May 2026

Volume 27, Issue 2

Newsletter of School of Hotel & Tourism Management
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITION

Prof. Haiyan Song has been recognised as a global leader in the 2026 Edition of Research.com's Ranking of Best Scientists in Economics and Finance, ranking #303 globally and #8 in China. Prof. Song also has been honoured with the prestigious 2026 Economics and Finance in China Leader Award, which emphasises his significant academic influence and dedication to excellence in research.

Angie Ku and Hilary Fong, Year 2 students in the BSc (Hons) in Hotel Management programme, recently joined Hotel ICON as the latest batch of Elite Management Trainees. As the brightest and most promising SHTM students, they will undergo a vigorous 11-month training period to gain the experience needed to work as supervisors or managers upon graduation.

Prof. Richard Qiu received the Best Paper Award Runner-Up for his paper, entitled "Restaurant Revenue Forecasting: A Dual-Component Framework for Existing and Upcoming Reservations", at the 2nd Workshop on Informatics, Data Science, and Economics in Hospitality and Tourism Research (WIDE-HTR) in Philadelphia, USA on 2–4 April 2026.

On 27 March 2026, Prof. Haiyan Song, Mr Yunpeng Xie, Vice President of Yunji Technology Co., Ltd., and Dr Gary Leung, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Pin (HK) Limited, signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding. Through this strategic partnership, they aim to bridge the gap between academic research and industry practice and promote a more inclusive and intelligent global hospitality and tourism sector.