More than 750 delegates from 42 countries and regions from around the world gathered in Hong Kong to attend the inaugural APacCHRIE & EuroCHRIE Joint Conference cum 4th Global Tourism and Hospitality Conference hosted by the SHTM and co-organised by APacCHRIE and EuroCHRIE on 22-25 May 2019.
Themed "East Meets West in Hospitality and Tourism Education", the Conference took place in the very heart of where East does indeed meet West – Hong Kong, a
dynamic and vibrant city connecting the world. This exceptional conference provided delegates and the international hospitality and tourism community with an interdisciplinary platform on which to exchange information, ideas and views, and to consolidate research efforts and industry experiences in the field. Together with the APacCHRIE & EuroCHRIE Youth Conference, it stood as an iconic academic milestone of the sector.
The joint conference was run entirely by a group of 57 talented
SHTM undergraduate students from the Special Events Class, who formed an organising committee to manage the conference and put together an enriching programme for international delegates, ensuring an experience unlike any other.
The conference started off on 22 May with a series of workshops on a variety of important topics including "Certification in Advanced Hospitality and Tourism Analytics" facilitated by Mr Steve Hood of the STR SHARE Centre; "Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics" hosted by Mr Duane Vinson of the STR SHARE Centre; "Design Thinking" conducted by Dr Geoff Maree of the Breda University of Applied Sciences; "Hotel Industry Insights and Revenue Management Outlook: An
Interactive Simulation Workshop" co-facilitated by Mr Peter Russell and Ms Heidi Anaya of Russell Partnership Technology; "Taylor & Francis Workshop: What's Next in Tourism and Hospitality" moderated by Ms Lindsey Dixon of the Taylor & Francis Group; "Early Career Development: Issues and Strategies" moderated by Prof Vikneswaran Nair of the University of the Bahamas; "Mid-Career Development: Issues and Strategies" moderated by Dr Basak Denizci Guillet of the SHTM; and "Research and
Publication: Insights from Journal Editors" moderated by Professor Bob McKercher of the SHTM.
Officiating at the conference's opening ceremony on 23 May at Hotel ICON were Dr Peter Kim, President, APacCHRIE; Dr Ralph Burbach, President, EuroCHRIE; and Professor Kaye Chon, SHTM Dean, Chair Professor and Walter Kwok Foundation Professor in International Hospitality Management. This was followed by plenary sessions covering a whole host of important topics including "Connecting the Dots
between Research and Industry Practices", "Current Issues on Hospitality and Tourism Industry", "Service Design" and "Hospitality and Tourism Education: Embracing Innovations". Renowned academics and industry leaders also had the opportunity to attend a series of concurrent sessions, poster sessions and other interesting activities organised during the conference.
At the Gala Dinner rounding out the conference on 24 May, the Best Paper Award Presentation was held. The winners were:
- Champion – "A Socio-Personal Perspective on Hotel Social Commerce" by Dr Yun Victoria Chen, Dr Guoqiong Ivanka Huang and Professor Ipkin Anthony Wong, Sun Yat-sen University, China
- First Runner-up – "Do Status Discrepancy and Socioeconomic Immobility Really Drive Compensatory Consumption?" by Ms Heewon Kim and Professor SooCheong Shawn Jang, Purdue University, USA
- Second Runner-up – "Ease of Use of German Independent Hotels' Website" by Dr Rosemarie Krebs, IUBH University of Applied Sciences, Germany
The Best Paper Award for the Youth Conference was presented to Dr Daniel Leung and Ms Sarah Pyo of the SHTM for their paper "Factors Affecting Hotel Guests' Likelihood of Online Review Contribution: An Experimental Study".
The EuroCHRIE President Award was also presented by Dr Ralf Burbach to Mr Duane Vinson, Vice President of STR and Assistant Director of the STR SHARE Centre. The APacCHRIE Lifetime Achievement Award went to Dr Jennifer Cronin, Chairman of the SHTM Advisory Committee and President of Wharf Hotels Management Ltd.
The SHTM is very pleased to have forged a closer collaboration between APacCHRIE and EuroCHRIE in advancing hospitality and tourism education and research. The School is honoured to be playing a key role in defining the roadmap for future hospitality and tourism, and will continue its ongoing efforts to lead the sector into the future.
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