Dr. Kiran Shinde

Kiran has been working in the field of religious and cultural heritage and tourism, urban planning, destination management etc, for over two decades. Around these topics, he has published five books and 70+ research articles in high-ranking journals and books with reputed publishers. He was commissioned by UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation) to lead a project on “Buddhist Tourism in Asia: Towards Sustainable Development” that covered Buddhist heritage and tourism in 16 Asian countries including several UNESCO listed Buddhist heritage sites. This report recommended strategies for using Buddhist heritage in a sustainable manner for tourism and promoting economic development. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of top-ranking tourism journals:  Annals of Tourism Research and Tourism Geographies, and Tourism Planning and Development.

Kiran’s books include A Research Agenda for Religious Tourism (2024, co-edited with Joseph Cheer, Edward Elgar); Sacred Sites, Rituals, and Performances: New Perspective for Religious Tourism Development (2021, MDPI); Religious Tourism and the Environment (co-edited with Daniel Olsen, 2020, CABI); and Buddhist Tourism in Asia: Towards Sustainable Development (2020, UNWTO: Madrid), and Religious Heritage and Tourism in Asia (co-edited with Dallen Timothy, Routledge, forthcoming).

Kiran combines research training of an academic and professional practice of a planner with vast experience in different planning sectors across India and Australia. From 2021-2024, Kiran lead the Planning program at La Trobe University and coordinated the delivery of professional undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Urban, Regional and Environmental Planning.  In 2017, Kiran and his team were awarded the UN-Habitat’s coveted international “Asian Townscape Award” for a project titled “Adaptive Reuse of historic Bund Garden Bridge into Arts Plaza, Pune, India.