Throughout the academic year, students from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University achieved notable success, garnering top honors at various international conferences and summits. Among these accolades were the prestigious awards obtained at events such as the 2024 Global ESG Conference, APacCHRIE Youth Conference, and Young Hospitality Summit (YHS), held across different locations worldwide. Particularly at the 2024 Global ESG Conference in Jeju, Korea, SHTM students demonstrated their excellence by securing both First and Second Prizes in the Undergraduate Students ESG Idea Competition as part of the ESG Global Student Challenge.
The first-place project, titled 'Trash to Trend: Transforming Hotel Waste into Fashionable Gems' was developed by Mina Kang, a student enrolled in the BSc Hotel Management program, and Jasmine Poon, a student in the BSc Tourism and Events Management program. The second-place project, 'GREENIE: Your Comprehensive Online Hub for Exploring Hotels' ESG Commitments and Performance Benchmarking' was created by Christopher Chen, Venus Chung, and Ben Lim, students in the BSc Hotel and Tourism Management. The competition aimed to cultivate the next generation of ESG leaders, fostering qualities such as creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork among undergraduate students. It served as a platform to inspire innovative solutions that effectively apply ESG principles in real-world scenarios.
During the APacCHRIE Youth Conference held in Seoul, Korea, SHTM students were honored with two Best Paper Awards. The first-place award recognized Xenia Wong, a student enrolled in the BSc Tourism and Events Management program, for her paper titled 'Exploring the Asymmetric Impact and Relative Competitiveness of Service Attributes on Customer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction: Impact Asymmetry Competitor Analysis and Two-factor Theory'. The paper was supervised by Dr. Hailey Shin, Assistant Professor at SHTM, along with Dr. Hyekyung Park from Florida State University and Dr. Minwoo Lee from the University of Houston. Additionally, Yu Jin Yang, a student in the BSc Hotel Management program, received the second runner-up award for the paper 'AI-supportive or Vigilant in the Hospitality Industry: Integrating Employee and Consumer Views to Extend the TAM and AIDUA Models'. The supervision for this paper was provided by Dr. Ivanka Huang, Research Assistant Professor at SHTM.
In March of this year, students from SHTM made a remarkable impression at the Young Hospitality Summit (YHS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, by securing two esteemed awards. Mandy Leung, a student enrolled in the BSc Tourism and Events Management program, led her team to clinch the First Prize. Their winning proposal focused on implementing initiatives to combat food waste, promote sustainability education and establish a circular ecosystem within NEOM, Saudi Arabia. Cindy Pang, also a student in the BSc Tourism and Events Management program, led her team to secure the Second Prize. Their project, titled 'Bridging Concepts, Beyond Realities' with 'The Elevate Project' centered around the creation of an innovative structure incorporating screen and sound technology.
Organized each year by the EHL Hospitality Business School, the Young Hospitality Summit (YHS) functions as a forum where industry experts and student delegates convene to explore pertinent industry themes through insightful discussions. As a student-driven event, the summit offers delegates the opportunity to collaborate on innovative hospitality projects aimed at addressing real-world business challenges. SHTM takes great pride in the accomplishments of its accomplished students and their dedication to advancing the field's knowledge base.
