Katheldra Alexander

Katheldra Alexander is a native of the Bahamas but has lived in North Carolina for 19 years. She graduated with a degree in hospitality management from Bethune-Cookman University and a M.S. in organizational leadership and change from Pfeiffer University.

Alexander has more than 20 years of industry experience specifically onsite foodservice operations servicing the higher education and corporate dining sectors. She has taught hospitality courses at the University of the Bahamas and held other training roles throughout her career. Her research interests include restaurant and food safety, diversity, equity and inclusion, and leadership and training. Katheldra is an inaugural fellow of the 2022 Bloomin’ Brands DE&I Fellowship for AHED (Alliance for Hospitality Equity & Diversity).

Alex Arhin

Alex Arhin is a native of the Central Region of Ghana, Africa. Arhin received his B.S. in tourism management from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and his M.S. in tourism management and planning from the University of Girona in Spain. His research interests are in the areas of organizational resilience, workforce empowerment, and sustainability. In addition to his studies, Arhin enjoys traveling and exploring new cultures.

Courses Taught

HTMT 280 – Foundations of Tourism
HTMT 388 – Resort Development and Management

Badr Badraoui

Badr Badraoui joined the College of HRSM in 2022 after earning a bachelor’s in international business from Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Germany and a master’s in business administration/major tourism from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland. A native of Rabat, Morocco, Badraoui’s research interests include technological applications within the tourism and hospitality industry, customer experience, service management and experiential marketing. He has over 15 years of professional experience across seven countries and is fluent in four languages. In his spare time, Badraoui enjoys playing soccer, outdoor activities and visiting new places.

Hani Cho

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Hani Cho earned her undergraduate degree in hospitality management from Penn State University and completed her master’s degree at New York University in the same field. Her research applies behavioral economics to improve policy, governance and organizational effectiveness in hospitality. Cho investigates how behavioral insights enhance decision-making, workforce dynamics and service quality. Outside of academia, she enjoys rewatching her favorite movies, discovering new details and perspectives that deepen her appreciation for timeless storytelling.

Courses Taught

HTMT 260 – Hotel Management

Hui Jiang

Hui Jiang is from Shandong, China, and received a B.S. in hospitality management and an M.S. in tourism management from Sun Yat-sen University. Her research interests include tourism investment, destination marketing and social networking.

Mina Kim

Mina Kim is a Ph.D. student in Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of South Carolina and a graduate assistant at the Richardson Family SmartState Center for Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development. Originally from Busan, South Korea, she holds a B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in Tourism and Convention. 

Her research focuses on tourism sustainability, with a particular emphasis on understanding the psychological and behavioral traits of tourists who engage in either sustainable or unsustainable practices.

Seonjin Lee

Seonjin Lee began the hospitality and tourism management Ph.D. program in fall 2023 and is a Presidential Fellow at the University of South Carolina. Hailing from Busan, South Korea, Lee studied at Pusan National University for his undergraduate degree in tourism and convention and later earned a master's from the school in tourism studies. Additionally, he has over five years of experience working as an interpreter, including two years of service as an interpreter in the Republic of Korea Navy. Lee is interested in understanding the impact of tourism activities on local populations, the sustainability of the tourism industry, and the use of spatiotemporal data analysis for tourism research. In his spare time, Lee enjoys brewing coffee, playing guitar and computer programming.

Lali Odosashvili

Lali Odosashvili is from Tbilisi, Georgia, where she received her B.S. in business administration - tourism and her MBA in tourism from Ilia State University and her M.S. in hospitality management from the University of Delaware. Odosashvili received the Best Student Led Completed Paper Award at the 8th Annual ICHRIE SECSA Federation Conference in 2023 and was an author on multiple research publications. The same year, she was promoted to head of marketing for Hybrid Interaction, Ltd., after working in business development for the organization for over a year. Her research areas of interest include policy and governance studies in tourism, tourism development in developing countries, consumer behavior, and gambling tourism. Her hobbies include disc golf, archery and reading. Odosashvili is also fluent in three languages including English, Georgian and Russian.

Omid Oshriyeh

Omid Oshriyeh, hailing from Tehran, Iran, holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in tourism management, with a specialization in tourism marketing, from the University of Tehran. His research areas of interest include data science applications in hospitality, sustainability, fintech (blockchain-based applications, cryptocurrencies), and social media analytics. Additionally, he serves as an editorial associate for Tourism Analysis, a peer-reviewed journal.

Courses Taught

HTMT 450 – Hospitality and Tourism Marketing
HTMT 482 – Sustainable Tourism Planning and Policy

Ghazal Shams

Ghazal Shams is from Iran and holds a bachelor’s degree in statistics and a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Islamic Azad University. Her research interests include consumer behavior and service research, with a particular focus on human-centric services, transformative service research, and service technologies. Her work has been published in leading journals in hospitality, tourism, and marketing, and has been presented at national and international conferences.

Courses Taught

HTMT 344 – Personnel Organization and Supervision
HTMT 450 – Hospitality and Tourism Marketing

Teaching Assistant

HTMT 334 – Personnel Organization and Supervision
HRTM 584 – Tourism Information Technology Issues
HRSM 700 – Quantitative Methods in HRSM

Selected Publications

Shams, G., & Kim, K. (2024). Chatbots on the frontline: The imperative shift from 'one-size-fits-all' strategies through humanoid conversational cues and dialogue design. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 10963480241280991. https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480241280991

Shams, G., Kim, K. K., & Kim, K. (2024). Enhancing service recovery satisfaction with chatbots: The role of humor and informal language. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 120, 103782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2024.103782

Shams, G., Rather, R. A., Rehman, M. A., & Lodhi, R. N. (2020). Hospitality-based service recovery, outcome favourability, satisfaction with service recovery, and consequent customer loyalty: An empirical analysis. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 15(2), 266–284. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-04-2020-0079

Shams, G., Rehman, M. A., Samad, S., & Rather, R. A. (2020). The impact of the magnitude of service failure and complaint handling on satisfaction in the banking industry: An investigation into a pathway of brand credibility. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 25, 24–35. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-020-00070-0

Damla Sonmez

Damla Sonmez is from Antalya, Turkey, where she earned her B.S. in business administration from Antalya Bilim University. Sonmez earned her M.S. in hospitality management from the University of Florida. She has made her mark in the classroom at USC having earned the Outstanding Doctoral Student Teacher of the Year award in back-to-back years. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, cooking and music.

Research Interests

Consumer behavior
Human resources management
Human-centric engagement

Courses Taught

HTMT 364 – Conference and Meeting Planning
HTMT 590 – Social and Cultural Issues in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry (co-instructor)

Published Research

Sonmez, D., Ali, F., Wildes, V., & Cobanoglu, C. (2023). The Hijabi servers: Customers' perception of employees' physical appearance in restaurants. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 114, 103569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103569
Sonmez, D., & Taylor Jr., S. (2024). Nutrition and nature: Means-end theory in crafting sustainable and health-conscious meal kit experiences. Sustainability, 16(8), 3327. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16083327

Awards

Outstanding Doctoral Student Teacher of the Year – 2023 & 2024

Yang (John) Zhuang

Yang (John) Zhuang, originally from Shanghai, China, is a Ph.D. candidate in hospitality and tourism management at the University of South Carolina. He holds a B.S. in hotel management from Macao University of Tourism and an M.S. in international wine management from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Zhuang's research focuses on wine tourism, wine education, health tourism and consumer behavior. Beyond academics, he has a passion for history, literature and culinary arts, especially baking. Fluent in Cantonese and Shanghainese, Zhuang is an advocate for language diversification and enjoys traveling, capturing moments through photography during his adventures.