I am Birgit Trauer, the Founding Director of The Cultural Angle which was born out of my desire to continue my passion for sharing my insights into human interaction not just in the context of academia, or in the domain of travel and tourism but society at large. My particular interest is to provide avenues for all of us to gain insight and skills to joyfully navigate the ever changing human landscape for personal or professional purposes.

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I draw on a breadth of experience accumulated over more than 30 years. My interest in travel and tourism, human behavior and different cultural perspectives started to emerge when I migrated to Australia from Germany as a young adult. This intensified later on when I  lived and worked in New Zealand, Sweden Canada, England and most recently in the United Arab Emirates.  All of these life experiences and those from my involvement in the leisure, travel and tourism industries followed by my career in academia provide a rich tapestry of experiences that continue to inform all my work today. 

 

As a mature age student I earned a degree in Leisure Management which lead me to pursue postgraduate studies. My PhD in Tourism Management reflects my curiosity and commitment to understanding people, their motivations, enjoyment and meaning derived from their travels and life experiences overall. My expertise lies within social psychology with a specialization in the field of leisure and tourism, in particular special interest tourism including adventure, culture and sport tourism, with related topic areas of consumer behavior, experience development, customer service and marketing.  My portfolio grew to include sustainable tourism, strategic management, events management and intercultural communication.

 

Over the years I have taken delight in sharing my insights with many students, colleagues, and industry and government representatives from around the world through personal presentations and international publications. I am looking forward to my new engagements with like-minded and like-hearted people globally in support of creativity and innovation built on mutual respect, compassion and peaceful co-existence.

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