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May 2014 - Volume 15, Issue 2
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SHTM 35th Anniversary - A History of Achievement
A great deal has changed since the SHTM was established as the Department of Institutional Management and Catering Studies in 1979 at then Hong Kong Polytechnic - renamed The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in 1994.
Originally with only five academic staff and 64 full-time and 50 part-time students, the School now boasts 65 academics from 20 countries and regions, and well over 2,000 students. In just 35 years we have grown from a small diploma-granting programme into
one of the largest and most prestigious schools of hospitality and tourism management in the world. This impressive development would not have been possible without the steadfast support from PolyU, our dedicated staff, students and alumni, as well as our advisors, friends and partners.
In celebration of the 35th anniversary, a gala dinner was held on 20 May, with the dual aim of closing the Global 2014 & 11th ATF conference. Officiating on the occasion were Professor Timothy W. Tong,
President of PolyU; Mr K. P. Ho, Chairman of the SHTM Advisory Committee and Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd; and Professor Kaye Chon, Dean of the SHTM.
Industry leaders, SHTM faculty, alumni and friends attending the dinner were amazed by the sand painting performance that represented the development of hospitality and tourism from the educational perspective. The musical performance by President Tong and SHTM students and the special performance "Professors and Students
Unlike Any Other" by SHTM faculty, alumni and students were fascinating and memorable.
To mark the occasion, a book entitled "Leading the Way - The Story of SHTM and Hotel ICON" was launched on the same day. The book documents the exciting journey that all of us at the SHTM and PolyU embarked on to build not just a purpose-built and purpose driven hotel, Hotel ICON, but also to create a new paradigm of a full-service commercial hotel fully integrated with a tertiary level institution
that provides hospitality education.
The SHTM is driven by the need "to serve our industry and academic communities through the advancement of education and dissemination of knowledge". This latest milestone in our history goes some way towards fulfilling our mission of "Leading Hospitality and Tourism".
In the past 35 years the School has led the way in the development of hospitality and tourism education, and it will continue to do so well into the future. Here's to the next
35 years!
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This e-newsletter is issued by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
© All rights reserved.
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