Inci Erdogan Tarakci

Biography

Inci Erdogan Tarakci, Ph.D., FCIM, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Tourism Management at Mersin University in Turkiye. She has previously held academic positions at Bilecik Seyh Edebali University, Baskent University, and Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, and served as a Visiting Scholar at Kennesaw State University, USA (2024–2025). She holds a PhD in Business Administration (Marketing) from Gazi University, an MBA in Business Administration from Çukurova University, and a B.Sc. in Business Administration from Anadolu University. Before fully transitioning into academia, she gained extensive professional experience across multiple sectors. Following her undergraduate studies, she taught evening courses in the Department of Business Administration at Open Education Faculty. During this period, she co-founded a technology consulting company, where she provided consulting services to various institutions and well-established educational organizations, including Çukurova University Faculty of Education and the American Cultural Association. Through her company, she also developed European Union-funded project proposals for manufacturing facilities, agricultural enterprises and farms, and industrial companies, managed the application processes, and coordinated the implementation and management of grant-funded projects. She also worked as a project manager at Trio Consulting, a human resources and management consulting firm, where she was responsible for human resources planning, job analysis, recruitment process management, and internal training programs for corporate clients. Concurrently, she completed her MBA studies. She later worked as a store manager at LC Waikiki and subsequently at GAP. Her research interests focus on marketing communication, tourism marketing, consumer behavior, and brand management, with a growing emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) applications in marketing and tourism. Her recent work particularly examines how AI-driven technologies transform consumer decision-making, marketing communication strategies, and destination branding. She has over 15 years of teaching experience in marketing, tourism, management, and communication-related courses and has authored numerous peer-reviewed international publications, books, and conference papers. Dr. Erdoğan Tarakçı actively serves as a reviewer and editorial board member for several international academic journals and has contributed to the organization of international academic congresses, fostering global scholarly collaboration.