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Professor

Department of Hospitality and Business Management

Contact details

Email: ceceleung@thei.edu.hk

Phone: +852 3890 8141

  1. Digital Marketing
  2. Hospitality and Tourism Technology
  3. Research Method

2009 – 2012

Hospitality Administration, Ph.D.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, U.S.A.

2003 – 2006

Human Geography, M.S.

Peking University, China

1999 – 2003

Urban and Rural Planning, B.S.                

Peking University, China

2026 – present

Professor

Department of Hospitality and Business Management
Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong

2025 – 2026

Program Chair & Associate Professor

School of Consumer Sciences, Kansas State University

2022 – 2025

Associate Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator

Department of Hospitality, Event & Tourism Management, University of North Texas

2016 – 2022

Assistant Professor

Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of North Texas

2013 – 2015

Pricing Analyst

Allegiant Air, Las Vegas, NV

2012 – 2013

Assistant Professor

Department of Nutrition & Hospitality Management, University of Mississippi

2026

Highly Commended Article Award

“When the future feels closer than the past: An experimental research of nostalgia vs. forestalgia in destination ads”

Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research

2026

Elite Reviewer Award

Journal of Travel Research

2025

Best Research Paper Award

“Consumer responses to AI recommendations in hospitality.”

The 3rd World Conference on Smart Tourism. Macau, China.

2025

World’s Top 2% Cited Scientists’ List

Stanford University & Elsevier

2025

Research Impact Award

College of Merchandising, Hospitality, & Tourism, University of North Texas

2024

World’s Top 2% Cited Scientists’ List

Stanford University & Elsevier

2024

Toulouse Scholars Award

University of North Texas

2024

Conference Best Paper Award

“Treat humans as objects: Robot anthropomorphism and hospitality employees’ workplace objectification”

2024 Annual ICHRIE Conference

2023

World’s Top 2% Cited Scientists’ List

Stanford University & Elsevier

2022

Conference Best Paper Award

“Virtual kitchen or physical restaurant: Consumer’s choice based on causal attribution and power”

2022 Annual ICHRIE Conference

2021

FutureFund™ Case Study Competition – Third Place Winner

“How DMOs respond to the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Los Angeles”

2021 Annual ICHRIE (International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education) Conference

2021

Conference Best Paper Award

“Exploring perceived risks in ordering online food deliveries during COVID-19”

2021 West Federation CHRIE Conference

2019

Conference Best Paper Award

“Virtual reality in hotel commercials: An experimental study of advertising effectiveness”

2019 Annual ICHRIE Conference

2019

Research Impact Award

College of Merchandising, Hospitality, & Tourism, University of North Texas

2018

Emerald Literati Highly Commended Paper Award

“Hotel social media marketing: A study on message strategy and its effectiveness”

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

2016

Article of the Year Award

“The marketing effectiveness of social media in the hotel industry: A comparison of Facebook and Twitter”

Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research

2016

ProQuest Most-Accessed Dissertations & Theses Award

“The marketing effectiveness of hotel Facebook pages: From perspectives of customers and messages”

Top 25 Most-Accessed Dissertations and Theses of 2 Million Full-Text Graduate Works in ProQuest

2013

Outstanding Dissertation Award

“The marketing effectiveness of hotel Facebook pages: From perspectives of customers and messages”

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

2012

Conference Best Paper Award

“The marketing effectiveness of social media in the hotel industry: A comparison of Facebook and Twitter”

2012 Annual ICHRIE Conference

2012

Outstanding Presentation Award – First Place Winner

“A conceptual model of the marketing effectiveness of social media in the hotel industry”

Graduate & Professional Student Research Forum, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

2011

Excellent Paper Award – Third Place Winner

“Tourist cognition of sense of place in tourism attractions”

China National Tourism Administration

Deputy Editor

Tourism Review (SSCI Q1)

Associate Editor

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SSCI Q1)

Journal of Smart Tourism

Editorial Board Member

·         Annals of Tourism Research (SSCI Q1)

·         International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

          (SSCI Q1)

·         Journal of Travel Research (SSCI Q1)

·         Information Technology & Tourism (SSCI Q1)

·         Tourism Management Perspectives (SSCI Q1)

·         Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (SSCI Q2)

·         Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology (SSCI Q2)

·         Tourism Analysis: An interdisciplinary Tourism & Hospitality Journal

·         Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education

·         Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism

Since 2016

Member, International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE)

  1. Shi, C., Leung, X. Y., Buhalis, D., & Bai, B. (2026). Artificial intelligence–based employee selection in tourism and hospitality: Justice, inclusion, and gender differences in resume screening and interviews. Tourism Management, accepted June 11, 2026.
  2. Li, B., Leung, X. Y., Huo, Y., & Yang, L. (2026). From humans to objects: The impact of service robots on employees’ objectification of others in the hospitality workplace. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 134, 104597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2026.104597
  3. Yang, L., Leung, X. Y., & Xiong, W. (2026). Authenticity in the age of generative AI: Reimagining host-guest relations in travel planning. Journal of Travel Research, DOI: 10.1177/00472875261420609
  4. Cai, R., Leung, X. Y., & Lu, L. (2026). When the future feels closer than the past: An experimental research of nostalgia vs. forestalgia in destination ads. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 50(2), 225-241.
  5. Cai X., Hu, Z., Leung, X. Y., Xiong, W., & Zhang (2025). The impact of perceived amount of information on impulsive travel intention: An application of information gap theory. Current Issues in Tourism, https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2025.2606946
  6. Wang, Z., Leung, X. Y., & Huang, X. (2025). Empowering women through tourism: a systematic literature review. Current Issues in Tourism, https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2025.2556985
  7. Lyu, J., Leung, X. Y., Mao, Z., Li, Y., & Qiu, H. (2025). Gendered pathways to successful aging in a digital society: A longitudinal study of social media usage and travel consumption. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-03-2025-0193
  8. Song, H., Wu, M., Chen, J., & Leung, X. Y. (2025). Online or offline servicescapes: Examining the flow experience in industrial tourism. Tourism Review, 81(2), 908-930. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-10-2024-0916
  9. Wang, Z., Leung, X. Y., & Huang, X. (2025). Redefining womanhood: Solo travel as intersectional rites of passage. Tourism Management, 111, 105225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2025.105225
  10. Xiong, W., Luo, X., Leung, X. Y., & Huang, M. (2025). Unraveling meaning in life from tourism: An iconology approach on cancer patients. Tourism Management Perspectives, 58, 101369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2025.101369
  11. Ding, Y., Sun, J., Leung, X. Y., & Liu, S. (2025). Museum experience and revisit intention: the impact of multitasking. Tourism Review, 81(5), 1511-1527. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-08-2024-0692
  12. Leung, X. Y., Jin, D., & Shi, X. (2025). Rethinking hospitality leadership: Cultivating human-robot co-working harmony through rapport leadership. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 49(8), 1432-1446. https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480251328575
  13. Shi, X., Shi, H., & Leung, X. Y. (2025). Examining the impact of realistic job previews on leaders’ behavioral integrity and newcomers’ psychological contract breach: A multiwave field experiment. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 37(6), 1981-2002.
  14. Zhao, L., Zhang, W., J. M. Chen, & Leung, X. Y. (2026). Impacts of population aging on tourism development in China: Direct, indirect, and spatial perspectives. Current Issues in Tourism, 29(14), 2824-2840. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2024.2440617
  15. Li, L., Leung, X. Y., & Yang, L. (2025). How tie strength and face consciousness moderate the impact of social media on impulsive travel intentions: A social-technical perspective. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 16(3), 479-495. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-02-2024-0112
  16. Xiong, W., Huang, M., Leung, X. Y., & Li, Y. (2025). The healing impact of travel on the mental health of breast cancer patients. Tourism Management, 106, 104997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2024.104997
  17. Leung, X. Y., Zhong, Y., & Sun, J. (2025). The impact of social media influencer’s age cue on older adults’ travel intention: The moderating roles of travel cues and travel constraints. Tourism Management, 106, 104979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2024.104979
  18. Wang, D., Ma, E., & Leung, X. Y. (2024). Working with robots: A job design perspective of hospitality employees’ collaboration intentions with service robots. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 61, 66-77.
  19. Huang, H., & Leung, X. Y. (2025). Experimental design for sustainable tourism: A horizon 2050 paper. Tourism Review, 80(1), 286-298. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-12-2023-0867
  20. Leung, X. Y., Buhalis, D., & Viglia, G. (2024). Immersive advertising through experience cocreation: Lessons from the visitor economy. Journal of Advertising Research, 64(3), 319-334. DOI: 10.2501/JAR-2024-019
  21. Park, J., Leung, X. Y., Ponting, S. S. A., & Cain, L. (2024). Impact of supervisor identity on hospitality employees’ work intentions: Rethinking of social dominance and intersectionality theory. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 59, 49-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2024.03.011
  22. Huang, X., Leung, X. Y., Li, S., & Wei, Z.* (2024). Tourism consumers’ time estimation of virtual reality experience: Combining self-reporting and physiological measures. Tourism Management Perspectives, 50, 101210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2023.101210
  23. Song, X., Gu, H., Li, Y., Leung, X. Y., & Ling, X. (2024). The influence of robot anthropomorphism and perceived intelligence on hotel guests’ continuance usage intention. Information Technology & Tourism, 26, 89-117. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-023-00275-8
  24. Song, X., Li, Y., Leung, X. Y., & Mei, D. (2024). Service robots and hotel guests’ perceptions: Anthropomorphism and stereotypes. Tourism Review, 79(2), 505-522. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-04-2023-0265
  25. Wei, Z., Leung, X. Y., & Xu, H. (2024). Examine pet travel experiences from human–pet interaction: The moderating role of pet attachment. Tourism Review, 79(4), 812-824. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-01-2023-0002
  26. Leung, X. Y., Fong, L. H. N., Xue X., & Mattila, A. S. (2024). What makes experimental research publishable in leading hospitality and tourism journals? Perspectives of editorial board members. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(4), 1418-1431. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2022-1514
  27. Leung, X. Y., Cui, R., Zhang, H.*, & Bai, B. (2024). When causal attribution meets cuisine type: How consumer power and moral identity moderate virtual kitchen patronage. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(4), 1279-1298. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-12-2022-1554
  28. Liu, M., Liu, X., Muskat, B., Leung, X., & Liu, S. (2024). Employees’ self-esteem in psychological contract: Workplace ostracism and counterproductive behavior. Tourism Review, 79(1), 152-166. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-11-2022-0535
  29. Zhong, Y., Leung, X. Y., Sun, J, & Ng, B. P. (2023). The impacts of pandemic-related media coverage on workplace ageism among younger hospitality and tourism employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 35(11), 3787-3806. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2022-1351
  30. Hernandez-Calderon, A., Leung, X. Y., & Kim, J. (2023). Hotel guests’ intention to stay during the pandemic: A comparison of frequent versus non-frequent travelers. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 56, 48-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2023.06.008
  • Employee Management
  • Experimental Design
  • Hospitality/Tourism Information Technology
  • Social Media
  • Tourist Behaviour