Background

Ph.D., Clemson University, January 1996, Clemson South Carolina, Recreations, Parks and Tourism Management, Clemson, South Carolina
M.S., Clemson University, January 1992, Clemson South Carolina, Recreations, Parks and Tourism Management, Clemson, South Carolina.
B.S., 9th September University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Aydin School of Tourism and Hotel Management, Izmir / TURKEY, 1989.

Ercan (Sirakaya) Turk received his doctor and master of science from Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. Turk is the 2006–2007 recipient of the U.S. State Department's prestigious Fulbright scholarship to teach tourism and conduct destination development and branding studies in Russia. Before joining the University of South Carolina, Turk was a faculty member at Texas A&M University (1998-2006) and Pennsylvania State University (1996-1998).

Turk has published a significant number of articles in the area of tourism destination marketing and developmental policy in prestigious tourism journals such as the Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management and Tourism Analysis. Turk is the founding and current associate editor-in-chief for an online tourism research bulletin (e-Review of Tourism Research). He also serves at editorial boards of several major journals including Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Analysis, European Journal of Polical and Anatolia and is a field reviewer for numerous academic journals. He serves as a member in an international Think Tank group (BEST-EN) that deals with issues of sustainable tourism development in developing countries. His dissertation work has received a prestigious TTRA's William B. Keeling award. He served as a faculty senator and was a member of the Institutional Review Board (Ethics Board in Human Research Subjects) of Texas A&M University (2002–2005). Currently, he is completing a research methods book and numerous publications pertaining to branding places and sustainability.

Research

• Tourism Policy and Development through Sustainable Tourism:

a.) Tourism Impact Studies
b.) Tourism issues in developing countries
c.) Sustainable tourism

• Quantitative Analysis: International tourism and marketing research
• Destination Marketing and Management:

1.) Methods of market segmentation and appropriate strategy formulation
2.) Accountability research: Advertising effectiveness and conversion studies;
3.) Decision-making: factors affecting destination choices (e.g., tourist motivation, images, attitudes)

Honors and awards

• J. William Fulbright Scholarship, Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) of the U.S. State Department for research and teaching at the Saint Petersburg State University of Finance and Economics, Russia (2007).

Teaching

• Tourism economics
• Tourism marketing (graduate and undergraduate level)
• Research methods classes

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Ekinci, Y., Sirakaya-Turk, E. and Baloglu, S. (In press). "Host image and destination personality." Special issue on Destination Branding, Tourism Analysis.

Turk-Sirakaya, E., Y. Ekinci and A. G. Kaya (In press). "An examination of the validity of the SUS-TAS Scale in cross-cultures. Journal of Travel Research.

Park, Y., Gretzel, U., and Sirakaya-Turk, E. (In press). "Measuring web site quality for online travel agencies." Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing.

Turk- Sirakaya, E. (2007). "Concurrent validity of the sustainable tourism attitude scale." Annals of Tourism Research, 34(34): 1081-1084.

Turk-Sirakaya, E. (2007). "Measuring the impact of travel on racial prejudice of German tourists visiting Turkey." European Union Center of Excellence Research Monograph 1-6.

Turk-Sirakaya, E. and A. Caliskan (2007). "The likely effects of planned minimum wage hikes for the tourism Industry in the U.S.A." E-Review of Tourism Research, 5(1): 1-3.

Delen, D. and Sirakaya-Turk, E. (2006). "The efficacy of data mining methods in forecasting." Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Vol. 30 (3): 313-332

Choi, H. S and Sirakaya-Turk, E. (2006). "Sustainability indicators for managing community tourism." Tourism Management, 27 (6) 1274-1289 (among the 25 most downloaded articles was recognized as the 2nd most downloaded paper).

Choi, H. S and Sirakaya-Turk, E. (2005). "Measuring resident attitudes toward sustainable tourism: Development of a sustainable tourism attitude scale." Journal of Travel Research 43(May): 380-394.

Sirakaya-Turk, E., D. Delen and H. Choi. (2005). "Forecasting gaming referenda." Annals of Tourism Research 32(1): 127-149.

Sirakaya, E. and A. G. Woodside. (2005). "Building and testing theories of decision making by travelers." Tourism Management, 26(6): 815-832. (among the 25 most downloaded articles was recognized as the 1st most downloaded paper).

Recent grants and projects

• Branding Russia / Saint Petersburg. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of South Carolina, 2007.
• U.S. State Department, Fulbright Scholarship Grant, St. Petersburg State University of Finance and Economics, 2007.
• Measuring the Impact of Travel on Racial Prejudice of German Tourists Visiting Turkey. The European Center at Texas A&M University. Principal Investigator. February 2006-August 2006.
• Understanding Tourism Images and Quality Expectations of German and Russian Travelers to Turkey. The project is funded by the Izmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry & the Izmir Ekonomi Universitesi. With Dr. Turgut Var. Co-PI. (March 2005-June 2006).
• Accountability and Advertising Effectiveness Research for the State of Texas. Texas Department of Economic Development Tourism Division. With J. Petrick. Co-PI. FY 2001-2002; 2002-2003; FY 2003-2004; 2004-2005; 2005-2006.
• Developing an Electronic Tourism Research Bulletin. Supported by Canadian Tourism Commission, TTRA and Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Sciences. (FY 2003-2004; 2004-2005; 2005-2006).

Professional affiliations

• Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST—An elite group of tourism scholars based in Switzerland, invitation-based membership only), 2005-present.
• Travel and Tourism Research Association, 1995–present.
• BEST-EN Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel (Think-Tank Group was supported by the Ford Foundation) 2000-present.