Dr Sunny Son

Dr Insun Sunny Son (née Lee) is a Senior Lecturer in Event and Tourism Management and Research Ethics Advisor in the School of Management at the UniSA Business School. Sunny is a member of the Centre for Tourism and Leisure Management and the CERM Performance Indicators® at the UniSA Business School. She holds a PhD in the field of Tourism, a Master of Business Advanced in International Event Management, and a Bachelor of Business in Hospitality Management and Event Management.

Sunny has been involved in various research projects focusing on a range of event management and visitor experiences at the local level as well as internationally, using qualitative and quantitative methods. Sunny’s current research focuses on the strategic use of events for community development, destination branding, corporate marketing, public diplomacy and placemaking. She has recently completed a research project into event leveraging practices of local tourism and hospitality businesses in South Australia. At the international level, she has completed a research project which examined the roles of sports events as a public diplomacy tool, using the case of Australia hosting the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup. Sunny has been recently awarded UniSA Business School’s Industry Engagement fund to continue her industry relevant research on placemaking using events, arts, culture and tourism in South Australia.

Her research has been published in top journals in the field of Tourism and Event Management including Tourism Management and Event Management. The excellence of her research has been recognized through the Best Conceptual Paper Award for outstanding conference paper at the Global Events Congress VI in 2014.

Qualifications

• Dotor of Philosophy (Tourism Management) The University of Queensland

• Master of Business (Advanced) International Event Management The University of Queensland

• Bachelor of Business(Hospitalilty Management/Event Management) Victoria University

• Diploma in Hospitality Kangan Institute

Work history

Senior Lecturer, School of Management, University of South Australia, 2017 - present

Research Ethics Advisor, School of Management, University of South Australia, 2014 - present

Lecturer, School of Management, University of South Australia, 2012 - 2016

Research Assistant, School of Tourism, University of Queensland, 2008 - 2012

Tutor, School of Tourism, University of Queensland, 2009 - 2011