Dr Shaun Vorster serves on the Advisory Board and Steering Committee of World Tourism Forum Lucerne. His relationship with WTFL goes back to our first ever Think Tank in 2012.

Shaun has a track record of three decades as a strategy practitioner, of which 16 years in the travel and tourism industry and sustainable mega-project development. Environmental stewardship and social impact cut across his portfolio of professional activities in the private sector, government, think tanks and academia.

He originally cut his teeth as a strategist navigating complex political and stakeholder environments during South Africa’s first 20 years of democracy (post-1994), inter alia, as special adviser to a premier and cabinet ministers.

Serving as special adviser to the South African tourism and environment ministers for 11 years and as commercial vice president / special adviser at Expo 2020 Dubai for 5 years, reinforced his appreciation for the travel and tourism industry as a true ‘force for good’ that creates new opportunities when practiced responsibly.

As a systems thinker, he regularly leans on scenario-building to conceptualise plausible futures, to manage risk and uncertainty, and to plan for sustainable change.

Shaun serves as extraordinary professor at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB). He has published widely on corporate governance, strategic planning, sustainable tourism, low-carbon aviation, and climate change.

He holds a Doctorate in International Political Economy and, as a lifelong learner, completed a mid-career MBA cum laude in 2012.

He previously served on the judging panel for the WTTC 'Tourism for Tomorrow' awards and was one of the architects behind the inaugural T.20 (G20) Tourism Ministers’ Meeting (launched in South Africa in 2010).