Xi Yu Leung, Ph.D.

Dr. Xi Y. Leung is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management at the University of North Texas. She earned her Ph.D. in Hospitality Administration from the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a Master’s degree in Tourism Planning, and a Bachelor’s degree in Urban and Rural Planning from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Peking University in China. She joined the faculty at UNT in 2016. Prior to joining UNT, she worked in the event, tourism, and revenue management for over 10 years. With a diverse working background, she currently teaches courses focusing on hospitality marketing and information technology, including HMGT 4600 Information Technology in Hospitality & Tourism and Smart Destination; HMGT 3300 Hospitality Industry Marketing & Sales; and HMGT 5585 Smart Destination.

Dr. Leung’s research interests include information technology, social media, hospitality management, destination marketing, and hospitality education. Her work emphasizes applying new technology as tools for hotel/restaurant/destination marketing and management.  In her research, she employs both traditional and creative methodologies to test theories. She has published over 60 articles in peer review hospitality and tourism journals and delivered over 60 presentations at various domestic and international academic conferences. She has also led and participated in 13 internal and external funded grants, receiving over $300,000 external funding. Two current external grants she received in 2020 were funded by Facebook and the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF). As a demonstration of research excellence, she has been honored with the "Article of the Year Award,” “Conference Best Paper Award,” “Highly Commended Paper Award,” and “Most-Accessed Dissertations & Theses Award” from academic journals and conferences.

Selected Research Publications

Zhang H.*, Leung, X. Y., Bai, B., & Li, Y. (2021). Uncovering crowdsourcing in tourism apps: A grounded theory study. Tourism Management, 87, 104389. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 10.967).

Wen, T., Leung, X. Y., Li, B., & Hu, L. (2021). Pleasure or pain? A study of framing effect in online travel package choice applying double-entry mental accounting theory. Annals of Tourism Research, 90, 103265. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 9.011)

Zhang, H.*, Leung, X. Y., & Bai, B. (2021). Destination sustainability in the sharing economy: A conceptual framework applying the capital theory approach. Current Issues in Tourism, DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2021.1937076. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 7.430)

Sun, J., Leung, X. Y., & Bai, B. (2021). How social media influencer’s event endorsement changes attitudes of followers: The moderating effect of followers’ gender. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2020-0959. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 6.514)

Wen, H., & Leung, X. Y. (2021). Virtual wine tours and wine tasting: The influence of offline and online embodiment integration on wine purchase decisions. Tourism Management. 83, 104250. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 10.967).

Cai, R. & Leung, X. (2020). Mindset matters in purchasing online food deliveries during the pandemic: The application of construal level and regulatory focus theories. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 91, 102677. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 9.237)

Leung, X. Y., & Yang, Y. (2020). Are all five points equal? Scaling heterogeneity in hotel online ratings. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88, 102539. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 9.237)

Leung, X. Y., Lyu, J. & Bai, B. (2020). A fad or the future? Examining the effectiveness of virtual reality advertising in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88, 102391. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 9.237)

Leung, X. Y., Xue, L., & Wen, H. (2019). Framing the sharing economy: Toward a sustainable ecosystem. Tourism Management, 71, 44-53. (SSCI; Impact Factor: 10.967)