Bryan J Lavin (he/him)
Professor College of Hospitality & Business Department of Hospitality Providence
Biography
Bryan Lavin has spent more than two decades at the intersection of destination marketing, strategic facilitation, and hospitality education working with organizations from the inside out to understand what it really takes to make a destination thrive.
His career spans national sales leadership at Choose Chicago and the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau working with major city-wide events that fuel the tourism economy. Now a professor of hospitality and tourism management, he shapes the next generation of destination development professionals and leads brand strategy for a college of hospitality and business.
Prior to joining academia at Meeting Professionals International, Bryan led professional development strategy for 12 regional chapters, designing education programs, facilitated leadership summits, and built the operational frameworks that helped thousands of meeting professionals grow.
Education
DBA, Johnson & Wales University
Business Administration
MBA, Johnson & Wales University
Business Adminstration
Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE)
American Hotel and Lodging Association
“Experience Is the New Economy and Hospitality Leads the Way.” Lavin, B. (January 28, 2026)
https://www.jwu.edu/news/2026/01/experience-is-the-new-economy-and-hospitality-leads-the-way.html
“Travel Pros TV: Episode 6 – JWU.” Lavin, B. (April 20, 2025)
https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FsdZ4ZwT2snA%3Ffeature%3Dshared&data=05%7C02%7CBryan.Lavin%40jwu.edu%7Ca96828d318c04fe38cc608dd87246788%7C4a469c1def0d40c6be1a5f603a10cc06%7C1%7C0%7C638815312597001406%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=j30jPoHgP69zT4bAw4xmnW7RyiS7d%2FrzzzJ14BTcMvs%3D&reserved=0
“Connecting the Dots: Workforce Development Programs.” Lavin, B. (February 10, 2025)
“Unpacking UGC with Prof. Bryan Lavin.” Lavin, B. (October 29, 2024)
https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FB0WXJJ-e4oA%3Fsi%3DsY47RXqIycdHO0IZ&data=05%7C02%7CBryan.Lavin%40jwu.edu%7Cc33195edffa540aae7de08dd8723fc85%7C4a469c1def0d40c6be1a5f603a10cc06%7C1%7C0%7C638815310811769268%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=6kbRwS7%2FhYeZkElAfodXATPLlC7GQHf%2BGeh1Kwm41y8%3D&reserved=0
“A Perfect Collab: DMO’s x Higher Education.” Lavin, B. (August 2, 2024)
https://destinationsinternational.org/blog/perfect-collab-dmos-x-higher-education
“Community Focus: Army v Navy Football Game Impact.” Lavin, B. (December 4, 2023)
https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=41&q=Bryan+Lavin+Army+Navy+Game&cvid=c19b387dca6648ac8cf2c9fe876c3832&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDY1NzBqMGoxqAIAsAIA&FORM=ANNTA1&PC=U531
Travel & Tourism Research Association
Destinations International
Lavin, B. (April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 15, 2025). The Power of Marketing: Designing Destinations: Career Exploration Platform: Hospitality Management. (Instructional Material).
SpringPod.
https://www.springpod.com/subject-spotlights/johnson-and-wales-university/hospitality-management/SS-00460
World Tourism Forum, “Unlocking UGC to Fuel Brand Authenticity,” Center for Responsible and Ethical Tourism (CREST), Dennisport, MA, United States. (November 5, 2026).
Learn Tourism: Digital Drop-in Series, “A Better Approach to UGC Curation,” Learn Tourism. (August 13, 2025).
TTRA 2025 International Conference, “How Local Perceptions of Tourism Influence User-Generated Content Creation: Profiling Content Creators through Cluster Analysis,” Travel & Tourism Research Association, Galway, Ireland. (June 23, 2025).
JWU Faculty Scholar & Best Practices Expo, “Empowering UGC Creation in the Classroom,” JWU, Providence, RI, United States. (February 14, 2025).
Tourism & Hospitality Management Course at WRCC, “Career Pathways in Hospitality,” Woonsocket Regional Career Center, Woonsocket, RI, United States. (November, 2023).
National Fall Leadership Conference, “Pitch Perfect: Making the Sale in Hospitality,” Future Business Leaders of America, Providence, RI, United States. (November 10, 2023).
National Fall Leadership Conference, “Pitch Perfect: Making the Sale in Hospitality,” Future Business Leaders of America, Providence, RI, United States. (November 10, 2023).
Expertise
destination marketing; economic impact; emerging technologies; millennials tourism; tourism infrastructure; travel trends