PolyU plays host to the 9th APacCHRIE Conference

The Conference was officially opened today (3 June) at PolyU's teaching and research hotel, Hotel ICON, by Mr Anthony Lau, Executive Director, Hong Kong Tourism Board; Mr Stanley Yen, Chairman, Landis Management Co. Limited; Ms Cynthia Deale, President of International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (CHRIE); Professor Manat Chaisawat, President of APacCHRIE; Professor Timothy W. Tong, PolyU President; Dr Andy Nazarechuk, Dean of the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, University of Nevada Las Vegas (Singapore Campus); and Professor Kaye Chon, Dean and Chair Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, PolyU.

Themed "Hospitality and Tourism Education: From a Vision to an Icon", the Conference provides delegates as well as the international hospitality and tourism community with an inter-disciplinary platform to exchange information, ideas and views, and to consolidate the research efforts and industry experiences in the field. Together with the APacCHRIE Youth Conference 2011, it will stand as an iconic academic milestone of the industry.

Founded in Hong Kong in 2002 by Professor Kaye Chon, APacCHRIE is the regional advocate of hospitality and tourism education for schools, colleges, and universities offering programmes in hotel and restaurant management, foodservice management and culinary arts. It has played an instrumental role in promoting academic and research exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region over the years.

Some of the key topics featured at the conference include:

• Catering, Dining and the Foodservice Industry
• Education: Practices and Prospects
• Human Resources Issues in Hospitality and Tourism Industry
• Information Technology and its Influences
• MICE and Event Tourism
• Operational and Management Issues of Hotel Industry
• Sustainability and Social Responsibility
• Service Quality & Customer Relationship Management
• Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing
• Understanding Consumer Behavior
• Other Important Issues of Hospitality & Tourism Industry

Many prominent international and local scholars and experts have been invited as the speakers of the Conference. They are (in alphabetical order):

• Mr Perry Hobson, Director, The International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education
• Mr Anthony Lau, Executive Director, The Hong Kong Tourism Board
• Mr James Lu, Executive Director, Hong Kong Hotels Association
• Mr Pradeep Kumar Nair, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Taylor's University
• Mr Stanley C. Yen, Chairman, The Landis Taipei Hotel
• Ms Belinda Yeung, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Regal Hotels International

The organizing committee is grateful to the following sponsors for their support to the Conference:

• MCI Hong Kong
• Francesca Limited
• Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong
• Finessa Hong Kong Limited
• Taylor and Francis Asia Pacific
• The Mira Hong Kong
• The Upper House

For more details of the Conference, please visit its official website at: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/htm/conference/APacCHRIE2011