Hospitality & Tourism Management

Dr. Young Hoon Kim is an educator, consultant, speaker, and researcher in the Convention and Event Management. He is currently serving as Interim Chair in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of North Texas (UNT). He travels more than 100,000 miles every year to reach out to inspire students, consult with clients, and explore new findings with researchers in the field.  With more than 12 years of industry experience, he holds a Ph.D. in Hospitality Administration from Texas Tech University, and both Masters and B.S. in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management from the University of South Carolina. 

His primary research focus is community engagement at tourism destinations, as structured through convention and visitor bureaus and other community organizations.  In particular, his work emphasizes destination marketing and management as tools for destination development.  He applies both traditional and creative methodologies to theories.  He has published approximately 200 articles and conference proceedings, including top-tier journals. Currently, he is teaching strategic management and convention and event management for both under and graduate courses at UNT.

Dr. Kim has served on the editorial board member for journals; as a reviewer for more than ten leading hospitality, tourism, and business journals; as a reviewer for national and international conferences; and as editor of a book review.  As an extension of his scholarly work, he has partnered with many national and international convention and visitors bureaus to enhance local community development. Currently, he is involved in several projects including “Main Street Days Festival” in Grapevine, Texas and the “Consumer Experiences in Digital Environments (CEDE)” research cluster at UNT. He lives in Denton, Texas with his lovely wife Sunny and two daughters, Ah-young and Ha-young.