Note to applicants

The School will give priority to proposed research proposals related to the following themes:

• Smart tourism (including artificial intelligence, robotics, technology innovation, branding, marketing, experience management, and customer engagement)

• Performance measurement and management (including financial and revenue management and measurement, operational management, service management, and event management)

• Tourism futures and forecasting (including demand forecasting and emerging products and markets)

• Policy and planning (including public policy, tourism planning and development)

Programme-specific requirements

1. To be considered for the PhD programme, applicants must meet the following entrance requirements:

• An MPhil or equivalent (a research postgraduate degree with a dissertation as an award requirement) and a Bachelor’s degree (at least one degree in hospitality and tourism management or a closely related field), and at least two years of work experience including a minimum of one year industry/relevant experience.

• Candidates without the prescribed educational and industry backgrounds may be admitted on an exceptional basis. Such students will have to obtain relevant industry experience prior to enrolment or during the first year of enrolment, and undertake extra coursework as determined by the supervisor and/or School Research Committee.

• Candidates whose Master's degrees did not include thesis/dissertation research components must provide other documented evidence of previous scholarly research experience.

2. Applicants who do not have a degree for which English was the language of instruction at a recognised university must provide one of the following as proof of language proficiency:

• A minimum score of 92 in internet-based test (with a writing score of 23 or above) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL); or

• A Band Score of at least 6.5 overall (with a score for the writing component at 6.0 or above) in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic Module.

All English language test scores are considered valid for two years after the date of the test. Applicants may be required to attend interviews or take tests to further demonstrate their language proficiency.

Application documents

To prepare an application, applicants should read the information on the programme webpage.

Applicants must submit the required application documents as detailed in "Supporting Documents" below and on SHTM's website. In particular, admission to the PhD programme is highly competitive and depends largely on the quality and relevance of the thesis/dissertation research proposal, which highlights the intended research direction. This proposal should be between 1,200 and 1,800 words in length (excluding references), and should use the standard form (download here) with the structure: Project Title, Project Objectives (Purpose of the proposed investigation), Scope and Background of Research (Identify key issues/problems to be addressed), Conceptual Framework, Research Methodology, and Project Significance and Value.

Programme Structure

All 3-year PhD students must earn a minimum of 18 credits before submitting their theses for examination. For more details, please visit SHTM's website.