Prof. Juho Pesonen (Юхо Песонен)
Professor of Tourism Business and the Research Vice Head of the Department at the University of Eastern Finland Business School
Juho Pesonen is Professor of Tourism Business and the Research Vice Head of the Department at the University of Eastern Finland Business School, where he leads the Tourism Business Research Group and directs the International Master's Degree Programme in Tourism Marketing and Management. His research examines how digital technologies, and increasingly artificial intelligence, are transforming tourism businesses, destinations, and travellers. He has published in leading journals including Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, and Electronic Markets, and his research on the sharing economy and digital transformation are widely cited in academia. Pesonen has served as President of the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT), the world's oldest eTourism community, and is an associate editor of the Journal of Information Technology & Tourism. Beyond academia, he is deeply involved in Finnish tourism policy and practice: he advises national and regional tourism development, works closely with Visit Finland and destination organisations, and serves as a board member at three tourism companies in Eastern Finland. In 2026, he was appointed by the prime minister’s office to develop a roadmap for tourism development in Eastern Finland. He grew up in Savonlinna showing visiting tourism professors around the town. Now he is one of them, and he still believes tourism can be both profitable and sustainable, if it is managed properly.