Dr. Michael Sepula

Biography

Michael holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Hospitality Management from Moi University, Kenya; a Master of Science in International Hotel Management, University of Surrey, United Kingdom; a Diploma in Hospitality Management from the Institute of Tourism and Hotel School, Austria; and a Bachelor of Education (Science) from the University of Malawi, Malawi. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Management in the Department of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Tourism, Hospitality, and Management at Mzuzu University, and a Postgraduate Coordinator in the Faculty. He boasts of more than 20 years of professional and academic experience as an educator, researcher, and consultant in the field of tourism and hospitality management. In 2021, he was awarded a scholarship under the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship-Advanced Scholars (QES-AS) program, implemented by Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, in partnership with Mzuzu University. The project’s overarching goals included assisting scholars with advanced training in societal transformation and climate change research skills, focusing on hospitality management, and building an interdisciplinary network of climate change researchers across Canada and various countries in Sub-Sahara Africa. He has vast experience in conducting research and consultancy assignments in both public and private sectors, including training and capacity-building assignments. He has recently participated as a trainer in the Capacity Building and Skills Development program for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Youth and Women Operating in the Tourism Industry in Malawi, organized by the Ministry of Tourism with financial support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), delivered by the Centre for Development Management/Horwath HTL. He has been a project team member and tourism business management expert of the Mzuzu University Tourism Business Incubation Centre (MTBIC) project, providing public business incubation/development and acceleration services arising from the business incubation under the “Promoting Investment and Competitiveness in the Tourism Sector (PICTS)” project through the Ministry of Tourism, funded by the AfDB. His core areas of expertise and competence are further backed up by an impressive track record of publications, especially in the areas of hotel service quality, hotel classification and rating systems, customer satisfaction and experience management, corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry, and sustainable hospitality operations practices and policies. Prior to joining Mzuzu University, he worked for 8 years at the Malawi Institute of Tourism as a Senior Training Officer in Food Production and Foodservice Management.