Francisco Dias holds a PhD in Tourism Sciences by the University of Perpignan, France, and is a Full Professor at the Polytechnic of Leiria (Portugal), and a researcher at the CITUR – Centre for Research, Development and Innovation in Tourism.
He is the director of the ART&TUR – International Tourism Film Festival, that he founded in 2008. Since 2016, he has been Vice-President of the Centro de Portugal Film Commission. He is also the coordinator of the Sustainable Tourism Observatory of Centro de Portugal.
From 2010 to 2014 he was editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation (EJTHR) and director of the CITUR – Centre for Research, Development and Innovation in Tourism. In 2015 he was the mastermind and leading founder of the Euro-Asia Tourism Studies Association (EATSA), holding the position of the President of its Direction Board during the first term (2015 – 2018). His research concerns and publications are focused on the attractiveness of tourism destinations, and are published in high impact journals, namely Annals of Tourism Research, British Food Journal, Community Development and European Journal of Tourism Research.