Dr. Ala Al-Hamarneh holds a Ph.D. in economic and social geography from Kiev State University. Since 1997, he is affiliated with the Johannes Gutenberg-Mainz University in Germany as a senior researcher at the Center for Research on the Arab World (CERAW) and as an assistant professor for human geography at the Institute of Geography. Issues of international tourism, migration, urban studies and higher education are the focus of his research, publications, consulting and teaching. Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Qatar and UAE as well as Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Ukraine represent the geographic areas of his research. As an expert in Islamic Tourism, globalization of higher education, and international migration, he has been engaged in consulting activities in various research centers and projects (SSRC, Oxford and Sunderland Universities) and in global NGOs and forums (OSF, US-Islamic World Forum 2011, Global Islamic Tourism Forum). His last co-edited volume Islam and Muslims in Germany won the "Outstanding Academic Title Award" by Choice Magazine, 2008.