School Of Hotel And Tourism Management At The Hong Kong Polytechnic University And Banyan Tree Hotels And Resorts Ink MOU'sTo Collaborate On Executive Education And Internship Programmes
The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), and Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, a leading manager and developer of premium resorts, hotels, spas and galleries, have come together to sign two Memorandums Of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate and work together in the areas of Executive Education and Internship programmes.
The signing ceremony took place today at the new SHTM premises was presided over by Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd, and Professor Kaye Chon, Dean and Chair Professor of the SHTM.
This strategic collaboration is in keeping with the two parties' common interests in promoting executive education for those already in the hospitality workforce, research for product and service innovation, and industry attachment for students who aspire to join the hospitality industry upon graduation, on the basis of mutual understanding and support between both parties.
In the first MOU, the SHTM will provide Banyan Tree's associates with executive education either at the SHTM or any of the Banyan Tree properties. Both parties shall pursue collaboration of further training on the basis of mutual understanding and agreement.
"One of the important roles of the SHTM is to feed research findings and other forms of expertise back to its principle base – the hospitality and tourism industry," said Dean Kaye Chon. "We have already formed a firm foothold in establishing well-respected executive development programmes and we strive at all times to ensure that practitioners are kept abreast of the latest findings and trends that matter," he remarked.
In the second of the MOUs, the SHTM and Banyan Tree will work together in the area of student internship and training, with Banyan Tree offering internship attachments each year to a number of SHTM undergraduates. The number of student interns will be determined by mutual consent each year.
Banyan Tree will also offer one-year industry attachments to Chinese mainland students who are eligible for admission to the SHTM's MSc programme on the basis that they successfully complete the attachment. Both MOUs are signed for a period of five years.
Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Executive Chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd, elaborated: "Both the SHTM and Banyan Tree see this collaboration as a win-win arrangement. We get to send our associates to attend on-going skills development and job-relevant training in a hotel school that is highly regarded in Asia for its standard of excellence, as well as provide a channel for industry internship which the undergraduates will need, and also future employment in the hospitality industry for these young, aspiring students hoping to join the trade." "Banyan Tree Macau opens in May 2011. We are growing rapidly in China with as many as 13 new hotels opening between now and 2013 – this arrangement can only benefit service and industry standards as we move ahead," he continued.
Echoing Mr Ho's remark, Dean Chon said, "With Banyan Tree's unwavering support and with our teaching and research hotel, Hotel ICON, at the heart of our new education model, we expect more success and greater contributions in the years ahead."
About PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management
For more than four decades, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has refined a distinctive vision of hospitality and tourism education and become a world-leading hotel and tourism school. Ranked No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality and Tourism Management" category in ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024 for the eighth consecutive year; placed No. 1 globally in the "Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services" category in the University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2023/2024 for seven years in a row; rated No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism" subject area by the CWUR Rankings by Subject 2017; and ranked No. 1 in Asia in the "Hospitality and Leisure Management" subject area in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, the SHTM is a symbol of excellence in the field, exemplifying its motto of Leading Hospitality and Tourism.
The School is driven by the need to serve its industry and academic communities through the advancement of education and dissemination of knowledge. With a strong international team of over 90 faculty members from 21 countries and regions around the world, the SHTM offers programmes at levels ranging from undergraduate to doctoral degrees. Through Hotel ICON, the School's groundbreaking teaching and research hotel and a vital aspect of its paradigm-shifting approach to hospitality and tourism education, the SHTM is advancing teaching, learning and research, and inspiring a new generation of passionate, pioneering professionals to take their positions as leaders in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Website: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/shtm/.