Dr. Ata Atadil
- Position: Assistant Chair, Associate Professor
- Department: Commerce
- Office Location: Building 53, Room 103
- atadil@uwf.edu
- Campus: 850.474.3430
Biography
Ata Atadil is an Associate Professor in the Department of Commerce at the Lewis Bear
Jr. College of Business. He earned his Ph.D. in Hospitality Management from the
University of South Carolina, his M.A. in Tourism Management from Dokuz Eylul
University, and his B.A. in Tourism and Hotel Management from Yasar University.
His research focuses on traveler decision-making, destination image formation, and
strategic management in the hospitality and tourism industry. His research interests also
include emerging technologies, innovative tourism experiences, and space tourism. His
work has appeared in top-tier academic journals, including the Journal of Business
Research, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, and Tourism
Management Perspectives.
His teaching focuses on implementing class participation activities to encourage students to
perform creative and critical thinking. From high-impact practices to creativity exercises,
students are introduced to joyful and educational class participation activities to form a
collective learning environment in his courses. He is a past recipient of UWF’s Faculty
Excellence in Teaching Award and the Best Capstone Project Award. He also holds the
Certified Event Designer (CED) credential from the Switzerland-based Event Design
Collective.
Publications
Atadil, H. A., Lu, Q., Allman, H. F., & Yin, J. (2026). Advancing destination image
research through a Bayesian approach: Evidence from China. Journal of Hospitality
and Tourism Horizons, 1–18. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTH-11-2025-0149
Yin, J., Lu, Q., Li, Y., & Atadil, H. A. (2026). PCA or EFA? Rethinking factor analysis in
hospitality and tourism research. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 38(8), 2487–2502. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2025-1725
Atadil, H. A., Green, A. J., & Arguea, N. M. (2024). Examining employees under stress
by pandemic, hurricane, and bridge closure. Journal of Global Business Insights,
9(1), 29–41. doi: https://doi.org/10.5038/2640-6489.9.1.1287
Lu, Q., & Atadil, H. A. (2021) Do you dare to travel to China? An examination of China’s destination image amid Covid-19. Tourism Management Perspectives. 40, 100881. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2021.100881
Atadil, H. A., & Lu, Q. (2021). An investigation of underlying dimensions of customers’ perceptions of a safe hotel in the COVID-19 era: Effects of those perceptions on hotel selection behavior. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. 30 (6), 655-672, doi: 10.1080/19368623.2021.1877588
Atadil, H. A., Erdem, M., Green, A. J., & Crinson, D. (2021). Digital Natives in the Hospitality Workforce: An Exploratory Study on Mobile Dependency. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management. Research Note. doi: 10.1080/19368623.2021.1897054
Atadil, H. A., & Green, A. J. (2020). An Analysis of Attitudes Towards Management during Culture Shifts. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 86, 102439. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102439
Erdem, M, Atadil, H. A., & Nasoz, P. (2019). Leveraging Guestroom Technology: A Tale of Two Guest Profiles. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 10 (3), 255-268. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-06-2018-0046
Atadil, H. A., Sirakaya-Turk, E., Meng, F., & Decrop, A. (2018). Exploring travelers’ decision-making styles. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30 (1), 618-636. doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2016-0613
Atadil, H. A., Sirakaya-Turk, E., Baloglu, S., & Kirillova, K. (2017). Destination Neurogenetics: Creation of destination meme maps of tourists. Journal of Business Research, 74, 154-161. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.10.028
Atadil, H. A., Sirakaya-Turk, E., & Altintas, V. (2017). An analysis of destination image for emerging markets of Turkey. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 23 (1), 37-54. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1356766715616858
Atadil, H. A., Berezina, K., Yılmaz, B. S., & Cobanoglu, C. (2010). An analysis of the usage of Facebook and Twitter as a marketing tool in hotels. Dokuz Eylul University Journal of Faculty of Business. 11(2), 119-125.
