Fifty-three undergraduate students from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) formed an organising committee and ran HONG KONG 2016: 2nd Global Tourism & Hospitality Conference and 15th Asia Pacific Forum for Graduate Students Research in Tourism, which was held at Hotel ICON on 16-18 May 2016.
NH Hotel Group China, the joint-venture company of NH Hotel Group and HNA Hospitality Group, has selected eRevMax to provide channel management and business intelligence solutions for its managed properties. The properties will be using RateTiger Shopper & Channel Manager to monitor and manage rates and availability across multiple online sales channels from a single platform. The group has also subscribed to Managed Rate Services to receive competitive price intelligence reports for better rate management.
Following the one millionth Chinese visitor arrival into Australia milestone, AccorHotels is at the forefront of maximising the potential of the Chinese market with its newly enhanced and rebranded 'Optimum Service Standards' program Hao Ke Ya Gao.
Arrivals from China to Asia Pacific destinations will climb from an estimated 102 million in 2015 to more than 150 million by 2020 and as such this one source market will dominate the region's international tourism landscape, generating close to 23 percent of all arrivals to Asia Pacific destinations by the close of this decade.
Tourists deciding what photographs to take and share with others are engaging in impression management involving the presentation of an "ideal self", according to Dr Iris Lo, a Ph.D. graduate of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University who was supervised by Professor Bob McKercher of the SHTM. In a recently published study, the researchers highlight the role of social media in changing the nature of travel, as tourists increasingly post their photos online to be viewed and commented on by broad audiences. They find that through the photo selection process, tourists become engaged in a constant comparison and re-evaluation of their performance and find themselves in a "constant dilemma of who to satisfy".
In a growing number of U.S. hotels, fried noodles and congee are joining the bacon and eggs on the breakfast buffet, chopsticks are lining up alongside the forks and staff are being trained to say "huanying" as well as "welcome". Chinese travelers are flocking to America – where they're being welcomed with open arms particularly following a 2014 visa agreement, which extends business and tourism visas from China to the US (and vice versa) from one year to 10 years.
Escorted group tours have been a big part of Chinese travel, both outbound and domestic, since the country's post-1979 reform and opening first made it easier to travel. But in recent years, anecdotal evidence indicates that travelers from the mainland are abandoning these groups for free and independent travel. See the infographic below for more details on this current consumer trend.
Co-organised by the Tourism Administration of Guizhou Province, School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Gui'an New District Administration Commission and hosted by Gui'an New District Development and Investment Co., Ltd., the 10th International Forum on China Hotel Brand Development cum Asia-Europe Forum for World Hospitality and Tourism Education was successfully held in Gui'an New District, Guizhou Province, China on 21-22 April 2016, attracting more than 530 delegates from all over the world.
Fifty-three undergraduate students from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) form an organising committee and run HONG KONG 2016: 2nd Global Tourism & Hospitality Conference (GTHC) and 15th Asia Pacific Forum (APF) for Graduate Students Research in Tourism which will be held at Hotel ICON, Hong Kong, on 16-18 May 2016.
The desire to develop personally, enhance self-esteem and build prestige provide significant ongoing motivation for mainland Chinese to shop in Hong Kong, according to Dr Nelson Tsang, Miss Louisa Lee and Miss Carrie Liu of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in a recently published study. The researchers suggest that understanding these factors, and related factors that are less affected by increases in the number of trips to Hong Kong, "will help destination marketing organisations and retailers formulate strategies that will suit the needs of mainland Chinese tourists and encourage them to shop more often in Hong Kong and to spend more".
Travel brands are being made to work harder with the shifting use of mobile, social media, sharing economies and the gradual move from offline to online across Asia. They need to plan new strategies, develop new teams and refocus their budgets while trying to maximise ROI and build new revenue streams
Hospitality Student Initiative (HSI) announced that the Hospitality Innovation Conference 2016 themed, " Who Leads the Hospitality Trends?", will be held on 1 and 2 April 2016. The Conference is supported by The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin, and is welcomed for all hospitality delegates.
To reflect the demands of TDS Asia conference attendees, EyeforTravel Asia has expanded its scope of its Asian flagship event to cover the biggest challenges and opportunities in the travel arena.
Co-organised by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the Guizhou Provincial Government, and co-hosted by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) and Gui'an New District Administration Commission, the 10th International Forum on China Hotel Brand Development cum Asia-Europe Forum for World Hospitality and Tourism Education (the Forum) will take place in Gui'an New District, Guizhou, on 21-22 April 2016.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the world's largest and most dynamic hotel groups, has renewed its commitment to Thailand as it powers into the new year on the back of a stellar 2015. Having achieved accelerated growth in Asia Pacific in 2015, opening ten hotels and 23 signings, up from nine the year before, Carlson Rezidor continues the momentum to achieve its 2020 target at the Carlson Rezidor Asia Pacific Business Conference 2016 in Bangkok. Senior executives from across the region and the global offices gathered at Radisson Blu Plaza Bangkok to celebrate the Group's 2015 achievements and articulate the roadmap of adding 100 operating hotels to the Asia Pacific portfolio in the next five years.
The Rainmaker Group continues to strengthen its Asia-Pacific presence: Leading international hospitality provider ONYX Hospitality Group switched to Rainmaker's competitive rate shopping tool, Revcaster, citing Revcaster's functionality, the incremental revenue it generates, and the Rainmaker team's responsiveness. Revcaster's compatibility with numerous regional channels also factored into ONYX's decision.
As China's global influence continues to grow, the relationship between mainland China and Taiwan is more important than ever, and tourism can make an important positive contribution according to Dr Mimi Li and Shanzhui Qui of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and co-authors. In a recent study that elicited the views of mainland Chinese tourists to Taiwan, the researchers show that the increase in tourism between the two places has already had a positive influence on the "long-term peace-building effort" and that it will "facilitate political reconciliation and mutual recognition" in the future.
The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) today announced it has won a 2015 Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Adrian Award for innovative website design and cutting edge marketing practices, for the recently re-launched MekongTourism.org digital platform.
Hotels in China should take the opportunity to learn about how they can improve their services by understanding and acting on customers' online reviews, according to Dr Norman Au and Professor Rob Law of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a co-researcher. In a recently published article, the researchers examine the content of online hotel reviews posted by guests, identifying cultural differences in the nature and number of complaints made by Western and Chinese customers. They advise that hotel managers need to understand these differences so that they can use them to "build strong brand value" and avoid the "devastating consequences" of poor business practices being exposed to the public.
The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) has awarded Atmosphere Kanifushi Maldives the Certified Guest Service Property designation. To earn this distinction, the property trained employees with AHLEI's Guest Service Gold®, with 80 employees earning the Certified Guest Service Professional (CGSP®). Atmosphere Kanifushi Maldives is the first property in Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, to earn the title of Certified Guest Service Property. Tourism is the country's leading industry, so earning this designation provides the resort, which opened in December 2013, with a competitive edge. According to training manager Allen Mathias (pictured), the human resources and training team of Atmosphere Kanifushi Maldives has a vision of making Atmosphere Hotels and Resorts a learning organization. "To achieve this vision, we sought out partners to help in creating signature and unique learning opportunities for our colleagues; that would be instrumental in making them crave for learning about the hospitality industry and cascade the same down to creating delightful service," he explained. AHLEI's Guest Service Gold® and CGSP® offered the best fit for the organization. "We believe that we are in the people service business of making ourselves better human beings serving our guests. The CGSP® training helped us offer exceptional service to our guests," said Mathias. "Also, being at Maldives where there are limited hospitality training institutes for the colleagues to learn about the subject, this training and certification has given them an edge above others making them more learned and building their skill level." The training and certification was conducted in a combination of classroom and online training, which for most employees was a completely new experience, as was the concept of multiple-choice exam questions. Because of these challenges, the feeling of pride among the employees when they earned their certification was tremendous. Atmosphere Kanifushi Maldives has implemented an internal "Atmosphere Delight" program to recognize staff members who "wow" guests with exceptional service. For more information about training and professional development resources from AHLEI, visit www.ahlei.org or call 1.800.349.0299 or +1.407.999.8100.