Dr. Youngsoo Choi

Biography

Dr. Youngsoo Choi is an associate professor at the College of Hospitality and Tourism Management. He joined Niagara University in Fall 2013 as an assistant professor, and has taught several different courses across three majors that the College is currently offering at both undergraduate and graduate level.

Dr. Choi puts a high priority on student advisement and services to the NU community, and has demonstrated his passion throughout his career as a faculty member of higher educational institutions. He has participated in thesis/dissertation committees as an advisor or a committee member for both graduate and undergraduate Honors students, whose works have been well recognized by academic conference presentations and by university/college awards. Dr. Choi has a special interest in the internationalization initiatives of the University/College. Since he joined NU, he has been instrumental in the development of collaborative relationships with multiple universities in South Korea. He has also been serving NU in a variety of ways via University committees and taskforces, including a co-chair of the University Planning Council, co-chair of a Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) reaccreditation self-study team, member of Executive Committee of the Academic Senate, the Coordinator of Sport Management and Recreation program (2015-2016), and the Academic Associate Dean of the College (2016-2019).

Dr. Choi received a Ph.D. in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management at Pennsylvania State University with the dissertation focused on international tourism demand forecasting. His main research areas include: tourism destination management & marketing, hospitality human resource management, tourism economics, and hospitality education. His work has been published in refereed academic journals such as International Journal of Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism. He has also served as an editorial reviewer for various academic journals, and has been involved in professional associations for many years

Current Involvement

• Niagara University Academic Senate, 2015-2017, 2019-present
• Executive Committee, Academic Senate, 2015-2017
• General Education Committee (Academic Senate Standing Committee), 2014-2015, 2017-present
• General Education Curriculum Revision sub-committee, 2017-present
• University Planning and Resource Council (UPRC), 2018-present
• University Budget Board (UBB), 2018-present
• University Planning Council (UPC), 2014-2018
• Co-chair & Executive Committee, University Planning Council (UPC), 2016-2017
• Co-chair, Middle State Reaccreditation self-study team (Standard IV), 2015-2017
• Committee on Committees, 2015-2016
• Advisory Board, Center for Language, Culture and Leadership, 2016-2017
• International Strategic Enrollment Committee (A subcommittee of the Strategic Enrollment Committee), 2014-2016
• Committee on College Teaching and Learning (CCTL), 2013-2015

Current Research

• Hospitality human resource management issues
• Tourism destination marketing: niche market analysis, destination image/brand
• Impacts of international tourism
• Hospitality education

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management, Pennsylvania State University, PA, U.S.A.
• M.S., Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, U.S.A.
• M.A., International Economics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
• B.A., Economics, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea