Zélia Breda holds a PhD in Tourism, a MA in Chinese Studies (Business and International Relations) and a BSc in Tourism Management and Planning from the University of Aveiro, where she is Assistant Professor and Vice-director of the MSc in Tourism Management and Planning. She is an integrated member of the Research Unit ‘Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies’, and a founding member and vice-president of the Observatory of China, and a senior consultant of Idtour, a tourism R&D spin-off company. She is also member of the editorial and scientific boards of a few academic national and international journals, as well member of the organizing and scientific committees of international tourism conferences. She has authored and co-authored several national and international papers and communications on tourism development, networks, tourism in China and Goa (India), gender and tourism, and internationalisation of the tourism economy. She has also been taking part of several research projects in the tourism field, both as member of the team and as consultant.