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Dr. Sonya Graci

Dr. Sonya Graci

Associate Professor | Director, Hospitality and Tourism Research Institute
DepartmentHospitality and Tourism Management
EducationMA, PhD
OfficeTRS 3-048
Phone(416) 979-5000 x 556696

Dr. Sonya Graci is an Associate Professor at the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and the Director of the Institute of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Ryerson University. Dr. Sonya Graci is a specialist in sustainable tourism with a focus on corporate social responsibility, Indigenous tourism development, island tourism, stakeholder engagement and environmental management.  She has a passion for working with communities to develop sustainable livelihood approaches and strategies to increase sustainability. She has worked with numerous communities, businesses and destinations on developing sustainability strategies in New Zealand, Honduras, China, Canada, Fiji and Indonesia. Dr. Graci has a Masters in Geography and Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in Geography with a focus on corporate social responsibility from the University of Waterloo. Dr. Graci is also the author of two books. Her first book focused on the greening of the hotel industry and the second on sustainable tourism development in island destinations. She is also the author of several peer reviewed journal articles and industry reports and has been invited as a speaker at several conferences on sustainable tourism worldwide. She is also involved with several not for profit organizations related to sustainable tourism development.

 linkedin.com/in/dr-sonya-graci (external link, opens in new window) 

 @sonyagraci (external link, opens in new window) 

Sustainable tourism, corporate social responsibility, sustainable livelihoods approach, Indigenous tourism, Island tourism, stakeholder engagement, environmental management.

Peer-reviewed publications

Nelson, K., Partelow, S., Stabler, M. Graci, S., Fujitani, M. (2021). Tourist Willingness to Pay for Local Green Hotel Certification. PLOS One.

Graci, S., Maher, P. and Peterson, B., Hardy, A. and Vaugeois, N. (2019). Sustainable Indigenous Tourism. Thoughts from the Think Tank (external link) . Journal of Ecotourism Special Issue on Sustainable Indigenous Tourism. doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2019.1583754

Graci, S. and Van Vliet, L. (2019) Examining the Potential for Sustainable Tourism in Small Island States. The Case of Savusavu, Fiji (external link) . Tourism Planning and Development. doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2019.1657933

Refereed conference proceedings and presentations

Graci, S. (2020) Indigenous entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods in Canada. DEVNET. Auckland New Zealand. November, 2020. 

Graci, S. (2020) From Theory to Practice: The Examination of Best Practices in Sustainable Indigenous Tourism in CanadaWorld Indigenous Tourism Symposium. Perth, Australia. (Cancelled) 

Graci, S. (2020) Examining the Use of Environmental Instruments as a Method to Promote Sustainable Tourism in Islands. The Case of Savusavu, Fiji. T-Forum. Algarve, Portugal (Cancelled) 

Graci S. (2020) The Sustainable Livelihood Approach to Indigenous Tourism Development: Examining Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in Tourism Development in Canada. TTRA International, Victoria, Canada (Cancelled)

Graci, S. and Van Vliet, L. (2019). Environmental Instruments in Sustainable Tourism. The Case of Savusvau, Fiji. Critical Tourism Studies. Ibiza, June 22 to 26, 2019. 

Graci, S. (2019). Examining The Potential for Sustainable Tourism Development in Savusavu, Fiji. The First International Conference on Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions. Oranjestad, Aruba: March 26 to 29, 2019. 

Graci, S. (2018).  Examining Best Practices in Sustainable Indigenous Tourism Development in Canada’s North. International Polar Tourism Research Symposium. Whitehorse, Yukon: June 22-28, 2018. 

Graci, S. (2017). Communities As Avenues for Change. A Case Study of Gili Trawangan, Indonesia. Global Service Management Conference. Volterra, Italy, October 3 to 7, 2017. 

Book contributions

Graci, S. (2022) Exploring the Use of Environmental Instruments as a Method to Promote Sustainable Tourism in Islands. Global Handbook of Island Studies. 

Graci, S. (2021) Indigenous Ecotourism. In Fennell, D. (Eds.) The Handbook of Ecotourism. Routledge. 

Graci, S. and Maher, P. (2018) Sustainable Tourism in Islands. In Baldicchino, G. (Eds.) The Handbook of Islands. London: Taylor and Francis 

Undergraduate courses
  • HTT 600 - Special Topics in Hospitality/Tourism
  • HTT 622 - Destination Marketing and Management
  • HTT 509 - Policy in Hospitality and Tourism Management
  • HTT 510 - Sustainable Tourism: The Golden Goose? 
  • HTR 841 - Research and Data Analysis
Graduate courses
  • ES 8990 - Independent Study in Environmental Management and Applied Science
  • ES 8923 - Environmental Assessment