In 2003, Prof. Dr. Harald Pechlaner was appointed as the Endowed Professor of Tourism at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and has held the Chair of Tourism and led the Center for Entrepreneurship since 2004. As of October 2023, Harald Pechlaner serves as the Founding Chair of the KU School of Transformation and Sustainability. Alongside his academic responsibilities, he works at the Center for Advanced Studies at Eurac Research and serves as the Scientific Director of the Competence Center for the Green Transformation of Tourism, a project commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. In 2021, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Slovakia’s Matej Bel University. Harald Pechlaner is the author and (co-)editor of numerous books and the (co-)author of many academic articles in books and journals. His work focuses on tourism, regional development, the management of (regional) networks, and specific issues concerning the relationship between globalization and regionalization.

• Since 2024: Scientific Director of the Competence Center for the Green Transformation of Tourism, a project of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action

• Since October 2023: Founding Chair of the KU School of Transformation and Sustainability

• 2021: Awarded an honorary doctorate by Matej Bel University, Slovakia

• Since 2018: Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

• 2017–2023: Scientific Director of the German Federal Competence Center for Tourism

• Since 2017: Head of the Center for Advanced Studies, Eurac Research

• 2014–2024: President of the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST)

• Since 2014: Adjunct Research Professor at Curtin University Perth

• Since 2003: Professor and Chair of Tourism / Center for Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

• 2009: Research stays at the University of Surrey and the University of Queensland

• 2002–2003: Visiting Professor for Business Administration and Tourism at the Free University of Bolzano

• 2001: Research Fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Prof. Chuck Goeldner)

• 1999: Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin Stout (Prof. Jafar Jafari)

• 1998–2002: Postdoctoral qualification (Habilitation) at the Institute for Management and Tourism, University of Innsbruck

• 1993–1998: Head of the Tourism Department, South Tyrolean Regional Government, and Director of South Tyrol Tourism Marketing in Bolzano

• 1993: PhD in Social and Economic Sciences, University of Innsbruck

• Destinations and Regional Development

•  Destination Governance

• Destination Design

• Entrepreneurship and Leadership

• Governance and Transformation

• Founding Chair (Gründungsdekan) der School of Transformation and Sustainability der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (seit 01. Oktober 2024)
• Beauftragter zur Konzeptionierung einer Pilotfakultät an der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (1. Oktober 2022-30. September 2023)

• Stellvertretendes Mitglied des Landesplanungsbeirates im Bayerischen Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie, als Vertreter der Universität Bayern e.V.

• Senatsvorsitzender der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (2014-2021)
• Dekan der Mathematisch-Geographischen Fakultät der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (2011-2013)
• EURAC, Center for Advanced Studies
• Curtin Business School, School of Management and Marketing, Adjunct Research Professor
• Kompetenzzentrum Tourismus des Bundes, wissenschaftlicher Leiter (2017-2023)
• Kompetenzzentrum Grüne Transformation des Tourismus, ein Projekt des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, wissenschaftlicher Leiter, seit 2024
•  AIEST (Association Internationale d’Experts Scientifiques du Tourisme): Mitglied des Vorstandes (2002-2024) und Präsident (2014-2024)
• DGT (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Tourismuswissenschaft): Präsident von 2002-2012, Mitglied
• ICRET (International Center for Research and Education in Tourism), Mitglied, Vorstandsvorsitzender von 2000-2010, Mitglied
• TRC (Tourism Research Center), Mitglied
• Europäische Akademie der Wissenschaften und Künste, Mitglied
• FGF (Förderkreis Gründungs-Forschung), Mitglied 
• Mitglied des Lenkungskreises der Nationalen Plattform Zukunft des Tourismus (NPZT), ein Projekt des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, Berlin (seit September 2023)