Research in Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism
Our research in the Arch H. Aplin III ’80 Department of Hospitality, Hotel Management and Tourism creates practical and innovative solutions to challenges across the visitor economy. We incorporate emerging technologies like AI and virtual reality to improve hotel operations and visitor experiences. We also explore topics such as sustainable tourism, cultural heritage, wellness tourism, and event management.
Faculty research focus areas
- Advertising effectiveness
- Benefits of travel
- Collaborative tourism planning and policy
- Destination branding
- Destination image through culture
- Hospitality design and development
- Justice and ethics in tourism
- Marketing, pricing, economics and financing in tourism, parks, recreation and sport
- Medical tourism
- Service quality and experience design
- Structuring experiences for people
- Sustainable heritage development
- Tourism marketing
- Virtual travel and experiences
- Evaluation, evaluative thinking, and program effectiveness
- Research-practice partnerships
- Staff professional development
- Structured immediate experiences
Recent Publications
Discover recent scholarly publications by our research experts on the Scholars@TAMU website. Whether you’re exploring current research, seeking collaboration or looking for evidence-based insights, these publications demonstrate our contributions to hospitality, hotel management and tourism.
- The sold-out effect: How product unavailability and price precision shape consumer choice in hospitality and tourism
International Journal of Hospitality Management. 2026. Jungkeun Kim. - Rethinking language fluency: The role of mindset and authenticity in how poor communication enhances service evaluations in hospitality settings
International Journal of Hospitality Management. 2026. Jungkeun Kim. - From attention to emotion: neuroscientific approaches in tourism advertising – a systematic review
Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. 2026. Brian King. - Why leader empathy backfires: relative LMX and leader work meaningfulness in predicting unethical pro-organizational behaviors
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 2026. Wen Chang.
Student Research Opportunities
Undergraduate Student Research
Undergraduate research gives you opportunities to work alongside faculty and address real-world challenges. You’ll connect classroom learning to hands-on research while building critical thinking, communication and leadership skills. You’ll also gain valuable experience that prepares you for graduate school and impactful careers.
Graduate Student Research
Graduate research lets you investigate complex challenges aligned with your academic interests and professional goals. You’ll collaborate with faculty to advance knowledge and develop innovative solutions that strengthen the hospitality and tourism industry. Graduate prepared to lead through research, innovation and evidence-based decision-making.
Digital Transformation Lab
The Digital Transformation Lab is a cutting-edge research facility that combines biometric technology, artificial intelligence and immersive environments to understand how people react during service experiences.
