Scott Smith

Scott Michael Smith, PhD is Course Coordinator at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Assumption University, Thailand. Scott’s doctoral dissertation focused on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the tourism industry, concentrating on the successful communication of CSR in SE Asia.From Hawaii, Scott has over 20 years of practical experience as an owner and manager in the service sector and 20 years’ experience teaching and consulting in Thailand. Working for industry legends such as Shep Gordon and Don Ho in Hawaii, as a GM for their successful restaurant and nightclubs. Scott has worked closely with many of the leading tourism suppliers in Thailand to develop service training programs and promote strategies that make business sense and common sense. Community Based Tourism (CBT), responsible and sustainable tourism development as well as happiness and community well-being are of particular interest to Scott. Scott has experience hosting academic conferences and has been invited to present keynote speeches on a variety of topics throughout Asia.

My vision is a Happy Lab at Assumption University that measures the happiness and well-being of students, faculty and staff and to develop strategies to improve the happiness, well-being and sustainability of these groups and the campus. As part of the activities of the Happy Lab at Assumption University, students would be trained to survey local host communities at UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Thailand and work with community members to develop interventions that foster individual happiness, community well-being, site ecological and economical sustainability while protecting human health. ​