About the Director

Sun-HWA "Sunny" Kim, Ph.D., is the director of the Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism. The center is housed within the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration.

Kim is a professor and director of the resort tourism management major in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration at Coastal Carolina University. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Central Florida. Kim also earned a Master of Science degree in Hospitality Management from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Science degree in Business Analytics and Statistics from the University of Tennessee. Additionally, she earned a a PhD in Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Tennessee. 

He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Orleans and went on to become a certified hotel administrator, managing both hotels and restaurants in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area. He later received a Master of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Damonte is the principal investigator on the Tourism Economy Study,  an ongoing analysis of tourism business performance in the Myrtle Beach area, and the primary author of the weekly summary of the CCU Lodging Update. He is also a frequent contributor to the Grand Strander, the monthly newsletter of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. Damonte has also been an invited speaker on tourism issues in China, Germany, Panama, Ecuador, and Slovakia.