Dr. Sotirios Varelas is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Tourism Studies of the University of Piraeus with the subject “Hospitality Business Strategy and Tourism Organizations”. He holds a PhD from the Department of Business Administration of the School of Economics, Business and International Studies of the University of Piraeus. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Greek Chapter of the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT). He has 15 years of professional experience as a scientific consultant to tourism organizations and is the creator and manager of a start-up company on virtual tourism www.netourwork.com. In the past he was a scientific consultant at the Ministry of Tourism, the Greek Tourism Organisation and the Peloponnese Region. Within his responsibilities he has designed and implemented destination management and marketing activities at national- regional level (airline recruitment, digital marketing, participation in b2b events, fam press trip, consultations, experiential products, identity creation, etc). He has authored and participated in more than 40 study projects on topics such as Tourism Observatories, Sustainability, Destination Management, Destination Strategy, DMMO, Destination Marketing and Branding. He has collaborated with several research centres such as the Institute of Regional Development, the University of Peloponnese, the Laboratory of Policy Evaluation and Programme Development and the Research Centre of the University of Piraeus. He teaches in the Postgraduate Programmes in Tourism Business Administration and Business Administration at the University of Piraeus and in the Undergraduate Programme in Tourism Management at the Hellenic Open University. Since 2010 he has taught at several academic and professional institutions such as the University of Piraeus, the University of West Attica, the University of Peloponnese, the University of Piraeus, the Institute of the Hellenic Tourism Business Association (INSEETE), the Hellenic Society of Business Administration (HSE) and the Air Force War College. He has been appointed by the Assembly of the Department as the student internship coordinator and coordinator of the academic advisors of the Department of Tourism Studies. Dr. Varela was the creator and coordinator of the Graduate Program in Tourism Business Administration and the Center for International Tourism Research at Neapolis University. His scientific papers have been published in several international journals and he is a member of the editorial board of several journals and conferences. He frequently writes articles and participates as a speaker on issues related to tourism and tourism business.

1. TSK101. Introduction to Tourism -Tourism Geography (1st semester)
2. TSK501. Tourism Development Strategies and Policies (5th semester)
3. TSK603. Modern Travel Agencies (6th semester)
4. TSK801. Strategic Management for Tourism (8th semester)
5. TSΚPRAK01. Student Internship Ι (Elective)
6. TSΚPRAK02. Student Internship ΙΙ (Elective)
7. TSΚER01-02. Research Project (Elective)

Research Papers Published in International Scientific Journals; peer-reviewed conference proceedings:

1. Tsoupros, G., Varelas, S., & Anastasopoulos, I. E. (2026). Destination Management and Marketing Organizations as Enablers of Entrepreneurial Resilience: Co-Creating Organizational Structures and Human Resource Capacity Through Participatory Governance and Emerging Technologies. Merits, 6(3), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/merits6030026
2. Varelas, S., Tsoupros, G., & Anastasopoulos, I. E. (2026). Assessing the Social Carrying Capacity of Urban Tourism: Residents’ and Professionals’ Perceptions in the Municipality of Athens. Sustainability, 18(9), 4560. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094560
3. Varelas, S., & Papageorgiou, Α. (2026), The Strategic Approach of Greek Expatriates as Inbound Tourists and the Αnalysis of Their Consumer Behavior, p. 523-530, Springer, https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-12968-0_57.
4. Vrionis-Anucin, Ι., & Varelas, S. (2026), Implementing Sustainable Habits in Dynamic Pricing Through Revenue Management Strategies in the Hotel Industry—A Literature Review, p. 761-768, Springer, https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-12968-0_83 .
5. Tsoupros, G., Varelas, S., & Anastasopoulos, I. (2026). Strategic Adaptation and Resilience of Tourism Destinations: Insights From the Greek Experience. In G. Deirmentzoglou, E. Anastasopoulou, V. Geldres-Weiss, B. Jovanovski, & A. Masouras (Eds.), Entrepreneurial Resilience in Turbulent Globalized Economies (pp. 371-402). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-6991-4.ch013
6. Anastasopoulos, I., Tsoupros, G., Varelas, S., Deirmentzoglou, G. A., & Anastasopoulou, E. E. (2026). Resilience in Tourism, Real Estate, and Mixed-Use Developments: A KPI- and ESG-Based Framework for Managing Disruption. In G. Deirmentzoglou, E. Anastasopoulou, V. Geldres-Weiss, B. Jovanovski, & A. Masouras (Eds.), Entrepreneurial Resilience in Turbulent Globalized Economies (pp. 345-370). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-6991-4.ch012.
7. Tsoupros, G., Anastasopoulos, I., Varelas, S., & Anastasopoulou, E. E. (2025). Platform-Enabled Destination Management: KPI Dashboards and DEA Benchmarking in the Peloponnese. Platforms, 3(4), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/platforms3040021
8. Tsoupros, G., Varelas, S., & Anastasopoulos, I. (2025). Strategic Group Analysis in the Tourism Industry: A Destination’s perspective. Future of Business Administration, 4(2), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.33422/fba.v4i2.1171
9. Varelas, S., & Kanellopoulou, A. (2025). The strategic role of trust for conflict management in the human resource environment of tourism enterprises. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 1–13. Emerald Publishing Limited.
10. Varelas, S., & Papageorgiou, A. (2025). Strategic approach of Greek expatriates as inbound tourists: The case of the Peloponnese area, Greece. Tourism Today, 24, 58–80.
11. Georgopoulos, N., Katsanakis, I., Kopanaki, E., Varelas, S., Stroumpoulis, A., Anastasopoulos, I., Konstantopoulou, C., Klada, N., & Tsoupros, G. (2025, October 1). Bridging visitors’ and residents’ perspectives in destination planning: A sustainability and governance case study of Piraeus Port. Tourism and Hospitality, 6(4), 196. MDPI.
12. Deirmentzoglou, G. A., Agoraki, K. K., Varelas, S., Anastasopoulos, I., & Anastasopoulou, E. E. (2025). Technology acceptance model for metaverse applications in the tourism and hospitality industry. In I. Bartuseviciene et al. (Eds.), Building resilience through digital transformation and sustainable innovation. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-90054-9_17
13. Deirmentzoglou, G. A., Agoraki, K. K., Varelas, S., Anastasopoulos, I., & Anastasopoulou, E. E. (2025). Technology acceptance model for metaverse applications in the tourism and hospitality industry. In I. Bartuseviciene et al. (Eds.), Building resilience through digital transformation and sustainable innovation (pp. 263–273). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-90054-9_17
14. Deirmentzoglou, G. A., Anastasopoulou, E. E., Vlassi, E., Varelas, S., & Anastasopoulos, I. (2025). International Agritourism Ventures and Digital Tools: Enhancing Entrepreneurship Education Through Simulation. In A. Masouras, S. Anastasiadou, G. Deirmentzoglou, H. Sophocleous, & E. Anastasopoulou (Eds.), Integrating Simulation Tools Into Entrepreneurship Education (pp. 311-334). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-9040-5.ch015
15. Konstantopoulou, C., Varelas, S., & Liargovas, P. (2024). Well-Being and Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review. Economies, 12(10), 281. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12100281
16. Anastasopoulos I.,Georgopoulos N.,Katsanakis I., Klada N., Konstantopoulou C., Kopanaki E., Stroumpoulis A.,Tsoupros G., Varelas S. (2024), Management of sustainable tourism in tourist destinations-ports. The use of sustainable indicators in the case study of the Piraeus port (Greece), Sustainable Tourism XI, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, DOI 10.2495/ST240031.
17. Varelas S, Tsoupros G.(2024). Key Performance Indicators and Data Envelopment Analysis in Greek Tourism: A Strategic Planning Tool for Destinations and DMMOs. Sustainability. 16(8):3453. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083453
18. Varelas, S. Virtual Immersive Platforms as a Strategic Innovative Destination Marketing Tool in the COVID-19 Era.(2022). Sustainability, 14, 12867. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912867
19. Zouni, G., Hatzimarinakis, S. & Varelas, S. (2022) “Tourism Observatories for measuring the COVID-19 impact on tourism,” Journal of Sustainability and Resilience: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. DOI : https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jsr/vol2/iss1/2
20. Stroumpoulis, A., Kopanaki, E. and Varelas, S. (2022), “Role of artificial intelligence and big data analytics in smart tourism: a resource-based view approach”, Sustainable Tourism X, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol. 256, pp. 99-108. https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/ST22/ST22009FU1.pdf
21. Varelas, S., Karvela, P. & Georgopoulos, N. (2021). The Impact of Information Technology and Sustainable Strategies in Hotel Branding, Evidence from the Greek Environment. Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8543; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158543
22. Apostolopoulos, N., Makris, I., Liargovas, P., Apostolopoulos, S., & Varelas, S. (2021). Building National Branding Strategy in Medical Tourism and Production of Generic Medicines: National Branding and Health. In V. Pistikou, A. Masouras, & M. Komodromos (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Future Policies and Strategies for Nation Branding (pp. 309-323). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7533-8.ch020
23. Varelas, S. & Apostolopoulos, N. (2020). The implementation of strategic management in Greek hospitality businesses and organizations during the economic crisis. Strategic Planning and Management of Tourist Destinations, MDPI Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
24. Varelas, S. & Anucin- Vrionis, I. (2020). Disruptive Technologies and Hospitality Entrepreneurs perception’s – Strategic approach of a Greek Destination. SPOUDAI – Journal of Economics and Business , SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, 70 (1-2), pp. 106-116.
25. Varelas, S., Kopanaki, E. & Georgopoulos, N. (2020). A Strategic Tourism Knowledge Base for Socio-Economic and Environmental Data analytics – The role of Big Data Analysis. The Małopolska School of Economics in Tarnów Research Papers Collection, ISSN 1506-2635, e-ISSN 2658- 1817c2020, 45(1), pp. 69–76, DOI: 10.25944/znmwse.2020.01.6976
26. Papageorgiou, A., Kikilia E. & Varelas, S. (2020). Employee training in Athnes luxury hotels and its relation to job efficiency and company loyalty. Journal of Regional Socio-Economics Issue (JRSEI), 10(3).
27. Varelas S., Georgitseas P. (2019), Strategic Innovations in Tourism Enterprises through Blockchain Technology, Strategic Innovative Marketing, Springer.
28. Varelas, S. & Belias, D. (2019), Carrying Capacity Assessment for Tourism Development- A Strategic  Approach, Strategic Innovative Marketing, Springer.
29. Belias D., Varelas, S. & Kavoura A. (2019), To Be or not to Be? Which is the Case with Robots in the Hotel Industry? Strategic Innovative Marketing, Springer.
30. Giovanis A., Kavoura A., Rizomyliotis, I. & Varelas S.(2019), The impact of perceived value of online booking platforms’ usage on  consumer-brand relationships development and brand loyalty. Strategic Innovative Marketing, Springer.
31. Varelas, S.(2019). Netourwork Framework  –  A New Era in Strategic Innovative Networking  System for Tourism Enterprises. Strategic Innovative Marketing, Springer.
32. Flavio T., Borges-Tiago T., Varelas, S. & Kavoura A. (2019), The Effect of Asymmetrical Image Projections on Online Destination Branding, Strategic Innovative Marketing, Springer.
33. Sahinidis A., Stavroulakis D., Kossieri E., Sdrolias, L. & Varelas S. (2019), Entrepreneurial Intention Determinants Among Female Students. The Influence of Role Models, Parent Occupation and Perceived Behavioral  Control on Forming the Desire to Become a Business Owner, Strategic Innovative Marketing, Springer.
34. Nechita F., Demeter R., Briciu V.A., Kavoura, A. & Varelas S. (2019), Analysing Projected Destination Images Versus Visitor-Generated Visual  Content in Brasov, Transylvania, Strategic Innovative Marketing, Springer.
35. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2017), Competition as a Critical Factor of the Strategic Planning of Hotel Businesses, Journal of Hotel & Business Management, Volume 6: Issue 167.
36. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2017), Strategy Research and Education in the Critical Sector of Tourism – Comparative Assessment at International and Greek Level, Journal of Hotel & Business Management, Volume 06:  Issue 01.
37. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2017), Porter’s Competitive Forces in the Modern Globalized Hospitality Sector ‐ The case of a Greek Tourism Destination, Journal of Tourism Research, Review of Tourism Science, Volume 18, pp. 121-131.
38. Varelas, S. (2016), Strategy And Innovation For A New Tourism Environment Outside Competition, International Journal of Development Research, Vol. 06, Issue, 12, pp.10851-10855.

Research Papers Published in Peer-reviewed Collected Volumes, Book Chapters:

1. Deirmentzoglou, G. A., Anastasopoulou, E. E., Vlassi, E., Varelas, S., & Anastasopoulos, I. (2025). International agritourism ventures and digital tools: Enhancing entrepreneurship education through simulation. In Integrating simulation tools into entrepreneurship education (pp. 311–334). IGI Global Scientific Publishing.
2. Konstantopoulou, C. and Varelas, S. (2023). Well-being – Quality of Life & Tourism: A systematic literature review, Scientific Volume in honour of Emeritus Professor V. Pekka-Oikonomou.
3. Anastasopoulos, I. and Varelas, S. (2023). The metaverse and its relationship with tourism and tourism real estate: A review of current trends and future research directions, Scientific Volume in honour of Emeritus Professor V. Pekka-Oikonomou (accepted, publication pending).
4. Varelas, S. and Georgopoulos, N. (2021), Theme Parks, Chapter in Special Interest Tourism Sheela Agerwal, Graham Busby, Rong Huang. Publ. Broken Hill.
5. Varelas, S. and Georgopoulos, N. (2016), International Research Approach to Strategic Management in Tourism and Hospitality, Honorary Volume for Professor Emeritus G. Economou, University of Piraeus Research Centre (In Greek).
6. Varelas, S. and Georgopoulos, N. (2012), The Role of Large Scale Composite Units in the Sustainability and Regional Development of the Greek Environment, Honorary Volume for Professor Emeritus S. Karvounis, University of Piraeus Research Centre (In Greek).

Research Papers presented at International Peer-reviewed Conferences:

1. Choustoulakis, E. N., Athanasopoulou, P., & Varelas, S. (2026). “Sports Tourism as Living Cultural Heritage in Crete: Digital Transformation, Destination Branding, and Visitor Experience in Heraklion Prefecture.” 13th International Conference of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism (IACuDiT), Tourism in the Age of Transformation: Insights from the Social Sciences, Lesvos, Greece, 1–3 September 2026.
2. Tsoupros, G.Anastasopoulos, I., Varelas, S. (2026). Beyond SWOT: Exploring underutilized strategic performance management tools in the tourism sector, Copenhagen, 2026.
3. Varelas, S., & Tsoupros, The strategic role of gastronomy development in regional growth and business value creation for modern tourism organizations, INTOCUS, Athens, 2026.
4. Konstantopoulou, C., Varelas, S., & Liargovas, P. (2025). Investigating well-being tourism based on General Systems Theory: The case of Greece. EBEEC Conference Proceedings, Tirana.
5. Anastasopoulos, I., Varelas, S., & Tsoupros, G. (2025). Integrating quality management and human resource strategies for sustainable business tourism investments: Enhancing mixed-use developments and regional economic growth. 6th World Conference on Management and Economics (WORLDCME 2025), Helsinki, Finland.
6. Anastasopoulos, I., Georgopoulos, N., Katsanakis, I., Klada, N., Konstantopoulou, C., Kopanaki, E., Stroumpoulis, A., Tsoupros, G., & Varelas, S. (2025). Integrating statistical and sentiment data analytics for sustainable tourism management: The case of Piraeus, Greece. ENBIS-25 Conference, University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece.
7. Anastasopoulos, I., Varelas, S., & Tsoupros, G. (2025). Applying systemic methodologies in human resource management for sustainable mixed-use tourism developments: A quality-driven conceptual framework. 21st HSSS National & International Conference: Systemic Human Resources Management and New Technologies, Tripoli, Greece.
8. Deirmentzoglou, G. A., Agoraki, K. K., Varelas, S., Anastasopoulos, I., & Anastasopoulou, E. E. (2025). Technology acceptance model for metaverse applications in the tourism and hospitality industry. In International Conference Economies of the Balkan and Eastern European Countries (pp. 263–273). Springer Nature Switzerland.
9. Agoraki, K., Varelas, S., Anastasopoulos. I. & Anastasopoulou. E. (2024), Technology Acceptance Model for Metaverse Applications in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry, 16th International Conference on Economies of the Balkan and Eastern European Countries (ΕΒΕΕC 2024) – EBEEC Annual International Conference.
10. Anastasopoulos, I., & Varelas, S. (2023). A Literature Review and Emerging Trends on key Topics of Risks and Challenges Facing Tourism real Estate Investments. In European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 39-47).
11. Anastasopoulos, I. and Varelas, S. (2022), “A sustainable model of strategic management in modern tourism investments – the case of tourism real estate in Greece”, 9th MT International Academic Business Conference. Global Academic View, December 2022, Paris.
12. Konstantopoulou, C. & Sotirios Varelas. S. (2023). Mapping prosperity in relation to tourism and sustainability in a post-pandemic world: A systematic literature analysis. 19th Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies (HSSS) National & International Conference.
13. Anucin Vrionis, I. & Sotirios Varelas. S. (2023). Smart technologies and sustainability, the way to develop a Smart destination. 19th Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies (HSSS) National & International Conference.
14. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2016),  Measurement of Strategic Management Effectiveness in Tourism Enterprises, International Conference on “  Business Economic, Social Science & Humanities” (BESSH), Tokyo, Japan.
15. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2012), Strategic Destination Management and Branding-The Case of Greece, Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Destination Management and Branding in the Mediterranean Region «Sustainable Tourism in Times of Crisis» Antalya, Turkey.
16. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2013),  Integrated Destination Resorts as Pillars of  Sustainability – The Case of Greece, Proceedings of The 1st Annual PSU  Phuket International Conference 2012, Multidisciplinary Studies of Sustainable  Development, Prince of Songkla University.
17. Varelas, S. (2017), Destination Management in Practice, Chair Workshop, 13th. HSSS National & International Conference Systemic Organizational Excellence, Sparta.
18. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2015),  Strategic Approach to Tourism Research and Education: The case of Greece, 4th Global Business and Finance Research Conference,Melbourne, Australia.
19. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2014) Strategic Management for Tourism Enterprises Development‘’, Proceedings of ICHLST  International Conference on Hospitality, Leisure, Sport, and Tourism.National Law University, Delhi, India. 6-8  February, 2014.
20. Varelas, S.,  Georgopoulos, N., Katsanakis, I., & Chimos, Κ .(2012),  Social Networks & Leadership: Towards Leadership 2.0, Presented at the 8th National & International HSSS Conference «Systems Approach to Strategic Management», Thessaloniki.
21. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N.  (2011), Strategic Planning for Superior Hotel Performance, Presented at the 7th National & International HSSS Conference «Professional Systemics in Action.
22. Varelas, S.,  Georgopoulos, N. & Katsanakis, I. (2011), Greek Tourism Under Crisis-Strategies, and the Way Out’, Proceedings of the International Conference “Rethinking Business and Business Education in the Age of Crisis, Chios.
23. Varelas, S. & Georgopoulos, N. (2010), The Strategic Use of Travel 2.0 and its Importance for the Tourism Sector, Presented at the 6th National & International HSSS Conference «Systemic Approaches in Social Structures», Mytilene.

1. Varelas, S. and Georgopoulos, N. (2021), Theme Parks, Chap. Special Interest Tourism Sheela Agerwal, Graham Busby, Rong Huang. Broken Hill Publishers (In Greek).

The office hours for the fall semester 2026-2027 are:

• Monday: 11:00-13:00
• Thursday: 12:00-14:00

Note: Please contact by e-mail for arranging an appointment.

For the Full CV press here.