Research
My research examines how interactions within tourism and hospitality systems shape people, organizations, and places. Planned events provide my most developed empirical setting, with complementary work examining digital platforms, service relationships, consumer behavior, and employee outcomes.
I use large-scale behavioral data, econometrics, spatial analysis, experiments, and evidence synthesis to investigate how these interactions generate economic, social, spatial, organizational, and behavioral consequences.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
When Crowds Converge: The Link between Events and Crime
Tourism Management, 119, 105525.
Feast or Famine: Asymmetric Links between Events and Restaurant Revenue
Tourism Geographies, 1–19.
Restaurant Week Paradox: From Relation to Transaction in Online Reviews
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 38(7), 2140–2160.
Manuscript Under Review
Institutional Calibration: From Connoisseur to Auditor
Annals of Tourism Research
Under Review
Academic Presentations
International & External Conferences
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y. (2026). Institutional Calibration: Why Experienced Reviewers Converge with the Consensus? ICHRIE + West Federation Conferences, Las Vegas, NV. Commendable Paper Award
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y. (2026). How Far Do Events Travel? Spatial Decay in Event-Driven Restaurant Revenue Spillovers. 56th TTRA Annual Conference, Greenville, SC.
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y. (2026). Institutional Calibration: Why Experienced Reviewers Converge with the Consensus? 2nd Workshop of Informatics, Data Science, and Economics in Hospitality and Tourism Research (WIDE-HTR), Philadelphia, PA. Best Student Paper Award
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y., & Park, S. (2026). Community Event Desert: Identifying Determinants of Cultural and Social Inequality in Community Leisure. Academy of Leisure Science (TALS) Research and Teaching Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y. (2026). Feast or Famine: A Big and Deep Data Approach to Event Impacts on Restaurant Revenue. 31st Graduate Education & Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality & Tourism, Auburn, AL.
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y., Tan, K. P. S., & Liu, Y. (2025). Minimum Wage Policies and Employee Well-Being: Evidence from the U.S. Tourism & Hospitality Industry. 55th TTRA Annual Conference, Galway, Ireland.
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y. (2025). Minimum Wage Policies and Employee Well-Being: Evidence from the U.S. Tourism & Hospitality Industry. 2025 THEREPS Conference, Flushing, NY. TOSOK Best Paper Award
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y. (2025). When Crowds Converge: Examining the Nuanced Relationship between Planned Events and Crime. 30th Graduate Conference, Houston, TX.
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y. (2024). Understanding the Social Impact of Planned Events: An Empirical Analysis on the Event-Crime Relationship. 54th TTRA Annual Conference, Burlington, VT.
Hwang, G. & Yang, Y. (2024). Understanding the Social Impact of Planned Events: An Empirical Analysis on the Event-Crime Relationship. 22nd ApacCHRIE Conference, Seoul, South Korea.
Research Funding
2nd RAIS Symposium Seed Funding
Co-PI · $600 · 2025
Fox School of Business, Temple University
Deconstructing the Rippling Stadium Effect: Multi-Venue Analysis of Restaurant Revenue
1st RAIS Symposium Seed Funding
Co-PI · $2,000 · 2024
Fox School of Business, Temple University
Developing an Event Impact Index for U.S. Business Competitiveness: A Strategic Analysis of Planned Events
27th Young Scholars Interdisciplinary Forum Seed Funding
Co-PI · $1,000 · 2023
Fox School of Business, Temple University
Which Events Are More Beneficial? Heterogeneous Effects of Planned Events on Hotel Demand
NEXT International Cultural Exchange Research Activity
Co-PI · $3,000 · 2020
Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange
Post-Pandemic Paradigm Shifts in Domestic and International Cultural and Artistic Activities: An Examination of Artists’ International Exchange Methods via Diverse Platforms