dr Miguel Moital. In parallel, he is serving as a PT Lecturer for the Master level course of “Marketing for Tourism and Hospitality Principles & Practice” and as a supervisor of postgraduate students. John is a member of the Bournemouth University eTourism Lab under the directorship of Prof Dimitrios Buhalis, participates in the Team of Experts of the Digital Hub, and also participated (ad hoc) in projects of the International Centre of Tourism & Hospitality Research. John's preliminary research results have been published in the International Journal of Online Marketing and in a number of conference proceedings, as well as in the European Travel Commission's New Media Trend Watch.
John’s motivation behind his decision to move into the academia was, apart from his personal interest to work in this field, the fact that Web 2.0 and in particular social media brought seismic changes not only in marketing communications but also in consumer behaviour. He hopes that his research will contribute to the industry’s understanding of consumers’ decision making and use of social media before, during and after their leisure trips. Such an understanding will contribute to more effective and efficient marketing efforts.
John also served as a member in a number of committees including positions such as Head of Research in the Research Tourism Body of the Chamber of the Dodecanese, and member of the scientific committee in Rhodes` International Tourism Forum. Lately he became a Member in the Chartered Institute of Marketing in UK.
Regularly he is invited as a keynote speaker in a number of international events in topics related to marketing, ICT, and tourism.
He tries to spend his free time with his three daughters, shooting and editing photographs, or walking.
