More about Elena…

Elena Hwirim Jo is a Ph.D. student and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Management at the University of Florida. She earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Kyung Hee University in South Korea. As an undergraduate, she also studied abroad at the University of Central Florida, completing coursework in hospitality management.

Her research interests include hospitality and tourism technology, artificial intelligence, consumer behavior, and spatial analysis using GIS. She has presented at multiple international conferences, including the Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism in the U.S., and the KMIS and KITS International Conferences in South Korea and Cyprus. Her recent work appears in journals such as Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel Research, and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, where she explores topics like AI in service delivery and guest decision-making in virtual versus physical queues.

At UF, Elena has served as a teaching assistant for courses such as Entrepreneurship in Tourism, Revenue Management, Event Promotion, and GIS and Spatial Analysis. She has also delivered guest lectures on topics including event venues, trade shows, and entrepreneurship trends in the tourism and hospitality industry.

Before pursuing her Ph.D., she worked as a Research Assistant at the Smart Tourism Research Center and as Journal Manager for the Korea e-Commerce Association. She also gained practical experience with the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency at the World Exposition Team and as an Event Manager at Operama Arts Management.

Elena can be contacted via email at hw.jo@ufl.edu.