Keng Hang Frankie FAN

Assistant Professor, MasterSupervisor

PhD. (CUHK), MSc (Tsinghua), MEng (Oxford)

School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University

Email: fankh3@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Research Interests

Community-based Ecotourism

National Park Management (Rainforests and Tropical Forests)

Indigenous People and Traditional Livelihoods

Tourism Education and Experiential Learning

Ethnography

Positions Held

2021 – present, Assistant Professor, Sun Yat-Sen University, China

Educational Qualifications

Ph.D., Department of Geography and Resources Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

M.Sc., School of Environment, Tsinghua University.

B.Eng, M.Eng., Engineering, Economics and Management, University of Oxford (UK).

Selected Papers and Publications

[1] Fan, K,H.F (2024); An inter-ethnic interpretation of tourism conflicts and collaboration, Tourism Management. (SSCI)

[2] Fan, K.H.F., Ng, S.L. and Bayrak, M.M. (2023). Appraising the community in community-based tourism. Tourism Geographies, 25(2-3), 594-614. (SSCI) 

[3] Fan, K.H.F., Chang, T.C. and Ng, S.L. (2020). The Batek’s Dilemma on Indigenous Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 83C, 102948. (SSCI) 

[4] Fan, K.H. (2014). The Social Challenges of Involving the General Publics in Garbage Separation and Recycling in Chinese Cities. Advanced Materials Research, Volume 878, Chapter 8, p.831-839. (EI)

Teaching (current courses)

Protected Areas Management and Ecotourism 

World Human Geography and Tourism

Cultural Tourism Planning and Product Design (co-teaching)

International Field Study Program (Malaysia, Singapore)

Self-Introduction and Research Directions

As a tourism ethnographer, I often stay with local communities and explore issues facing ecotourism from a bottom-up angle, rather than pre-assuming a theoretical framework or a set of research questions to start my fieldwork. In the past, I have been conducting research in Malaysia, where I studied how different ethnic groups (i.e. Orang Asli Batek, Malays, and Malaysian Chinese) collaborate in the rainforest tourism business at Taman Negara National Park (Pahang). Since 2025, I have also started some new research projects in Sarawak (Borneo). In China, my primary site of interest is Hainan Rainforest National Park, as well as forest parks around Guangdong. I am also interested in ethnic/Indigenous tourism and published papers often relating to current debates in national park management, ecotourism, indigenous people’s adaptation to park policies and tourism development, etc. Recently, I have also developed an interest in ecotourism education and experiential learning. I founded the ‘SYSU-UTM Student Academic Exchange Program’ in early 2024, and have so far completed two trips that brought over 60 students and faculties to rainforest trekking and field studies in Malaysia and Singapore. 

Please do not hesitate to drop me an email for knowledge exchange and any potential collaboration. 

Chinese and international students are both welcome to contact me for potential supervision at the undergraduate and master’s degree levels, but please make sure you are willing to participate in field studies going to outdoor ecotourism destinations that may involve hours of trekking through the jungle. It can be fun though!