July 2026

Volume 27, Issue 3

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

ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITION

Prof Simone Bianco received the JHTR 2025 Best Paper Award from the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research for his paper entitled "The Effect of Short-Term Leases on Hotel's Agglomeration and Market-Entry Strategies: A Game Theory Approach" at the 2026 ICHRIE Global Conference in Las Vegas, US, from 15 to 17 July.

Prof Catherine Cheung was recognised as one of the recipients of the Outstanding Literary Awards for Social Scientists for her contributions to hospitality and tourism literature at the 12th International Conference on Hospitality and Tourism Management in Bangkok, Thailand, from 13 to 14 July 2026. At the same conference, she was recognised for Overall Best Presentation for her paper entitled "Benchmarking Muslim Friendly Tourism Destinations Among OIC and Non-OIC Destinations: A Comparative Analysis".

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Hong Kong SHTM Student Chapter received the Student Club of the Year Award 2025/26. The SHTM awards this prize annually to the student club that has demonstrated exceptional commitment to the student body and outstanding achievements. The PATA Hong Kong SHTM Student Chapter is committed to providing its student members with diverse experiences to increase their interest in the travel and tourism industry, deepen their knowledge of the industry and prepare them for successful careers.

Ph.D. student Jiaqi Yang, Prof Faye Hao and Prof Haiyan Song were awarded the Best Paper Award for their paper "Policy-Induced Tourism Shocks and Local Real Estate: Causal Evidence from Visa Liberalisation Policy" at the 10th Conference of the International Association for Tourism Economics in Palermo, Italy, from 23 to 26 June 2026.

SHTM Ph.D. students shone during the SHTM Three Minute Thesis® (3MT) Competition held on 18 June 2026, during which they were tasked with presenting their research in just three minutes. Sherry Mi was crowned Champion, while Elsa Liu and Anita Liu were awarded First Runner-Up and Second Runner-Up, respectively. Sherry and Elsa also received the People's Choice Award at the Faculty/School level competition.

Amanda Chen, Year 3 student in the BSc in Hotel & Tourism Management programme with a Secondary Major in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics, represented the School at the 2026 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC) in San Antonio, Texas, US, from 15 to 18 June.

Ph.D. student Jiaqi Yang and Prof Faye Hao received the Hospitality Management Best Paper Award as well as the Overall Best Paper Award for their paper entitled "Talking Digitalisation: The Automation–Augmentation Paradox in the Tourism Industry" at the 34th Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) Conference in Guildford, UK, from 9 to 12 June 2026.

Prof Crystal Shi has been awarded research funding under the RGC Overseas Research Fellowship Scheme for her project entitled "Cross-Cultural Insights on Human–AI Collaboration in Hospitality: Supporting Digital Transformation and Service Innovation in Multicultural Workforces".