Academic Background
2023: University of Pennsylvania Wharton HR Management and Analytics Executive Education
2021: Employee Wellness and Stress Management Stanford University Center for Health Education
2020: Ph.D. in Business Administration (Wellness Tourism) at Youngsan University
2017: Masters in Education (TESOL) at Framingham State University
2004: Bachelor in Business & Communications (Interdisciplinary Studies) at Arizona State University
Business Career
2023-2024 Advisor to the Busan Wellness Medical Tourism Cluster
2023-2024 Foreign advisor for Busan Global Tourism City to Busan Tourism Organization
2023-2024 Ambassador to the Global Wellness Institute
2023 Senior Researcher at the Wellness Tourism Institute
2022 Director of the Workplace Wellness Research Lab
2022 Developer of the Workplace Wellness Microdegree
2021-2022 Member of the Global advisory committee for the Busan Tourism Organization
2022 Member of the Korean Tourism Service Association
2021~Present: Dongseo University - Assistant Professor
2011~2020: Youngsan University - Assistant Professor/Guest Lecturer
2005~2011: Angels with Attitude - Founder and CEO
2006-2008: Club E Network - Startup Founder
Research and Conference Presentations
*Currently Special Issue Guest Editor of the SSCI Journal Sustainability. ‘Sustainable Hospitality and Tourism Strategies: Aligning Stakeholder Behavior Towards Wellness in Protected Natural Sites’ - October 2024
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/R4N4P01N67
Exploring the Evolution and Significance of the Korean Jjimjilbang: Unveiling a Hidden Wellness Tradition Wellness Tourism In Asia, Springer - TBA
Creative Approaches to Teaching Wellness to International Students - KOTESOL University of Ulsan - October 26, 2024
Cultivating a Wellness Life for International Students in South Korea - National Association of Foreign Scholars in Korea (NAFSIK) - October 12, 2024
Unveiling the Significance of the Jjimjilbang: A History of a Korean Wellness Tradition, Cultivating the Local Tourism Ecosystem - June 8th 2024
*A Comparative Analysis of Strategic Orientation: Applying the OODA Loop to Airbnb and the Hotel Industry - Poster Presentation, APacCHRIE 2024, May 26th, 2024
*Segmenting tourists by wellness hotel attributes and demographics: A study of North American wellness tourists Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Studies Vol.25, No.12. December 2023 https://doi.org/10.31667/jhts.2023.12.107.109 *2023 Best Paper Award
*Choi J, Kessler D. Influences of Start-Up’s Financial Intermingling on Entrepreneurial Stress in Sustainable Family Businesses: Mediation Effect of Work–Family Balance. Sustainability. 2023; 15(18):13944. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813944
*Choi H-M, Kessler D. Airline Cabin Crew Members’ Ambidexterity as the Sustainable Attitude for Prosocial Passenger Service. Sustainability. 2023; 15(1):242. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010242
*Kim, K., Kessler, D., Chung, K., & Jang, B. (2022). Effect of wellness on job engagement and organizational commitment of employees of tourism companies: focusing on physical wellness and spiritual wellness. Journal of Tourism and Leisure Research, 34(10), 79-96. https://doi.org/10.31336/jtlr.2022.10.34.10.79
*Kessler, D. P. (2022). Motivations for wellness tourism in a post-covid world. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Studies, 24(2), 127-142. https://doi.org/10.31667/jhts.2022.04.91.127
*Airline cabin crew members' ambidexterity as the sustainable attitude for prosocial passenger service Hyung-Min Choi Sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 December 20, 2022, https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010242
*Effect of Wellness on Job Engagement and Organizational Commitment of Employees of Tourism Companies: Focusing on physical wellness and spiritual wellness - Journal of Tourism and Leisure Research https://doi.org/10.31336/JTLR.2022.10.34.10.79
*Motivations for wellness tourism in a post-COVID world - Journal of Hospitality & Tourism
Studies https://doi.org/10.31667/jhts.2022.04.91.127
*White Paper: 2021 Wellness Travel Consumer Survey - Co-Author - Published December 2021
Description: The white paper offers an in-depth analysis of the Wellness Tourism Association’s 2021 Wellness Travel Consumer Survey.
*Scientific Advisory board for the Biodiversity-Respectful Leadership (BIODIFUL), 2022–2027 a Finnish Academy Strategic Research Council funded project
*Kessler, D (2021).The Impact of Covid-19 on the Preferences of Wellness Tourist Consumers - 2021 International Tourism Forum at Seoul - December 17, 2021
* Kessler, D., Lee, J. H., & Whittingham, N. (2020). The wellness tourist motivation scale: a new statistical tool for measuring wellness tourist motivation. International Journal of Spa and Wellness, 1-16.
* Kessler, D. (2020). The Effect of Wellness Tourism on Quality of Life and Subjective Well-being, Under the New Normal Conditions of COVID-19 (Doctoral Dissertation, Youngsan University)
* Kessler, D. (2019). Korean Spa (찜질방) Wellness Tourism perceived motivation, attitude, and health by Westerners visiting South Korea Hotel Resort Association Spring Conference, Sejong University
* Kessler, D. (2019). Wellness Tourism Branding- An analysis of destination marketing through Instagram Korea Hotel-Resort Association, Kyung Hee University (Conference Paper)
* Kessler, D. (2019). Personality Traits, the Wim Hof Method Benefits and Implications for Wellness Tourism Asia Pacific Forum, Woosong University
* Kessler, D. (2018). Korean Sauna (Jjimjilbang) Wellness Tourism as Perceived by Westerners Living in South Korea, The Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management, 5(2), 93-101
International Living and Wellness Tourism - Florida International University - Presentation for FIU senior students Miami Florida February 7th 2024
Busan’s Wellness Tourism Assets: An International Perspective - DSU Link 3.0 - December 27th 2023
Food Upcycling and Wellness Superfoods: An ancestral solution to a modern problem - Food Refurb Conference Bexco - November 5th, 2023
‘Promoting Busan’s Wellness Medical Tourism Cluster’ at Busan Wellness Medical Tourism Cluster Council Opening Ceremony at Busan City Hall - June 21st, 2023
Main speaker at the Yongdo Cultural Tourism Foundation MOU with Youngsan University Wellness Tourism Institute, March 31st, 2023
Mind-Body at the National Assembly Hall Presentor and International Conference Coordinator, November 26th, 2022
Seongnam Global Healthcare Convention Moderator ‘The Strategy of medical tourism in the new normal era and sharing cases of International Hospitals - October 28th, 2022
Busan International Food Refurb Conference - ESG Management and the Social Value Creation of FoodRefurb - Panelists - October 22nd, 2022
Seoul Medical Tourism International Forum -*Moderator - September 29th, 2022
Medical Korea 2022: Global Healthcare Policy & Management Forum - *Moderator - March 11, 2022
Biseulsan Forest Healing Center (Daegu Metropolitan City) - Special Wellness Lecture - February 22, 2022
Korea Tourism Service Academy - Travel trends of Millennial and Zoomer generation seen through big data - Panel Discussion - December 17, 2021
The Impact of Covid-19 on the Preferences of Wellness Tourist Consumers - 2021 International Tourism Forum at Seoul - December 17, 2021
2021 Global Wellness Summit - Sharktank of Wellness Student Finalist Presentation - Doan Anh Duong - December 2nd, 2021
2021 Seoul International Travel Mart & Seoul International Travel Mart for Medical Tourism - Panel discussion - October 26th, 2021
Wellness Tourism: Now and Beyond - 2021 Wellness Travel Consumer Survey - September 30th, 2021
The 55th General Summer Symposium of The Korea Academic Society of Tourism and Leisure - Panel discussion - July 2021
What Academics and Industry are telling us about the future of wellness travel. And do consumers agree? - 2020 AMG Moving Forward with László Puczko - November 2020
Post-Pandemic Wellness Vacation Motivations and Best Messaging - London Travel Week with Anne Dimon, Darlene Fiske, Laura Davidson, Carol Stratford - - October 2020
In-Depth Look at the Analytics of our 2020 Wellness Travel Consumer Survey with WTA President Anne Dimon and Nathaniel Whittingham - September 2020.
Go Well: Proactive Wellness Techniques to Prevent Sickness & Promote Health When Traveling. Busan International Wellness Conference 2020 - August 2020
Busan Roundtable: Health and Wellness Presentation July 2020.
What academics, industry stakeholders and consumer travelers are telling us about the future of the Wellness Tourism industry. World Travel Market Global Hub with László Puczko and Terry Stevens - June 2020
Together for Wellness Global Wellness Day 2020 - International Wellness Group with Jana Stará - June 2020
Wellness Tourism Branding — An analysis of destination marketing through Instagram Korea Hotel-Resort Association, Kyung Hee University - November 2019
Influences of social capital and festival participation on subjective well-being *Panelist with Professor Ahn, Korea Hotel-Resort Association, Kyung Hee University - November 2019
The effect of K-Drama Recognition and Familiarity on the Purchase Intention toward K-Food: Focusing on the Median Effects of Attitude toward K-Food Korean Hotel-Resort Association, Kyung Hee University - November 2019
Personality Traits, the Wim Hof Method Benefits and Implications for Wellness Tourism Asia Pacific Forum, Woosong University - June 2019
Korean Spa (찜질방) Wellness Tourism perceived motivation, attitude, and health by Westerners visiting South Korea Hotel Resort Association Spring Conference, Sejong University - June 2019
Anti-Aging Expo Idea Competition - Finalist, Changwon City, Korea. November 2018
World Health Organization (KFHC) Healthy City Conference, Kuching Malaysia. October 2018
Korean Healthy City Quantified Ranking System (KHCQ) for Healthy Cities in Korea
Occupational Wellness from the Healthy Cities Perspective Case Studies in Korea
AI Wellness Hotel Presentation, Gyeongju City, Korea. October 2018
Korean Sauna (Jjimjilbang) Wellness Tourism as perceived by westerners living in South Korea Academic Cluster Conference, Bangkok, Thailand. August 2018
Global English for Hotels Kyunghee University, Hotel & Tourism Conference, Seoul Korea. June 2018
Busan Development Institute (BDI) Competition Winner - Healthy City Initiative Conference, December 2017
Books
*Hotelier Action English - Authors; Hee-seok Kang, Daniel Kessler, and Taeo-seok Nam - Baeksan Publishing Company ISBN 979-11-6567-577-6-13740
* Travel: 12 Rules for America 2018 (ISBN# 978-1720886389)
* Angels with Attitude: The Socially Intelligent Woman's Guide to Personal Safety 2016 (ISBN# 978-1535353366)
Interest
Workplace Wellness in Human Resource Management, Wellness Tourism, SDG, Positive Organizational Behavior, Self-determination theory (SDT), Psychological Capital (PsyCap)
