Faculty & Staff

Oscar (Hengxuan) Chi, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management (THEM) at the University of Florida. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Washington State University and earned the Outstanding Student Research Award during his Ph.D. program.                                                                       

Dr. Chi’s program of research focuses on two complementary areas. On one hand, He is interested in the impact of technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), on the delivery of services. On the other hand, his research concentrates on preserving and promoting wellbeing and sustainability in hospitality and tourism service environments. His long-term research objective aims to seek a balance between technology and human contribution in the service industry. Dr. Chi grounds his work in existing theories and models from marketing, psychology, and information system research domains with a goal to advance the theoretical and practical knowledge in hospitality and tourism research using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Dr. Chi’s research has been published in top-tier tourism and hospitality journals such as Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, and Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, and so on. His research has also been presented at different hospitality and tourism conferences.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Application of AI in tourism, hospitality, and event services
• Customers’ behaviors and attitudes toward AI robotic services
• Information processing
• Wellbeing and sustainability

COURSES

HFT 4442 Artificial Intelligence Revolutions and Applications in Tourism, Hospitality and Events