Amanda Cecil

Areas of Expertise

• Workforce Development
• Event/Experience Design
• International Travel Management
• Ecotourism
• Strategic Meeting Management

HHS Signature Research Area(s)

• Sustainable Organizations and Thriving Communities

Biography

Dr. Amanda Cecil is a full professor who teaches courses in event management, experience design, and international tourism. In 2025, she was appointed a Fulbright Scholar at Széchenyi University in Győr, Hungary. Amanda had a professional career in event planning from 1995 to 2002. She always strives to connect academia and industry. 

Dr. Cecil’s scholarly interests focus on competency-based curriculum development and the impact of experiential learning, particularly service-learning pedagogies. She has extensive consulting experience in instructional design for customer service, business travel management, strategic meeting management, and event management education. From 2011 to 2023, she served as a consultant to launch the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Academy. She also partnered with Indiana’s hospitality and tourism community to develop the Super Service Program, launched during the 2012 Super Bowl. To date, more than 30,000 hospitality professionals have completed the training.

Her research has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of Convention and Event Tourism, the Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, the Journal of Sustainable Development, the European Journal of Tourism Research, and Tourism Today. She served as the JCET Editor-in-Chief from 2020 to 2025. 

Dr. Cecil has received numerous honors, including the 2012 PCMA Foundation Educator Honoree Award, MPI’s 2012 RISE “Member of the Year,” and the Indiana University Trustees’ Teaching Award.

Education

• PhD, 2003, Indiana University; Certified Meeting Professional (CMP-Fellow), 2000

Current Courses

• HTM 37200 - Global Tourism Geography
• HTM 16200 - Introduction to Event and Meeting Planning Industry

Selected Publications

• Liu-Lastres, B., Bao, H., & Cecil, A. (2025). Exploring gaps in young generations’ sustainable travel behavior: a mixed-methods study. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2025.2453693
• Liu-Lastres, B. & Cecil, A. (June 2025). Exploring the Appeal of the Business Events Profession to Future Workforce. 2025 Tourism and Travel Research Annual Meeting, Galway, Ireland.
• Kramer, S., Liu-Lastres, B.; Cecil, A.; & Shonkwiler, E. (2023). A post-pandemic reflection of the changing role of contemporary event professionals: Implications for event professionals and higher education. Journal of Convention and Event Tourism – Special Issue, 24(4), p. 441-431.
• Johnson, A. & Cecil, A. (May 2022). Future Evolution of Event Education. 5th International Conference on Tourism Research (ICTR), Porto, Portugal.
• Urtel, M., Cecil, A., & Angermeier, L., (2022). Culture Eats Strategy: A Case Affirming This is True for a School-Level Mentoring Program, The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching, Vol. 6, Special Issue 15, 709-713

Selected Honors/Awards

• Fulbright Scholar - May 2025
• PCMA Board of Directors/Trustees - January 2023
• Visit Indy Tourism Tomorrow Board of Directors - January 2023
• Discover Boone County Board of Directors - January 2024
• Journal of Convention and Event Tourism Editior-In-Chief - January 2020-2025

Professional Affiliations

• Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA)
• Meeting Professional International (MPI)
• International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE)
• Tourism and Travel Research Association (TTRA)