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King, Brian

Directory Profile for Brian King

Professor and Department Head
Office: 
AGLS 417/418
Email: 
Phone: 
979-314-8040

Education

Undergraduate Education
M.A. Hons, University of Aberdeen
Graduate Education
M.Sc., University of Strathclyde
Ph.D., Monash University
Awards
Elected Fellow, International Academy for the Study of Tourism
Elected Fellow, International Centre of Excellence for Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE)
Elected Fellow, International Association of China Tourism Studies
Elected Fellow, Council of Australasian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE)
Inducted into the Hall of Fame, Tourism and Hospitality Education International Centre of Excellence (THE-ICE)
University of Delaware Michael D. Olsen Research Achievement Award 2025
Best Article Award 2020, Tourism Recreation Research (with Wondirad & Tolkach)
Highly Commended Paper 2020, Emerald Literate (with Luo, Wong, Liu & Huang)
Best Article Award 2018, Tourism Recreation Research (with Koh)
Teaching Excellence Award 2020, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Knowledge Transfer Award 2021, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Gold Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual, 2018, Victorian Tourism Awards, Australia
Vice-Chancellor's Service Excellence Commendation 2010 (Team Award), Victoria University, Australia
University Top Consultancy Award 2016 (Team Award), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Areas of Expertise

  • Tourism, Culture and Communication
  • Hospitality and Tourism Education
  • Destination Marketing and Management
  • Asia-Pacific Tourism
  • Hotel and Resort Management

Professional Summary

Brian King, Ph.D. is Professor and Department Head in the Arch H. Aplin III ’80 Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism. Prior to joining Texas A&M University to serve in this role, King was Associate Dean in the School of Hotel & Tourism at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Prior to that, Dr. King was a Professor at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia where he held various Faculty and University-wide roles including Head of the School of Hospitality Tourism and Marketing, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Industry and Community) and then Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students). Originally from Scotland, Professor King has worked in the tourism field all his professional life linking academia and practice in Europe, Australasia, the Pacific and Hong Kong. His industry experience includes manager and/or director roles in airlines (Qantas), tour operations (Wigwam International), destination management (Destination Melbourne), cruise operations (Ocean Spirit Cruises) and hotels. King has provided consulting services to international agencies such as the United Nations Tourism (UNT) on tourism human resource development and marketing. He has also undertaken consulting projects for UNESCAP and the European Union (Tourism Council of the South Pacific). After relocating from Australia to Hong Kong in 2012, King consulted for the Hong Kong Hotel Owners Association to develop a Hong Kong-wide Tourism Roadmap. He is a frequent media commentator and presenter at industry conference and events. He is the founding and current co-editor-in-chief of the international journal Tourism, Culture and Communication.

King has served as a lead consultant for the Australian Council of Tourism Ministers on an investigation into the zero based profit tours phenomenon from emerging Asian markets, including China. He also consulted to Tourism Transport Forum (TTF) in Australia on the financing of national parks and protected areas leading to highly cited publications in the top journals in the field. Indicative of his strong industry engagements, in November 2018 King was awarded the Qantas Outstanding Contribution by an Individual Gold Award in the Victorian Tourism Awards, Australia. Within the US, he has received the University of Delaware Micheal D. Olsen Award for Research Excellence in 2026. As part of his industry engagements he has authored many best practice business and marketing cases of tourism ventures.

Selected Publications

https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=9TeeMy8AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5300-5564

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/E-7201-2014