July 2026

Volume 27, Issue 3

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

CONFERENCES/SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS

Mr Horst Schulze, founding member of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and founder of the Capella Hotel Group, delivered a Dean's Distinguished Lecture entitled "Excellence Wins" on 5 June 2026. The inspirational event culminated in an exclusive book-signing session with Mr Schulze on SHTM premises.

Prof Simone Bianco presented a co-authored paper entitled "Which Stories Get Funded? Narrative Framing and Restaurant Crowdfunding" at the 2026 ICHRIE Global Conference in Las Vegas, US, from 15 to 17 July.

Dr Chris Chan, Dr Ada Fong and Dr Clare Fung presented a co-authored paper entitled "Cultural Distance and the Evolution of Muslim Travel in Hong Kong" at the 2nd International Conference on Marketing and Behavioural Science in Fukuoka, Japan, from 14 to 17 July 2026.

Prof Ada Lo delivered a keynote speech on the topic "Next-Generation Customer Service and Customer Experience" at the 6th MTR Global Operational Standard Institute (GOSI) Technical Seminar in Hong Kong from 9 to 11 July 2026.

Dean Kaye Chon, Prof Dan Wang, Prof Sabrina Huang, Prof Dori Davari and Dr Mehrnaz Alizadeh attended the 31st Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) Annual Conference in Fukuoka, Japan, from 6 to 8 July 2026. Prof Huang presented a paper entitled "Hotel Employees' Perceptions of Fairness and Support for Flexible Work Policies". Prof Davari presented a co-authored paper entitled "Designing Hong Kong as Education Destination: Stakeholder Perspective". Prof Davari and Dr Alizadeh presented a co-authored paper entitled "Tourists' Sense of Place in Japan: Phenomenological Insights into Depth, Immersion, and Connection".

Prof Mimi Li and Prof Janelle Chan attended the 100th TOSOK Seoul International Tourism Conference & Seoul International Tourism Forum 2026 in Seoul, South Korea, from 1 to 3 July. Prof Li gave a keynote entitled "Smart Tourism". Prof Chan presented a paper entitled "AI-Generated Food Imagery and Sustainable Gastronomy Tourism".

Prof Haiyan Song delivered an invited speech on "Asia Pacific Tourism Demand Forecasting" at the 46th International Symposium on Forecasting in Montreal, Canada, from 28 June to 1 July 2026.

Prof Haiyan Song and Prof Crystal Shi attended the 56th Annual TTRA International Conference in Greenville, US, from 24 to 26 June 2026. Prof Song participated in the academic debate on the topic "Tourism Research Crisis or Evolution?" and in the Editors Panel on "Charting the Future of Tourism Scholarship". Prof Shi presented two papers entitled "Fit Matters in Human–AI Collaboration: Employee–AI and Organisation–AI Fit in the Hospitality Industry" and "Empowering Chinese Female Leaders in the Hong Kong Hotel Industry: Unveiling Mentor–Protégé Matching Dynamics and Fostering Inclusive Mentorship".

Prof Catherine Cheung, Prof Neil Li, Prof Richard Qiu and Dr Curley Liu attended the 10th Conference of the International Association for Tourism Economics in Palermo, Italy, from 23 to 26 June 2026. Prof Li presented a co-authored paper entitled "Generating Complementary Market Signals: Role-Playing AI Agents for Hotel Revenue Prediction". Dr Liu presented a paper entitled "Rewiring Skills for Service: Artificial Intelligence-Induced Job–Skill Mismatch in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry".

Prof Antony Wong presented a co-authored paper entitled "Reframing Destination Image Through SOGIE: Measuring LGBTQ+ Friendly in Tourism Destinations" at the ATLAS Annual Conference 2026 in Leeds, UK, from 23 to 26 June.

Prof Jinsoo Lee, Prof Sung Gyun Mun, Prof Nelson Tsang and Prof Dori Davari attended the 13th Advances in Hospitality & Tourism Marketing and Management (AHTMM) Conference in Macau, China, from 22 to 26 June 2026. Prof Mun and Prof Lee presented a co-authored paper entitled "Impact of Dynamic Pricing on Hotel Performance". Prof Davari presented two papers entitled "Too Iconic to Trigger Destination Curiosity? Destination Brand and Non-Visitors' Intentions" and "Hong Kong as Education Destination: International Students as Hong Kong Ambassadors".

Prof Cathy Hsu, Prof Neil Li and Prof Wangoo Lee attended the Tourism, Hospitality & Events International Conference 2026 in Faro, Portugal, from 17 to 19 June. Prof Hsu delivered a keynote entitled "From Collective Inquiry to Future Discovery: Three Decades of Tourism Management and the Quest to Stay Relevant". Prof Li presented a co-authored paper entitled "Optimal Inconsistency: The Nonlinear Influence of Audio-Visual Emotional Mismatch on Viewer Engagement with Luxury Hotel Short-Form Videos". Prof Lee presented a co-authored paper entitled "Reclaiming the Reclaim Experience: Passenger Cognitive Offloading via AI Luggage Identification System".

Prof Haiyan Song discussed how inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, regional tensions, visa policies and changing outbound travel patterns are reshaping tourism demand across the Asia-Pacific region at the PATA webinar, "Asia Pacific Travel in Transition: Growth, Volatility, and Strategic Realignment" on 17 June 2026.

Dr Tiffany Cheng presented a paper entitled "Am I an Equal Partner? Community Organisations' Perceptions of Reciprocity in Service-Learning Partnerships with Hong Kong Universities" at the 10th World Conference on Research in Teaching and Education in Tokyo, Japan, from 12 to 14 June 2026.

Prof Cathy Hsu, Prof Henry Tsai, Prof Daisy Fan, Prof Faye Hao, Prof Yitong Yu and Ph.D. student Mr Jiaqi Yang attended the 34th Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) Conference in Guildford, UK, from 9 to 12 June 2026. Prof Fan presented a co-authored paper entitled "Travel Constraint Negotiation Among Chinese Women of the One-Child Generation". Mr Yang and Prof Hao presented a co-authored paper entitled "Talking Digitalisation: The Automation–Augmentation Paradox in the Tourism Industry".

Prof Haiyan Song presented the "Hong Kong Inbound Tourist Satisfaction Index Report" at the 2026 Hong Kong Tourism Development Forum in Hong Kong from 9 to 11 June.

Prof Catherine Cheung, Prof Sam Kim, Dr Yuchen Xu and Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Farisha Nisha were invited to present their PPRFS-funded project "Enhancing Hong Kong's Appeal as a Halal Tourism Hub: Strategic Insights and Policy Recommendations for Sustainable Growth" at the Internal Research Workshop of Chief Executive's Policy Unit on 9 June 2026.

Prof Honggen Xiao presented a co-authored paper entitled "Regenerative Growth Beyond Degrowth: A Sheng-Sheng-Informed Framework" at the Indigenous Tourism Futures: Co-Creating Decolonial Pathways Conference in Ontario, Canada, from 7 to 10 June 2026.

Dr Ivanka Huang attended the QS EduData Summit 2026 in Singapore from 3 to 4 June.

Prof Richard Qiu delivered a keynote on the topic "Measuring Tourist Satisfaction in Hubei with Online Review Data" at the 2026 Central China Hospitality Industry Development Cooperation Conference on 29 May in Wuhan, China.