Life at SAIT
Since August 2023, Luna has taught in the diploma and bachelor programs in the School of Hospitality and Tourism, mainly in the Tourism & Travel and Hospitality streams. Her favourite courses are those related to the critical thinking of tourism and its cultural and social importance.
Her teaching philosophy focuses on creating dynamic learning environments that promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills, inspiring students to explore the complexities of the hospitality and tourism sectors. By combining theoretical content with active instructional methods, she aims to cultivate a research-oriented mindset in her students, encouraging them to explore critical issues and make evidence-based decisions.
Education
Dr. Luna holds a Doctorate Degree in Tourism Studies from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEMex), a Master of Arts in Education and Society from McGill University, and a Master in Tourism Management and Innovation from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN). Additionally, she completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism and Hotel Management and a European Master’s Degree in Hotel Management (Eurhodip Diploma) from the Banking and Business School (EBC) in Mexico City, with studies at Vatel Hotel and Tourism Business School in Nîmes, France, and Université de Perpignan, Montpellier.
Professional accomplishments
Dr. Luna’s professional journey includes extensive international experience as a professor, curriculum designer, student coach, and consultant. She has worked in the industry in France, China and Mexico. Her experience as a tourism professor is marked by over 15 years of teaching and curriculum development across various international institutions.
As a consultant, she has developed and supervised educational and tourism projects, coordinating various initiatives, including tourism development plans for Northern communities, wage reviews for territorial governments, and curriculum development for leadership and training programs. Her experience also encompasses client management, collaborative research, and project development.
Her extensive experience as an educator and consultant includes strong expertise in curriculum design. She has adapted international curricula to meet the needs of local students for several national programs, enhancing their relevance and practical application. This ability to develop innovative, contextually appropriate curricula has been a cornerstone of her professional achievements.
As a researcher, Luna's work contributes to understanding tourism beyond its economic dimensions, emphasizing its human and cultural aspects. Here are some of her research topics:
- Rationale for a Critical, Human-Interactions-Focused Tourism Education:
Dr. Chávez Luna emphasizes the need for a new curriculum in tourism studies that challenges unequal discourses and practices. She advocates for a shift from viewing tourism solely as a business to recognizing its impact on human interactions and social dynamics. Her work delves into the complexities of tourism, considering relationships embedded in power dynamics and the perpetuation of global inequities. She critiques the economic bias in tourism education, advocating for a more holistic approach incorporating social, cultural, and anthropological aspects. - Methodological Proposal Against Meaning Reduction in Tourist Encounters:
In her research, she proposes a methodological framework to avoid reducing the meaning of encounters between travellers and recipients within touristified scenarios. She explores how tourism can foster genuine awareness, tolerance, and respect for humanity by facilitating solid contact between people from different cultures. - Tourism as an Instrument of Neoliberal Colonization:
Drawing from Foucaultian perspectives, Luna investigates how tourism serves as a tool for neoliberal colonization. Her work sheds light on power dynamics, ideologies, and the impact of tourism on societies.
Publications and presentations
- Chávez Luna, T. (2021, 15 June). Rationale for a critical, human-interactions focused Tourism degree: Breaching the Managerial Epistemological Wall [Conference presentation]. Primer Congreso Internacional sobre Estudios Críticos del Turismo, Mexico City, Mexico.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2019). El turismo como instrumento de colonización neoliberal: una perspectiva foucaultiana [Tourism as an Instrument of Neoliberal Colonization: a Foucaultian perspective] [Essay]. Dimensiones Turísticas, 3(4), 110-116.
- Chávez Luna, T., Ramírez De La O, I. L., & Osorio García, M. (2018). 'We are not you': a methodological proposal against the meaning reduction of the travellers'/recipients' encounters within touristified scenarios. International journal of tourism anthropology, 6(2), 113-132.
- Chávez Luna, T., & Ramírez De La O, I. L. (2014, 24 Oct). El turismo como convivencia entre otredades y como relaciones humanas: los retos para su estudio [Tourism as coexistence between othernesses and as human relations: the challenges for its study] [Conference Presentation]. X Seminario Internacional de Estudios Turísticos, VI Seminario Internacional de Investigación en Gastronomía y XI Foro de Investigación Turística y Gastronómica, Toluca, Estado de Mexico, Mexico.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2012, 24-26 May). La investigación turística: tres puntos a considerarse desde una perspectiva hermenéutica [Tourism research: three points to consider from a hermeneutical perspective] [Conference paper]. 2º Congreso Internacional Turismo y Economía, Santiago de Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico.
- Chávez Luna, T., & Castillo Nechar, M. (2011). El estado de la investigación turística en la actualidad [The status of tourism research today]. HOMO VIATOR: Revista hermenéutica del viaje, la hospitalidad y el ocio, II(2), 70-87.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2011, 16 May). Turismo y alteridad: consideraciones hermenéuticas sobre el estudio del turismo y su relación con la alteridad [Tourism and otherness: hermeneutical considerations on the study of tourism and its relationship with otherness] [Conference paper]. V Foro de Hermenéutica Turística y Jurídica, Mexico City, Mexico.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2010). Turismo ¿cómo derecho? [Tourism, as a right?] [Conference paper]. IV Coloquio Internacional de Hermenéutica y Turismo, Mexico City, Mexico.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2010). Turismo y alteridad: seis consideraciones hermenéuticas sobre el estudio del turismo y su relación con la alteridad [Tourism and Alterity: Six Hermeneutical Considerations on the Study of Tourism and its Relationship to Otherness]. Homo Viator: Revista hermenéutica del viaje, la hospitalidad y el ocio, 1(1), 130-141.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2009). Crítica al enfoque administrativista de la definición de Turismo de la OMT: Una propuesta hermenéutica dialéctica interpretacional [A critique of the administrativist approach to the UNWTO definition of Tourism: A dialectical interpretative hermeneutic approach]. In P. Martínez Vergara & R. Tejeida Padilla (Eds.), Ensayos jurídicos y turísticos desde la perspectiva de la hermenéutica dialéctica transformacional de Napoleón Conde. IPN.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2009). Incertidumbre Epistémica, Otredad y Ocio [Epistemic Uncertainty, Otherness and Leisure] [Conference paper]. III Coloquio Internacional de Hermenéutica y Turismo, Mexico City, Mexico.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2009). La contemplación del “otro” dentro de espacios turísticos (un enfoque hermenéutico) [The contemplation of the "other" within tourist spaces (a hermeneutic approach)] [Conference paper]. Topofilia: Revista de Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Ciencias Sociales, I(3).
- Chávez Luna, T. (2009). La Cultura del Otro: Autenticidad del destino Turístico (un enfoque hermenéutico) [The Culture of the Other: Authenticity of the Tourist Destination (a hermeneutic approach)]. In N. Conde Gaxiola & P. Martínez Vergara (Eds.), Estudios turísticos y jurídicos : una perespectiva hermenéutica. IPN.
- Chávez Luna, T. (2009). Turismo: Hacia una Globalización Ontológica (un enfoque hermenéutico) [Tourism: Towards an Ontological Globalisation (a hermeneutic approach)]. In N. Conde Gaxiola & P. Martínez Vergara (Eds.), Turismo y derecho un horizonte interpretacional : primer coloquio internacional de hermenéutica turística y jurídica. IPN.
Oki, Âba wathtech, Danit'ada, Tawnshi, Hello.
SAIT is located on the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and the people of Treaty 7 which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Îyârhe Nakoda of Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney.
We are situated in an area the Blackfoot tribes traditionally called Moh’kinsstis, where the Bow River meets the Elbow River. We now call it the city of Calgary, which is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3.