Danny Kessler

Danny Kessler is Korea’s first Ph.D. in Wellness Tourism and an Associate Professor at Dongseo University’s Minseok College of Liberal Arts in Busan, South Korea. He is the Director of the Wellness Research Lab and a researcher whose work connects wellness, tourism, business, culture, and global education, with a focus on linking traditional healing systems to next-generation wellness innovation.

His research centers on the three pillars of Korean wellness—Templestay, jjimjilbang, and ginseng—examining how heritage-based practices shape branding, identity, and cross-cultural consumer behavior. His work includes SSCI-indexed research on Templestay, book chapters on Korean spa culture in Wellness Tourism in Asia, and recent studies on the Jeju Olle Trail, where he analyzes how culturally mediated narratives of autonomy and healing influence destination sustainability and institutional legitimacy.