Mr L Apleni
Lecturer
Qualifications:
BTech Tourism Management (WSU), Masters Management Sciences (University of Science & Technology Beijing)
About
Lwazi prides himself with 12 years of working experience. However, in the past 8 years, he has committed and dedicated his services in Academia. He cut his teeth at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in March 2016. He has worked for other institutions such as South African Airways, Coega Development Corporation and Africa Institute of South Africa. Currently, he is rendering his services as a Lecturer at University of Zululand (UNIZULU)’s Department of Recreation & Tourism. He is responsible for Teaching and Learning at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. His other duties include Research, University Service and Community Engagement.
He received his Junior Degree (Tourism Management) at WSU in 2011. He also holds a Master’s Degree (Cum Laude) in Management Sciences from University of Science & Technology Beijing in China. He is the recipient of Chinese Scholarship Council (2013-2015). Furthermore, he is currently reading his PhD specialising in Local Economic Development (LED) at University of Johannesburg. His PhD journey is an initiative of SA-UK University Staff Development Programme Phase 2.
As someone who is currently occupying the academic territory, he is very pro-active in matters pertaining to research. For instance, in Nov 2021, Lwazi was crowned as an Emerging Researcher of the Year at the Annual UNIZULU’s Vice-Chancellor Academic Excellence Awards. Additionally, while he consider himself as a novice scholar, he has contributed 21 manuscripts on approved scholarly platforms (1 policy brief, 12 journal articles and 8 book chapter articles). These are backed up by 5 local conferences & 12 international conferences. Moreover, he is responsible for co-supervising students at postgraduate level. While at WSU, he also contributed to co-supervision whereby 4 postgraduate students graduated. His research interests include local economic development, sustainable/responsible tourism, rural tourism to mention just a few.
Lastly, He serves as a Review Panel & Advisory Board member for Cambridge Scholars Publishing & Emerald Insight respectively. He is also a reviewer for IGI Global, International Journal of Tourism Policy, Tourism (an international disciplinary journal). He is a member of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research & Ethics Committee (FREC). He is also a member of Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research (often referred to as ATLAS) since 2019.
Research Interests
- Local economic development;
- Sustainable tourism;
- Rural tourism
Professional Memberships
- ATLAS (Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research). Since 09/2019.
- Tourism Educators South Africa
Publications