Professor Kaye Chon, Dean and Chair Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has been honoured by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) with the UNWTO Ulysses Prize, a top honour which is also widely considered as the "Nobel Prize in Tourism".

The Ulysses Prize is awarded to a distinguished scholar with outstanding contribution to extending the frontier of knowledge in tourism. In awarding the distinction, the UNWTO seeks to recognise and stimulate knowledge creation, dissemination and innovative applications in tourism and to bring to light the latest advances in this area. Dean Chon is the first recipient of this prestigious prize in the entire Asia Pacific region.

"It is a tremendous compliment for me to be awarded the Ulysses Prize," said Dean Chon. "It has given me and my team at the SHTM strong impetus to further develop professional education and research for the fast-growing hotel and tourism industry in Hong Kong, the region and around the world."

Dean Chon joined PolyU in 2000. Under his able leadership, the SHTM has risen as one of the world's leading institutions in hospitality and tourism management. In 2009, the School was ranked No. 2 in global ranking of hospitality and tourism schools based on research and scholarship, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research.

Dean Chon is also well known for advocating the new wave of hospitality and tourism education known as the "Asian Paradigm", leading the way for SHTM to become a global centre of excellence in hotel and tourism management education. This prestigious honour is testimony of the exceptional contribution that Dean Chon has made to the development of global hospitality education through his leadership and research contributions.

Dean Chon was the past Chairman of the International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators and is currently Chairman of Pacific Asia Travel Association's Education and Training Committee. He was a professor at the University of Houston in the United States before joining PolyU.

The Ulysses Prize will be presented by the Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation in Vilamoura, Portugal, on 2 June.

About PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management

For 45 years, 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 2023 for the seventh consecutive year; placed No. 1 globally in the "Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services" category in the University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2022/2023 for six 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 2024, 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 20 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/.

Pauline Ngan
Marketing Manager
+852 3400 2634
Hong Kong PolyU