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By-laws of the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism

I. Name, Registered Office and Objects

Article 1

Under the name «International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism» (Association internationale d'experts scientifiques du tourisme», «Internationale Vereinigung wissenschaftlicher Fremdenverkehrsexperten», Associazione internazionale degli esperti scientifici del turismo», «Asociación internacional de expertos científicos del turismo») exists an association of persons engaged in or particularly promoting scientific activity in the field of tourism.

The registered office of the Association is located at the place of its secretariat. Its location may be changed by a decision of the General Meeting.

The Association has the character of a scientific society; its principal objects are:

1. to foster friendly relations among its members;

2. to promote scientific activity on the part of its members, in particular:

a) developing personal contacts;
b) providing documentation;
c) facilitating exchange of views and experience;

3. to support the activity of scientific institutes of tourism, or other centres of research and education specializing in tourism, and to develop relations between them, as well as between them and the members of the Association;

4. to organise and to co-operate in congresses and other meetings and courses on tourism of a scientific nature.

The Association shall not undertake work already being adequately performed by existing institutions.

The Association has the following categories of members:

1. Ordinary Mernbers

A person may be admitted as an ordinary member if they produce satisfactory evi-dence that, within the field of tourism, he or she:

is engaged in teaching or research at a scientific level;
writes and publishes scientific articles;
endeavours, in practice, to apply scientific methods or to translate the findings of scientific research;
is specifically involved in the promotion of tourism research or tourism education.

2. Honorary Mernbers

A person may be designated as an honorary member, whether he or she is an ordinary member, or not, if they have rendered special services to research or to education, within the field of tourism.

3. Associate-Members

A body may be admitted as an associate-member with consultative voice, if it is an organisation or institution which is interested in or committed to the objects of AIEST.

Each associate-member, or body, is entitled to send participants to the Association's annual congresses, provided that their representation does not exceed a maximum of three delegates.

4. Senior Members (Amendment of the Bylaws of August 29, 2005)

Ordinary and honorary membership is granted by the Committee of the Association and must be sponsored by at least one Committee member or by a national association.

Associate-membership is granted by the General Meeting.

Amendment of the Bylaws of August 20, 2007:

Membership of the categories set out in Article 4, sections 1 to 3, expires:

1. on resignation, which must be notified in writing to the President, with a minimum of three months' notice to expire at the end of a calendar year. The subscription for the year, in which the resignation is tendered, is due in full;

2. on death (for individual members);

3. on exclusion from membership, which in case of an individual member may be made by the Committee and in the case of an associate-member by the General Meeting. These decisions are final.

Members who have resigned or who have been excluded from membership have no claims of any kind on the Association.

The organs of the Association are:

1. The General Meeting

2. The Committee

3. The Secretariat General

4. The Auditors

The General Meeting consists of the ordinary members defined in Article 4, section 1, and is held normally at least once a year. The associate-members as defined in Article 4, section 3, are invited to take part with a consultative voice.

The General Meeting is convened by the President on the decision of the Committee, at least two months before the date of the meeting. The notice convening the meeting must state the business to be dealt with, on which alone the General Meeting may decide.

The General Meeting has, in particular, the following powers:

1. To elect the Committee, i.e. the President, the Vice-Presidents if any, and the members, as well as the Secretary General and the Auditors of the Association, in accordance with Article 11, section 1, Article 14, section 2 and Article 16, section 1.

2. To approve the annual accounts and the annual budget; it may delegate this power wholly or in part to
the Committee.

3. To fix the annual subscription and the allowances to be paid to the President, the Committee and the Secretary General (Article 18, paragraph 2).

4. To decide amendments to the By-Iaws.

5. To reach a decision on matters referred to it by the Committee.

6. To decide on the admission of associate-members (Article 5, section 2).

7. To decide on the exclusion of associate-members (Article 6, section 3).

8. To decide on the dissolution or liquidation of the Association.

Each ordinary member has one vote at the General Meeting. The associate-members as defined in Article 4, section 3, have a consultative voice only.

All voting and elections take place by a show of hands unless the General Meeting decides otherwise.

Voting and elections are decided by a simple majority of the ordinary members present. In the case of equal numbers of votes, the President has the casting vote.

A two-thirds majority of the ordinary members present is required to deeide amendments of the By-laws.

A two-thirds majority of all ordinary members is required to decide on the dissolution or liquidation of the Association.

The Committee consists of at least five ordinary members.

The period of the office of the Committee is four years; members are eligible for re-election.

The Committee has, in particular, the following powers:

1. To make preparations for the General Meeting, to arrange for it to be convened, and to carry out its decisions; to organize the congresses and other events in accordance with Article 3, section 4.

2. To decide on the admission of members in accordance with Article 5, section 1, and to submit for approval to the General Meeting the admission of associate-members, in accordance with Article 5, section 2.

3. To decide on the exclusion of members in accordance with Article 6, section 3.

4. To decide on the use of the funds of the Association on the basis of the annual budget (Article 18, section 1), to be responsible for keeping the accounts, and to approve the annual accounts and the annual budget, in so far as this power is delegated to it by the General Meeting (Article 9, section 2).

5. To supervise the Secretariat General, to give it the necessary instructions, and to decide on the engagement of assistant staff (Article 18, section 2).

6. To set up sub-committees from among its members.

7. To designate the persons to represent the Association and to sign on behalf of the Association.

The Committee meets at least once a year.

It is convened by the President.

Its resolutions are decided by a simple majority and in the case of equal numbers of votes, the chairman has a casting vote.

Voting must be unanimous for:

1. the admission of a member in accordance with Article 5, section 1.

2. the exclusion of a member in accordance with Article 6, section 3.

The Secretariat General consists of a Secretary and any assistant staff.

The Secretary General, who must be an ordinary member, is elected for a period of four years, and is eligible for reelection.

The Secretary General prepares and executes the work of the Association under the direction of the President on behalf of its respective organs.

The Auditors are two ordinary members who must not be members of the Committee or of the Secretariat General of the Association.

The Auditors are elected for a period of four years and are eligible for re-election. They examine the annual accounts of the Association and submit a written report on them to the General Meeting and to the Committee.

The General Meeting may commission a fiduciary society to carry out the audit.

The Association derives its funds from:

1. Annual subscriptions of members defined in Article 4, sections 1 and 3. The annual subscription for ordinary members is fixed by the General Meeting.

The annual subscription for associate-members is:

• three times the amount paid by ordinary members for Institutes engaged in tourism research or in tourism
  education, and
• six times the amount paid by ordinary members for any other organisation or institution.
  
The annual subscription entitles members to receive free of charge all publications of the Association, including its journal, »The Tourism Review«. It must be paid not later than 31 March each year. Members who have not paid their subscription by the end of a calendar year may be excluded from the Association. Honorary members are not required to pay annual subscription.

2. Other subscriptions or donations.

3. Interest on investments.

The use of funds of the Association is decided in accordance with Article 12, section 4, by the Committee on the basis of an annual budget submitted for approval to the General Meeting, unless otherwise decided in accordance with Articte 9, section 2.

The General Meeting deterrnines the allowances to be paid to the President, the Committee and the Secretary General (Article 9, section 3) and the Committee decides on the engagement and conditions of employment of assistant staff of the Secretariat General (Article 12, section 5).

The liability of the Association is limited to its capital. The liability of the members is limited to their subscriptions.

The financial year begins on 1 January and ends on 31 December of each year.

The notifications of the Association are published in «The Tourism Review» («Revue de Tourisme», «Zeitschrift für Tourismus»).

In the event of dissolution of the Association being decided upon (Article 9, section 8, and Article 10, paragraph 5), the Committee appoints the liquidators.

Any surplus remaining after the repayment of debts, will be handed over in accordance with the decision of the General Meeting which has agreed upon the dissolution, to institutions devoted to research, study and education in tourism.

These By-Iaws were approved by the General Meeting of the Association at Montreux on 2 September 1986.

They supersede those approved by the inaugural meeting at Rome on 31 May 1951, and the General Meetings at Palermo on 23 June 1954, at Stresa on 24 September 1960, at Belgrade on 5 September 1975 and at Alexandria on 21 September 1978.