Dr. Bo H. Ferns is an Associate Professor in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, the College of Business at San Francisco State University. She received her Ph.D. in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Purdue University, M.S. in Applied Statistics from Purdue University, M.A. in Tourism Economics from Beijing Second Foreign Languages University, and B.A. in English Literature from Ocean University of Qingdao. She is the author and co-author of nearly 40 referred papers published in scholarly journals and proceedings of international conferences. In addition, she authored four book chapters and one book on hospitality and tourism management. Her consulting and research expertise include destination marketing strategies, behavioral and psychographic profiling of tourism consumers, and tourism development in Asia. Dr. Ferns has been serving as a reviewer for several internationally renowned journals, Before joining academia, Dr. Ferns worked as an event manager for Ciba Specialty Chemical and a convention service manager for Regency Hotel. She is also a statistician and has provided statistical consulting for projects in various fields, such as hospitality and tourism, education, nursing, food and nutrition, and agricultural economics. She also conducts consultancies and seminars for a variety of organizations including Sabre Holdings and the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP). Dr. Ferns is active in several major academic and industry associations. She is a member of the International Council for Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education and served on the Faculty/Student Committee of the Meeting Planning International.

Dr. Ferns’ research mainly focuses on hospitality and tourism marketing.