I am Professor of Intelligent Systems in Service and Head of Department of Hospitality in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at University of Surrey. My research interest centers around the applications and implications of artificial intelligence, particularly in the travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors. I served as Vice President (2014-2017) and later President (2018-2020) of the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT). I am a founding member of the Alliance for Innovators and Researchers in Tourism & Hospitality (AIRTH).
Prior to joining Surrey, I was Associate Clinical Professor in School of Hospitality Business Management, Carson College of Business, Washington State University, USA. From 2008-2012, I was Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce (NLTeC) at Temple University, USA. I received my PhD in Information Sciences (with a concentration in Human-Social Information Sciences) from Tohoku University (東北大学) in 2006 under the supervision of Professors Hisa Morisugi and Tatsuhito Kono, supported by the Japanese Government through Monbukagakusho/MEXT Scholarship Program. My Master's degree is in Industrial Engineering & Management (with a concentration in Engineering Economics) from Bandung Institute of Technology (Institut Teknologi Bandung).
Research
For publications, talks, and resources.
Teaching
For teaching and advising experiences.
Personal
For personal interest, travel, and more.
Watch the recording of Hack Hospitality at Home: Hospitality, Tech, & COVID-19 below to follow the discussion industry challenges amidst the pandemic and potential technology solutions to address them (28 April 2020).
Highlights
- 2020, February: Keynote speech at CAUTHE2020, Auckland, New Zealand on "Shaping the Future of Travel and Tourism."
- 2020, January: ENTER2020 Best Research Note Award (3rd Place) for "Imagining the Future of Travel: Technology and Sustainability Transitions" (with Graham Miller), ENTER2020 Conference, Guildford, UK.
- 2019, September: Keynote speech at ATMC 2019 (Advances in Tourism Marketing Conference), Namur, Belgium on "Preparing for the Future of Travel & Tourism."
- 2019, August: Keynote speech at the 69th AIEST Conference, Varna, Bulgaria on "Can we create a sustainable future with intelligent machines?" Link to press release.
- 2019, March: Keynote speech at Forum TurisTIC, Barcelona, Spain on "An Ongoing Quest for Intelligent Travel." Media coverage:
- “El sector turístico, ante el reto de su transformación digital”
- “La digitalización hará que el turismo sea más sostenible y rentable"
- “La digitalización revierte en experiencia, sostenibilidad y rentabilidad”
- “El Sector Turístico, volcado con las nuevas tecnologías”
- “Un robot en tu hotel: las preguntas que debes hacerte antes de comprarlo”
- “Celebrado el Forum TurisTIC”
- “Barcelona acoge el Congreso de nuevas tecnologías en turismo”
- 2019, January: IFITT 2019 Journal Paper of the Year Award for "Virtual Reality, Presence, and Attitude Change: Empirical Evidence from Tourism" (with D. Wang, T. Jung, and MC tom Dieck), ENTER2019 Conference, Nicosia, Cyprus.
- 2019, January: Best Paper Award for "Robotised Hospitality" (with Aarni Tuomi and Jason Stienmetz), 23rd Annual Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality & Tourism, Houston, TX.
- 2018, December: Workshop on "AI and Experience Design in Tourism" and keynote speech on "Nudging for Privacy in Tourism" at CBTS2018 Winter School and Summit, Bruneck, Italy.
- 2018, November: Speech at IFITTtalk@Bournemouth on Artificial Intelligence for Tourism and Hospitality, Bournemouth, UK (Video)
- 2018, November: Keynote speech on "Digital Transformation in Tourism" at III International Conference on Dynamics and Trends in Tourism, Benevento, Italy.
- 2018, October: Keynote speech on "Intelligent Automation for Tomorrow's Tourism" at TURITEC International Conference, Malaga, Spain.
- 2018, September: Panelist on "The Roles of Technology in Sustainable Tourism" at UNWTO World Tourism Day 2018 Official Celebration, Budapest, Hungary.
- 2018, September: Guest speaker for a live session of MOOC Micromasters at HKPolyUx for HTM540x on "Intelligent Automation in Tourism and Hospitality" - YouTube Video << starting at 16:43!
- 2018, September: Opening speech at IFITTtalk@Dalian on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Tourism, Dalian, China.
- 2018, August: Quoted in a report by Carat Manchester and Canvas8 on "Unpacking Travel: What Makes Today's Travel Consumer Tick."
- 2018, July: Quoted in China Daily about London attractions adopting Alipay.
- 2018, May: Invited for a talk for the Challenges in European City Tourism Workshop by the European Forum at the Hebrew University, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel.
- 2018, April: Research funding for PriVELT announced by EPSRC: "Research projects to build trust, privacy and security in use of personal data and digital technologies." Also featured in EurekAlert.
- 2018, April: Guest speaker for a research seminar at Virginia Tech, USA on "Designing technologies for behavioral change."
- 2018, March: Acknowledged as a contributor to the Blackett Review on UK Service Economy, published by the UK Government Office of Science.
- 2018, March: Panelist in "Scaling up in the Digital World" event, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey.
- 2018, March: Chair of "Getting Smarter with Social Media in Tourism" panel at the t-Forum Conference, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
- 2018, February: Keynote speech on "Tourism and the Technological Futures" at IMTM 2018, Tel Aviv, Israel (Israeli Ministry of Tourism Program).
- 2018, February: Featured in the press release of ENTER2018 by Destination Jönköping
- 2018, January: Elected (first female) President of IFITT at ENTER2018 in Jönköping, Sweden: Surrey Press Release.
- 2018, January: Completed guest editing work for the Special Issue on "Shareable Tourism: Tourism Marketing in the Sharing Economy" in Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing (with Marianna Sigala).
- 2017, December: Delivered a keynote speech on "Designing Technology for Behavioral Change" at CBTS2017, Bruneck, Italy. Featured in Südtirol News.
- 2017, October: Featured in "Emotional Intelligence in the Travel Sector" on University of Surrey Alumni News
- 2017, September: Co-organized IFITTtalk@Surrey | Surrey Think Tank: Collaborative Economy with Prof. Sabine Benoit from Surrey Business School (Program). News about the event on SHTM website.
- 2017, June: keynote speech on "Technological Advances in Tourism" at II Tourism Dynamics and Trends, Seville, Spain.
- 2016, August: Awarded Best Emerging Scholar in Tourism (BEST) 2016 by the International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA)
- 2016, June: Featured in "Co-working spaces may help fuel local tech industry" on Vancouver Business Journal.
- 2016, May: Research featured in Airbnb's presentation to UNWTO
- 2016, Spring: Featured in WSUV's Crimson & Gray on P2P accommodation research.
- 2016, February: Delivered a keynote speech on "P2P Accommodation" at European Travel Commission (ETC) Market Intelligence Group Meeting, Prague, the Czech Republic.
- 2016, February: Received Best Research Paper Award, 1st Place, ENTER2016 Conference, Bilbao, Spain.
- 2015, December: "You could be suffering from FoMO this Christmas" features a link to this research. More: The Conversation, Australasian Science
- 2015, November: "Peer-to-peer accommodation services change travel patterns" on Inc.com, EurekAlert, Science Daily, Phys Org, Science Codex
- 2015, November: "Hospitality leaders discuss the 'sharing effects'" on Vancouver Business Journal
- 2015, August: IFITT's Hangout on Air on the Sharing Economy with Dzmitry Bazhko, Courtney Ries, Szilvia Gyimothy and Dianne Dredge [IFITT's Google+ and YouTube].
- 2015, May: keynote speech on "Personal Technology and Tourism Experiences" at ISCONTOUR2015 [Paper] [Pictures] and IFITT's Hangout on Air from ISCONTOUR's venue [IFITT's Google+].
- 2015, January: "Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015" co-edited with Dr. Alessandro Inversini [Details]
- 2014, November: IFITT's Hangout on Air on Social Media in China with Deana Gao and Dr. Bing Pan [IFITT's Google+].
- 2014, September: IFITT's Hangout on Air to celebrate World Tourism Day with Dr. Lorenzo Cantoni, Dr. Aurkene Alzua, and Vitor Pereira [IFITT's Google+].
- 2014, May: IFITT's Hangout on Air on Smart Tourism with Dr. Ulrike Gretzel and Dr. Chulmo Koo [IFITT's YouTube]
- 2014, May: UNPAD - IFITT e-Tourism Seminar at Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia
- 2014, April: IFITT's Hangout on Air on Big Data and Analytics with Dr. Dan Fesenmaier and Dr. Phil Xiang [IFITT's Google+]
- 2014, January: "Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2014" co-edited with Dr. Phil Xiang [Details]
- 2013, January: Best Research Paper, 1st Place, ENTER 2013 Conference, Innsbruck, Austria (IFITT). [Details] [VIDEO]
- 2012, June: Best Paper Award, the 1st Biannual Forum on Advances in Destination Management, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland (Elsevier). [Details]
- 2012, May: Temple University Presents Results of Cape May Tourism Study (Atlantic City, NJ). [Details]
- 2012, January: Journal Paper of Year Award, 2nd Place, ENTER 2012 Conference, Helsingborg, Sweden (IFITT). [Details]
- 2010, October: Advanced social networking for travelers: 7 secrets for boosting your online power (MSNBC). [Details]
- 2018, February: Keynote speech on "Tourism and the Technological Futures" at IMTM 2018, Tel Aviv, Israel (Israeli Ministry of Tourism Program).
