Meng Qu, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor & Vice Director at the Hokkaido University Center for Advanced Tourism Studies; co-convener at Small Island Cultures Research Initiative (SICRI); Associate Editor of Folk, Knowledge, Place and Regional Editor of Event Management journal. He is also the Guest Lecturer & Board Member at the New Ruralism Research and Development Center (NRRDC) in Graduate Institute of Building and Planning, National Taiwan University and the Guest Associate Professor at Hiroshima University. He is also the editorial board member at Tourism Geographies, Shima; Event Management Journal, Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Marine and Island Cultures (JMIC), Journal of Responsible Tourism Management (JRTM), and the advisory board member at CREATOUR International.
He studied and worked as digital artist, interactive design director and vice president between Shanghai and Beijing in the digital media art and museum design industry (2006-2015). He is focusing on the revitalization of rural communities through international art festivals, by participating as a volunteer, staff member and researcher. Examples include the Xucun international Art Festival (2011-2013) in China, the Setouchi Triennale (2016-2019) in Japan as well as Shiosai Art Festival (2019-2022).
His research draws from range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives, especially from the fields of creative/tourism geography, rural and island studies, with a focus on East Asia. Key research topics include socially engaged art festivals, relational aesthetics, creative in-migrants, sustainability, and rural revitalization. His current research aims at producing an interdisciplinary nexus on rural revitalization by focusing on creative tourism initiatives to revitalize communities in peripheral areas.