Dr. Xiang (Robert) Li is a professor and Washburn Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University. He is also Director of Temple’s U.S.-Asia Center for Tourism and Hospitality Research. Prof. Li’s research mainly focuses on destination marketing and tourist behavior, with special emphasis on international destination branding, customer loyalty, and tourism in Asia. He has authored nearly 200 scientific publications, including over 50 papers published in top-tier tourism, business, leisure, and hospitality journals. Prof. Li serves on the editorial boards of over fifteen journals and book series, and has edited eight special issues/columns for six prestigious journals. His academic work has been recognized through numerous awards. In multiple recent rankings, Prof. Li has been consistently listed among the world’s top 40 contributors to top-tier tourism journals/most cited tourism scholars.
To date, Prof. Li has conducted extensive tourism research in various areas and has been awarded over $2.1 million in research funding. He has worked with numerous prestigious organizations, government agencies, and corporations including the World Travel & Tourism Council, United States Department of Commerce/ National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), Destination Canada, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism (formerly National Tourism Administration, CNTA), the United States Travel Association, and National Tour Association as well as several destination marketing organizations and companies such as Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Universal Studio Hollywood. His research has been cited by many American and international media outlets, such as Associated Press, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Time, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, The Globe and Mail (Canada), and China Daily. Prof. Li holds/has held adjunct or visiting faculty appointments at universities in Australia, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. He is also a frequent speaker at numerous international and industry conferences.
A native of Nanjing, China, Prof. Li earned his Ph.D. in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Science from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. Before coming to the United States, Prof. Li worked as a destination marketing, event organizing, and tourism planning specialist in the city tourism bureau of Nanjing, China for 5 years.