May 2026

Volume 27, Issue 2

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

CONFERENCES/SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS

SHTM staff members, including Dean Kaye Chon, Prof. Mimi Li, Prof. Catherine Cheung, Prof. Sabrina Huang, Prof. Deniz Kucukusta, Prof. Maxime Wang, Prof. Simone Bianco, Prof. Jaehee Gim, Prof. Wangoo Lee, Prof. Hailey Shin, Prof. Antony Wong, Prof. Yitong Yu, Prof. Huihui Zhang, Dr Meli Darvish and Dr Yvonne Yang, and Ph.D. students Ms Julia Jin, Ms Aurelia Li, Ms Sherry Mi and Mr Todd Seo attended the 24th APacCHRIE Conference and the 17th APacCHRIE Youth Conference in Osaka, Japan on 28–31 May 2026.

Dean Chon delivered the opening remarks.
Prof. Huang presented a paper entitled "Impact of Flexible Work on Hotel Employees' Job Satisfaction and Involvement".
Prof. Bianco presented a paper entitled "Navigating Uneven Terrain: How Tourism Startups Draw on Heterogeneous Resource Reservoirs in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems".
Prof. Lee presented two co-authored papers entitled "AI-Augmented Luggage Identification in Airport Baggage Reclaim: A Cognitive Load Perspective on Passenger Experience" and "Monetization Strategies for AI-Based Travel Recommendation Platform".
Prof. Shin presented two papers entitled "Analysing the Role of Colour in Enhancing Luxury Brand Perception" and "Career Mobility as Affective Events: Emotional Pathways to Employee Loyalty and Well-Being in Hospitality".
Prof Wong presented a paper entitled "Queer Subjective Norms and Transgender Medical Tourism: Evidence from Thailand and the Philippines".
Prof. Yu presented a paper entitled "Gig Workers' Wellbeing from the Organisational Socialisation Perspective".
Prof. Zhang presented a paper entitled "Jungle Survival Games: Innovation, Agglomeration, and Survival in Hospitality Technology Firms".
Dr Darvish presented a paper entitled "AI-Induced Job Insecurity in Hospitality: Impacts on Employees and Customer Experience".
Dr Yang presented a paper entitled "The Moderating Role of Endorser Identity in the Effect of Eye Gaze on Destination Attractiveness".
Ms Jin presented a paper entitled "Between Control and Exploration: External Resource Acquisition and Market Value in Established Tourism Firms".
Ms Li presented a paper entitled "An Attribution-Based Model of Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality and Employee Performance".
Ms Mi and Prof. Dan Wang presented a co-authored paper entitled "Beyond Linear Models: Configurational Pathways to Stronger Voluntary Carbon Offset Intentions".
Mr Seo and Prof. Neil Li presented a co-authored paper entitled "Generative AI in Hotel Marketing: Eroding or Enhancing the Content Characteristics?".

Prof. Faye Hao and Ph.D. students Ms Daffne Qiu and Ms Elsa Liu presented a co-authored paper entitled "GenAI Travel Selfies in Pre-Trip Decision-Making: The Role of Affordances and User Engagement" at the 28th Tourism and Hospitality Industry International Congress in Opatija, Croatia on 27–29 May 2026.

On 21 May 2026, Prof. Pearl Lin participated in a project meeting for "MetaChef: International Culinary Education Alliance via Metaverse Immersive Training" in Lyon, France. Co-funded by the European Union's ERASMUS+ grants, this ambitious three-year initiative (launched in August 2024) aims to revolutionise culinary education. By integrating advanced metaverse technology, the project creates highly realistic virtual classrooms where students can immerse themselves in global cuisines and practice diverse cultural culinary skills remotely.

Dean Kaye Chon conducted a lecture to undergraduate and master's students in Tourism at Jeju National University in Korea on 19 May 2026.

Prof. Pearl Lin and Ph.D. student Ms Vicky Chen presented co-authored paper entitled "Embodied Practices in the Kitchen: A Contingency Study of Chef Precision Matching Training Methods" at the À Table! Hospitality, Food & Wine Conference in Lyon, France on 18–19 May 2026.

Dean Kaye Chon delivered a keynote entitled "Embracing Innovation, Sustainability, and Human Centric Experiences" at 2026 China Hotel and Cultural Tourism Operation and Development Conference in Shanghai, China on 15 May.

Prof. Haiyan Song, Prof. Bela Stantic, Prof. Dan Wang, Prof. Catherine Cheung and Prof. Ada Lo attended the PATA Annual Summit 2026 in Gyeongju and Pohang, Korea on 11–13 May. Prof. Song, Prof. Stantic and Prof. Wang participated in the Salon Session on AI and the Future of Tourism: From Insight to Impact. Prof. Lo served as a discussion lead at the Education Roundtable.

Prof. Ying Wang, Prof. Michael Lin, Prof. Yitong Yu and Dr Yvonne Yang attended the 3rd International Early-Career Researcher Conference in Hospitality and Tourism in Macao, China on 8–10 May 2026. Prof. Wang delivered a keynote speech entitled "Getting Published Without Losing Heart". Prof. Yu and Dr Yang presented a co-authored paper entitled "The Recipe for Influence: The Role of Warmth and Competence Impressions in Shaping Engagement".

Dr Ivanka Huang presented a paper entitled "Responsible AI and Human Collaboration in Tourism Management: Ethical Considerations and Identity Disclosure" at the 14th International Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Hong Kong on 7–9 May 2026.

Prof. Mimi Li delivered a keynote presentation titled "New Frontiers in Neuro-Management: From Organisational Decision-Making to Experience Management" at the Neuro-Management 20th Anniversary High-End Forum 2026 in Xian, China on 24–26 April.

Prof. Antony Wong served as co-chair and panel judge for the "Sustainable Tourism Development" concurrent session at the Tourism Science 2026 Annual Conference in Haikou, China on 23–26 April 2026.

Prof. Haiyan Song and Prof. Maxime Wang attended the 15th China Hospitality Culture Festival cum 2026 Guangdong–Macao Hospitality Industry Cooperation and Development Conference in Hengqin, China on 21–25 April 2026. Prof. Song delivered opening remarks.

Prof. Richard Qiu delivered an invited speech on "An Integrated System for Fostering Sustainable Tourism Development" and presented a 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.

Prof. Cathy Hsu delivered a talk titled "GenAI and LLMs: The Need for Tourism-Specific Models" at the Faculty of Business Administration Seminar Series on 30 March 2026, as part of the University of Macau's 45th‑anniversary celebrations.