polyu school of hotel and tourism management
Holidaying in the Metaverse
PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management | September 19, 2023
In the future, it may be more expensive, time-consuming, and risky to travel halfway around the world for a holiday getaway. What if we could experience a convincing virtual version of the real thing? The Metaverse – a parallel digital realm blending real and fantasy worlds – has been tipped as the next disruptive technology, on track to completely alter reality as we know it, and tourism and hospitality businesses should be preparing for the switch. Dr Michael Lin and Dr Daniel Leung of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and their co-author’s new paper describe the Metaverse’s po...
Visiting Loved Ones May Drive Tourism Recovery
PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management | August 29, 2023
Whilst many tourists travel to experience new places, cultures and activities, others are visiting friends and relatives (VFR). VFR travel showed remarkable resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many expats and immigrants returning to their countries of origin to weather the storm with loved ones. However, little is known about how pandemic-associated travel constraints were experienced by VFR tourists. Dr Pearl Lin of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, working with co-researchers from Macao, have constructed an impressive new framework to pinpoint the travel constraints experien...
Could Robots Breathe New “Life” Into the Tourism Industry?
PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management | January 26, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the tourism and hospitality industry hard, making employees and travellers alike more wary of close human interaction. Could robots and other artificial intelligence (AI) technologies be the answer? To tackle this controversial question, Professor Seongseop Kim, Dr Youngjoon Choi, and Ph.D. student Mr Frank Badu-Baiden of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and their co-researchers conducted a timely online study comparing human- and robot-staffed hotels. The study provides fascinating insights into how the pandemic has changed tourists’ preferences and offe...
Hong Kong Poly Conducts Empirical Study on Adoption of Ecotechnology in Hotels
PolyU's School of Hotel and Tourism Management | October 22, 2021
From smart room key systems to robot concierges, advanced technologies are now the norm in many hotels. In a world on the brink of climate crisis, environmental technologies should be no exception. Curiously, however, the hospitality industry is lagging behind in its adoption of eco-friendly technologies. In the first empirical study of its kind, Dr Eric Chan of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and two co-researchers asked what exactly is holding hoteliers back in their quest to “go green”. Their findings will prove invaluable as the industry takes its next steps towards a smarter a...
PolyU’s SHTM Partners With World Travel and Tourism Council to Facilitate Sustainable Growth of Travel and Tourism
PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management | August 27, 2021
The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate and work together for the sustainable growth of global travel and tourism. The World Travel and Tourism Council is a body representing the travel and tourism private sector globally. Its members consist of Chairs, Presidents and Chief Executives of the world’s leading, private sector travel and tourism businesses, who bring specialist knowledge to guide government policy and decision-making. The WTTC has been the voice of the industr...
How to Cope in a Crisis
PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management | July 28, 2021
Health crises are every hotel manager’s worst nightmare, but they are becoming increasingly common. In a fascinating and prescient case study that bridges the gap between theory and practice, Dr Clare Fung and Dr Alice H. Y. Hon of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a co-author show that embracing a four-stage crisis management model can help hotels to protect their residents, reputations, and revenue. Written before the COVID-19 pandemic, their study documents the responses of Hong Kong China Travel Service Hotels Limited to the outbreaks of SARS and swine flu, showing just how c...
Tourism in Technicolour
PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management | April 30, 2021
Cartoons might just hold the key to attracting an important new niche in the tourism market, according to a pioneering recent study by Dr Mimi Li and Mr Yuhao Chen of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and their co-authors. With society’s increasing emphasis on family togetherness and bonding, especially through leisure activities, more families are travelling together than ever before. How can destination marketing be targeted to meet the needs of different generations? Focusing on child tourists, a growing yet remarkably understudied market, the researchers provide novel empirical e...
PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management to Host Smart Tourism in the Greater Bay Area Forum
PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management | April 29, 2021
Organized by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in collaboration with its Hospitality and Tourism Research Centre, School of Tourism Management (STM) of Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU) and Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM), the Smart Tourism in the Greater Bay Area Forum will take place in Hong Kong on 21 May 2021. Held in both virtual and in-person format at the SHTM, the forum takes the theme “Big Data, AI and Ecosystem”. New technologies have been evolving very fast in the hospitality and tourism industry, which drive product innovations and connect various touris...
