Lirong Kou

Associate Professor、Master Supervisor

Ph.D.（University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA）

Email：koulr3@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Short Bio

Lirong Kou is an Associate Professor and Master Supervisor at the School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Management (2014) and Master’s degree in Management (2016) from Sun Yat-sen University, and her Ph.D. in Philosophy (2020) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. Since September 2020, she has been teaching at the School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University. Her research focuses on the health impacts of tourism mobilities, with particular attention to tourism stakeholders such as tourists and residentsin urban, rural, and nature-based destinations. She explores the mechanisms through which these stakeholders enhance their health during tourism mobilities, particularly through auditory interactions, multi-sensory interactions, and human-place interrelationships. She specializes in mixed-methods research that integrates qualitative, quantitative, and GIS-based approaches, aiming to contribute to the ‘Healthy China’initiative and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To date, she has published many papers in leading academic journals such as Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Tourism Geographies, Current Issues in Tourism, Health & Place, Geographical Research, and Tourism Science. She has led one National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Youth Project, one Young Faculty Development Project at Sun Yat-sen University, and one social service project. She teaches the courses including Applications of GIS in Tourism, Principle of Marketing, Tourism Planning & Public Policy, and Introduction to Tourist Landscape.

Education

2016.08 ~ 2020.08, Department of Geography & GIS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, Ph.D.Degree

2014.09 ~ 2016.06, School of Tourism Management, SunYat-sen University, Master’s Degree

2010.09 ~ 2014.06, School of Tourism Management, SunYat-sen University, Bachelor’s Degree

Experience

  • Associate Professor, Department of Tourism Management and Planning, School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism Management and Planning, School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University

Research Field 

  • Tourism Geographies
  • Therapeutic Tourism Mobilities
  • Sustainable Tourism Development
  • Soundscapes, Sensescapes, and Health
  • Health and Wellness Tourism
  • Tourist Space-time Behaviors

Courses 

  • Principle of Marketing
  • Application of GIS in Tourism
  • Tourism Planning & Public Policy
  • Introduction to Tourist Landscape

Publications

[1] Lirong Kou, Jiashan Zou, Ziyang Li, & Honggang Xu*. The influence of rural tourism practitioners′ soundscape experiences on their health. Geographical Research. 2025,44(01):188-204. [In Chinese]. / 寇力容，邹佳珊，李梓杨，徐红罡*．乡村旅游从业者的声景体验对其健康的影响研究[J]. 地理研究. 2025,44(01):188-204. (CSSCI)

[2] Lirong Kou, Chao Wei, Christina G. Chi, & Honggang Xu* (2025).Understanding sensescapes and restorativeeffects of nature-based destinations: a mixed methods approach. Journal of Sustainable Tourism,33(2), 243-264. (SSCI, Q1)

[3] Lirong Kou & Honggang Xu* (2024). Experiencing therapeutic soundscapes in rural tourism destinations. Tourism Geographies, 26(7), 1151–1176.(SSCI, Q1)

[4] Lirong Kou, Ke Wang, Xuehong Xiao & Honggang Xu* (2024).Capturing mobile, situational, and multi-dimensional tourist experience: an integrated approach, Current Issues in Tourism, 1-23. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2024.2404992. (SSCI, Q1)

[5] Lirong Kou, Miao Luo, Yin Zhao, Honggang Xu*. Research on leisure behavior, noise environment, and psychological stress of cross-city residents: A space-time behavioral perspective. Geographical Research. 2024:09, 2493-2510. [In Chinese]. / 寇力容，罗苗，赵莹，徐红罡*. 跨城居民的休闲行为、噪音环境与心理压力研究：基于时空行为视角[J]. 地理研究. 2024:09, 2493-2510. (CSSCI)

[6] Lirong Kou, Peng Yang*, Honggang Xu. (2024). The Role of New-Energy Vehicles in Promoting the Transformation of Driving Tourism Systems from a Multi-Level Theory Perspective. Tourism Science. [In Chinese]. / 寇力容，杨鹏*，徐红罡．多层次理论视角下新能源汽车推动自驾旅游系统转型机制研究[J/OL]．旅游科学. 1-20. 2024. DOI: 10.16323/j.cnki.lykx.20240926.001. (CSSCI)

[7] Ziyang Li, Jianchao Ren, Lirong Kou*, Honggang Xu. (2024). The influence of serious leisure on the health of senior sojourners from the perspective of mobility. Journal of Chinese Eco-Tourism. 2024.14(06),1311-1324. [In Chinese]. / 李梓杨，任建超，寇力容*，徐红罡. 流动性视角下旅居老人深度休闲对其健康的影响[J]. 中国生态旅游. 2024.14(06),1311-1324. (CSCD)

[8] Ke Wang, Lirong Kou*, & Honggang Xu (2023). Enabling home and destinations for the well-being of seasonal retired tourists. Tourism Geographies, 25(6), 1555-1579.(SSCI, Q1)

[9] Lirong Kou, Xuehong Xiao, Honggang Xu*, & Jingming Chen. (2023). Understanding tourist experiences of sounds at nature-based destinations: from a relational perspective. Current Issues in Tourism. 27(4), 600–618.(SSCI, Q1)

[10] Lirong Kou, Mei-Po Kwan*, & Yanwei Chai. (2021). Living with urban sounds: understanding the effects of human mobilities on individual sound exposure and psychological health. Geoforum, 126, 13-25.(SSCI, Q1)

[11] Lirong Kou*, Mei-Po Kwan, & Yanwei Chai. (2021). The effects of activity-related contexts on individual sound exposures: a time–geographic approach to soundscape studies. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 48(7), 2073-2092.(SSCI, Q2)

[12] Jue Wang, Lirong Kou, Mei-Po Kwan*, Shakespeare Rebecca, Lee Kangjae, & Park Yoo-Min. (2021). An integrated individual environmental exposure assessment system for real-time mobile sensing in environmental health studies. Sensors, 21(12), 4039.(SCIE, Q2)

[13]Yinhua Tao, Yanwei Chai, Lirong Kou*, & Mei-Po Kwan. (2020). Understanding noise exposure, noise annoyance, and psychological stress: incorporating individual mobility and the temporality of the exposure-effect relationship. Applied Geography, 125, 102283. (SSCI, Q1)

[14] Lirong Kou, Yinhua Tao*, Mei-Po Kwan, & Yanwei Chai. (2020). Understanding the relationships among individual-based momentary measured noise, perceived noise, and psychological stress: a geographic ecological momentary assessment (GEMA) approach. Health & Place, 64, 102285. (SSCI, Q1)

[15] Yinhua Tao, Lirong Kou, Yanwei Chai*, & Mei-Po Kwan. (2020). Associations of co-exposures to air pollution and noise with psychological stress in space and time: a case study in Beijing, China. Environmental Research, 110399. (SCIE, Q1)

[16] Jing Ma*, Chunjiang Li, Mei-Po Kwan, Lirong Kou, & Yanwei Chai. (2020). Assessing personal noise exposure and its relationship with mental health based on individuals’space-time behavior. Environment International, 139, 105737. (SCIE, Q1)

[17] Honggang Xu*, Lirong Kou, & Geoffrey Wall. (2018). Retired Tibetan migrants’adaptation experiences in Chengdu, China. Asian Ethnicity, 19(3), 319-343.

[18] Lirong Kou, Honggang Xu*, & Mei-Po Kwan. (2018). Seasonal mobility and well-being of older people: the case of“Snowbirds”to Sanya, China. Health & Place, 54, 155-163. (SSCI, Q1)

[19] Lirong Kou, Honggang Xu*, & Kevin Hannam. (2017). Understanding seasonal mobilities, health and wellbeing to Sanya, China. Social Science & Medicine, 177, 87-99. (SSCI, Q1)

Research Projects

[1]Principal Investigator: National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Project, Research on the Impact and Mechanisms of Urban Acoustic Environment on Elderly Health: from a Spatiotemporal Behavioral Perspective, Project No. 42101191, from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024.

[2]Principal Investigator: Sun Yat-sen University Young Faculty Development Project, Study on Cross-City Commuting Residents’ Leisure Behavior, Environmental Perception, and Health in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Project No. 22qntd5901, from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

[3]Principal Investigator: Social Service Project, commissioned by the Management Committee of Huangshan Scenic Area, Carrying Capacity Calculation and Validation for Huangshan Scenic Area, from March 2023 to April 2023.

Academic Service

  • Serving as an editorial board member：Tourism and Hospitality Research
  • Serving as peer reviewer for the following academic journals：Current Issues in Tourism, Tourism Management Perspective, Tourism Geographies, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Social Science & Medicine, Geoforum, Health & Place, Habitat International, Journal of Rural Studies, Travel Behaviour & Society, Danish Journal of Geography, Journal of China Tourism Research,地理研究，热带地理，旅游科学,经济地理，中国生态旅游.