Chris Ryan is Professor of Tourism at the University of Waikato Management School, and Director of two research units relating to China-New Zealand Tourism research and second the impacts of tourism on the community of Raglan as part of an SDG initiative. 

He has been editor in chief of Tourism Management for 25 years, and founded Tourism Management Perspectives and Tourism Critiques. As a researcher he has received several awards, authored or co-authored over 200 refereed journal articles, written 14 books and has been on advisory bodies for governmental and private sector companies on several occasions.

He is listed in PloS One as one of the leading 0.5% global researchers.