Hosted by the SHTM and organised by Fliggy, Alibaba's travel division, the 12th CHINA TOURISM FORUM: Innovations in Hospitality and Tourism Practices was successfully held on 19-20 November 2018 in Hangzhou, China.
Alongside China's increasingly significant role in the global tourism industry since 2007, the SHTM has organised two major forums: the International Forum on China Hotel Brand Development and the China Tourism Forum. In
line with the current wave of innovation, the ongoing development and in-depth integration of tourism, hotel and many other related sectors, the two forums have been combined and relaunched as the
CHINA TOURISM FORUM: Innovations in Hospitality and Tourism Practices in 2017. This year, the forum continued to provide a platform for industry experts, government officials and academics to interact and explore how to cope with unprecedented challenges and opportunities when promoting sustainable innovation in tourism, hospitality and related industries.
The forum started off on 19 November with a Special Session on the topic "Developing Super IPs for Cultural Tourism Villages" and the SHTM Alumni Salon entitled "How to Solve the HR Dilemma in the Hotel Industry".
On 20 November, the 12th CHINA TOURISM FORUM was officially opened by Professor Kaye Chon, SHTM Dean, Chair Professor and Walter Kwok Foundation Professor in International Hospitality Management; and Mr Xu Peng, Deputy Director, Zhejiang Provincial
Department of Culture and Tourism.
Under the theme "Innovations in Hospitality and Tourism Practices", the forum attracted more than 1,000 participants from around the region to share their insights, practices and research findings. It featured five Invited Presentations on the topics "Big Data Application and the Tourism Industry", "The Unknown Stories behind Innovations", "Developing the 'New Species' for the New Markets", "China Hotel Market Updates: Opportunities and Challenges",
"Thousands of People with Thousands of Faces: How to Profile the New Consumers?", "Applying Research to the Hospitality and Tourism Industry" and "Hotel ICON and the Innovation Journey of Independent Hotels". The three Roundtable Discussions covered a wide range of topics, including "New Wave, New Driver and New Directions of Hospitality and Tourism Innovation", "Cutting-Edge Research and Implications in the New Era" and "Exploring the Path to Sustainable Innovation: Integrating Academic and
Industry Forces". The latter two discussions were hosted by the SHTM's newly established Hospitality and Tourism Research Centre (HTRC) and the SHTM ICON Consultancy respectively.
Also featured were the "3-PeopleTalk Shows" covering "The Re-launch of the Hotel Industry: New Opportunities in the New Cycle", "Marketing Alliance in the Mobile Web Time" and "China Strategies of the Emerging International Players".
The forum was an astounding success and much was owed to the
enthusiastic participation of industry leaders from prominent organisations including OYO Rooms, HeMa Fresh, Huazhu Hotels Group, Wyndham Hotel Group, Hyatt Hotel Group, Shangri-La Hotel Group, Accor Hotels, Club Med, Thomas Cook, Wanda Hotels and Resorts, Narada Hotels Group, New Century Hotels, The Alibaba Academy for Discovery, Adventure, Momentum and Outlook (Alibaba ADAMO), and many more.
Supporting the advancement of hospitality and tourism in China, the forum successfully brought
together practitioners and scholars to deliberate on the future path for the industry. The SHTM is uniquely placed to host the CHINA TOURISM FORUM, through which the School continues to play a leading role in embracing the future through innovation.
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