Young Hoon "Hunter" Kim, Ph.D.

Professor and Department Chair

Address: Beatty 302
Phone: 843-953-0827
E-mail: KimY@cofc.edu


Dr. Hunter Kim is an educator, consultant, speaker, and researcher. Currently, he is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the School of Business at College of Charleston, Charleston, SC. Hunter earned his Ph.D. in Hospitality Administration (Destination Marketing) from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. 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. His primary research focus is community engagement for the destinations, as structured through convention and visitor bureaus and other community organizations.

 

Hunter has published approximately 200 articles, book, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Currently, he is involved in several projects, including “A Destination Development: A Case Study of DMZ in Korea,” “Buddhist and Temple Tourism” with UNWTO, and “Sport Event and Its Social and Economic Impact” with CVBs. Hunter 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 an editor of a book review.  As an extension of his scholarly work, Hunter has partnered with many national and international convention and visitors bureaus to enhance local community development.  He has been very actively involved in many research projects and built a strong relationship with industry partners.

 

In addition, Hunter has been actively engaged in many “Community Engaged Sustainability and Tourism” conferences and projects, such as P3 Conference with CATIE in Costa Rica and MICE conference and Forum in Thailand. Hunter received the UNT Foundation Community Engagement Award which recognizes one UNT faculty whose careers are marked by sustained activities that systematically and effectively advance mutual university-community engagement, successfully address important community issues through collaborative initiatives, and create intellectual products respected by peers within and beyond the academy. He lives in Charleston, SC with his lovely wife Leah (Yoon Sun) and two daughters, Angie (Ah-young) and Harper (Ha-young).

Education

Ph.D. in Hospitality and Tourism Administration

Specialization: Destination Marketing and Management

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

 

M.S. in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management

Specialization: Strategic Management and Marketing in Hospitality and Tourism

University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina

Research Interests

Community Engagement

Destination Marketing and Management

Convention and Event Management

Sport Event and Marketing

Honors and Awards

  • Nominated for 2019 Outstanding International Scholar/Citation Award at UNT: 09/2019.
  • Nominated for 2019 Academic Affairs Fellow: 04/2019
  • The Best Paper Award: Proceedings of The 22nd International Joint World Cultural Tourism Conference, Bangkok, Thailand: 05/2018.
  • Nominated for 2018 Academic Affairs Fellow: 04/2018.
  • Nominated for 2018 Outstanding International Scholar/Citation Award at UNT: 04/2018.
  • Recipient, the 2018 UNT Foundation Community Engagement Award: 02/2018.

Publications

  1. Lee, S. & Kim, Y. H. (2023). A study of student’s behavior at collegiate sport events: The AiES (Attachment, Interaction, Emotion, and Satisfaction) model. Journal of Sport & Tourism (In-Press). *ABDC Rank: B ESCI/SCOPUS Impact Factor=2.60 https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rjto20
  2. Kim, Y. H. & Barber, N. (2023). Using multi-year data to develop a richer marketing strategy for art festivals. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism (Accepted). *ABDC Rank: B ESCI Impact Factor=3.255 https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/wqah20/current
  3. Kim, Y. H. (2023). Sustainability in knowledge, education, and industry: A case of a hospitality and tourism program. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education (Accepted). *ABDC Rank: B ESCI/SCOPUS Impact Factor=3.80 https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/uhat20
  4. Kokkhangplu, A., Kim, Y. H., & Kaewnuch, K. (2023). An instrument development to measure Community-Based Tourism (CBT) factors influencing resident’s Quality of Life (QOL). An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research (Accepted). *ABDC Rank: B ESCI/SCOPUS Impact Factor=3.74 https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rana20/current
  5. Kim, Y. H., Demirer, I., Josiam, B., & Gultek, M. (2023). Student’s career expectation in the hospitality and tourism industry: An examination of Student’s MACE (Motivation, Attitude, and Career Expectation) Model. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education (Accepted). *ABDC Rank: B ESCI/SCOPUS Impact Factor=3.80 https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/uhat20
  6. Kim, Y. H. & Barber, N. (2022). Tourist’s destination image, place dimensions, and engagement: the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and dark tourism. Current Issues in Tourism, 27(17), 2751-2769. *ABDC Rank: A SSCI Impact Factor=7.578 https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2021.1991896
  7. Kim, Y. H., & Spears, D. (2022). Differing career expectations in the Hospitality Industry: A cross-cultural study. International Hospitality Review, 36(2), 304-321. *ABDC Rank: C Impact Factor= N/A https://doi.org/10.1108/IHR-08-2020-0033
  8. Kim, Y. H., Lee, S., & Barber, N. (2021). Food choice behavior: A case study in South Korea. British Food Journal, 124(5), 1641-1658. *ABDC Rank: B SCI Impact Factor=3.47 https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-05-2021-0556
  9. Williams, G., Kim, Y. H., & Nauright, J. (2021). Destination development by Sport Event Tourism (SET): A case study of Thailand. Sport in Society, 24(10), 1827-1837. *ABDC Rank: B SSCI Impact Factor=725 https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2021.1916234
  10. Kim, Y. H., Sauerwald, P., & Sukpatch, K. (2021). Are you looking for special menu? Variety Seeking Behavior for Promotional Menu (VaPM) model. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 23. SCIE Impact Factor=3.35 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2020.100295
  11. Kim, Y. H., Nauright, J., & Suveatwatanakul, C. (2020). The rise of E-Sports and success: A review of E-Sports industry. Sport in Society, 23(11), 1861-1871. *ABDC Rank: B SSCI Impact Factor=1.725 https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2020.1819695
  12. Nauright, J., Zipp, S., & Kim, Y. H. (2020). The sports world in the era of COVID-19. Sport in Society, 23(11), 1703-1706. *ABDC Rank: B SSCI Impact Factor=725 https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2020.1834196.
  13. Kim, Y. H., Kim, D. J., & Suveatwatanakul, C. (2020). A study of sport event restaurant quality (SeRQ): A case of the collegiate football games. Journal of Convention and Event Tourism 21(5), 365-386. *ABDC Rank: B ESCI/SCOPUS Impact Factor=1.42 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15470148.2020.1768189