Honorary Professor, School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Professor Amy Chan graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in English Literature and Contemporary English Language.

She joined the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) in June 1971 and set up the Association’s Information and Photographic Library. In 1975, she set up the conference and exhibition marketing unit and became Manager of the Conferences and Meetings Department in 1984. In 1986, Professor Chan was appointed Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Convention and Incentive Travel Bureau, the division within the HKTA responsible for the overall marketing and co-ordination of convention and incentive travel business in Hong Kong and its major overseas markets.

Professor Chan was promoted to Deputy Executive Director of the HKTA in March 1993, and appointed Executive Director on 1 May 1994 , being the first local person and woman appointed to the post. She retired from the Association in September 2000.

During Professor Chan’s tenure as Executive Director, Hong Kong has successfully won and consistently maintained its position as Asia ’s most popular and leading travel destination. Professor Chan is instrumental in setting up the Pearl River Delta Tourism Marketing Organisation in 1993, and firmly established Hong Kong ’s leadership role in marketing international tourism into South China . She also initiated and established close working relationship with other National Tourism Organisations in the region, notably the China National Tourism Administration, the Singapore Tourism Board, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand on behalf of Hong Kong . Under Professor Chan’s leadership, the HKTA cemented strong strategic partnership and co-operative agreements with important city and provincial tourism bureaus in China such as Beijing , Shanghai , Guangzhou , Shenzhen , Yunnan and Sichuan , in addition to Guangdong and Macau .

Professor Chan served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in 1995-1999, and was a member of the PATA Executive Committee and Board from 1995 until 2000. In her long association with the tourism industry, specifically the convention and exhibition industry, she has served on various committees of important MICE industry organizations such as the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE), the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus ( I ACVB) , and the Asian Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB). Professor Chan was Treasurer of AACVB (1984-1985), Deputy Secretary General (1985-1988) and Secretary General (1988-1993).

Amongst the numerous travel industry awards that Professor Chan has won over her long career in tourism, she has also been named every year since 1996 by the Travel Agent Magazine as one of the World’s 200 Most Powerful Women in the Travel Industry.

In February 2001, Professor Chan was appointed Honorary Professor of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University ’s Department of Hotel and Tourism Management (now known as the School of Hotel and Tourism Management). More recently, Professor Chan was Consultant to the Shanghai Xintiandi, and also, since February 2002, Senior Consultant of the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission.

Since January 2002, Professor Chan has conducted Executive Development Programmes for tourism boards, hotel chains and meeting industry personnel in China , Taiwan , Thailand , Korea and Hong Kong . She has also spoken at ICCA Congresses and various international conferences in Asia and Africa . Professor Chan teaches “Destination Marketing” and “MICE Management” regularly at the Part Time MSc Programme run by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University ’s School of Hotel & Tourism Management in Hangzhou and Beijing .

Professor Chan was appointed by the Korea Tourism Organization Hong Kong Office in September 2005 as Honorary Advisor for the Advisory Committee of Promoting Korea Tourism.

Professor Chan is a member of ConventionWorks global consultants group since 2004.

Contact

Professor Amy Chan
Room HJ 832, School of Hotel & Tourism Management
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hung Hom, Hong Kong
Email: hmamyc@polyu.edu.hk
Tel : (852) 2766-4036
Fax : (852) 2362-9362

December 2005