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<\/a>Dr. Simone Splendiani speaking to Etown students at a standing-room-only Mars Wrigley Executive Lecture Series.<\/p><\/div>\n
Associate Professor of Management, specializing in Tourism Marketing and Management, Dr. Simone Splendiani, and Associate Professor of Banking and Finance and Departmental Erasmus Coordinator, Dr. Alberto Burchi, opened their visit with a research-based presentation to School of Business faculty and followed with the first Mars Wrigley Executive Lecture Series<\/a> of the fall semester with their presentation, \u201cFunding Startup for Sustainable Tourism. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Action.”<\/p>\n The duo was invited to campus by Elizabethtown College Professor of Business, Cristina Ciocirlan, who initially connected with Dr. Splendiani during a Sinergie-SIMA conference in Parma, Italy, in 2024. In June 2025, Ciocirlan was invited to give a lecture about the American university system at the University of Perugia, followed by a roundtable conversation comparing the Italian and the American higher education systems.<\/p>\n \u201cFaculty exchange visits such as this one help enhance our understanding of the best practices in higher education across the world, and lead to meaningful collaboration that will ultimately benefit our students. I am grateful to the School of Business at Etown and the Erasmus+ program at the University of Perugia for making this visit possible,\u201d Ciocirlan said.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Splendiani and Burchi\u2019s Mars Wrigley Executive Lecture was presented to a standing-room-only crowd in the Hoover Center for Business and centered on the complexities and importance of sustainable tourism, along with the Italian economic structure.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the U.S., you may not feel the stress of tourism, but in Italy, we feel the stress of environmental, social, and political aspects of irresponsible tourism,\u201d Splendiani said. \u201cThe reason why we are talking about this today is because entrepreneurship is one of the solutions to sustainable tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n An author of numerous scientific publications in international academic journals, Splendiani’s research focuses on sustainable tourism, heritage management, and strategic communication. Burchi, who teaches Financial Markets and Investments (BSc) and Applied Corporate Finance (MSc) at the University of Perugia, focuses his research on socially responsible investment, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing.<\/p>\n