Guðrún Helgadóttir Editor

Katherine Dashper is a reader in events management at Leeds Beckett University, UK. Her research focuses predominantly on human-animal relationships in the context of events, tourism and leisure, with particular interest in horses. She has published widely in international journals and books on issues related to human-horse relationships, gender, tourism, and events management. She has published a monograph on human-horse relationships in sport and leisure, and co-edited four books on tourism and sport. In 2018, she organised the international conference 'Equine cultures in transition: Human-horse relationships in work and play'. She is a rider and regularly competes in equestrian sport events. Guðrún Helgadóttir is a professor of tourism at The University of South-Eastern Norway and Hólar University, Iceland. She has led numerous research projects and published in international journals on equestrian tourism, events and tourism sustainability in addition to co-authoring and illustrating a textbook and a handbook of best practice in equestrian tourism. Guðrún has organized a number of conferences and volunteered at various events. She developed a diploma program of study in event management for Hólar University in Iceland. She is an amateur equestrian. Ingibjörg Sigurðardóttir is an assistant professor and the head of the department of Rural Tourism at Hólar University, Iceland. Her educational and practical background is in management and business administration, tourism, equine science and agriculture. Her recent research focuses on horse events and equestrian tourism. She has published in international and domestic journals and books on tourism, events, horses, and business. She has written and published different kinds of teaching material for university level and practical handbooks for business operators, both individually and with international co-authors. She has led research- and business development projects and participated in organising international seminars and conferences on horses and tourism. She is an accredited young horse trainer within The Icelandic Horse Trainers Association, a horse breeder and an owner of a horse transport business.