Two forums on sustainable tourism and hospitality practices in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area opened today (21 November) at the University of Macau (UM). The forums aimed to provide a platform for industry practitioners and academics to share their knowledge and experience in sustainable tourism and hospitality practices in the Greater Bay Area in order to promote education and employment in related fields in the area.
Officiating guests at the opening ceremony were Rui Martins, acting rector of UM; Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office; Sou Chio Fai, director of the Higher Education Bureau; Wong Chi Iong, chief executive of the Division of Continuing Education under the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau; and Jean Chen, dean of FBA.
Dean Chen said in her speech that the fast development of the Greater Bay Area brings new opportunities for individuals and organisations in the area, and the two forums aim to bring together leading tourism and hospitality educators, scholars, industry practitioners, and students to share their knowledge and experience in developing sustainable practices in mainland China and the Greater Bay Area.
The first forum is titled ‘Forum on Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Practice in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’. It drew many leading educators, scholars, and industry practitioners in the related fields from the Greater Bay Area and overseas. Participants shared their knowledge and experience in developing sustainable practices in mainland China and the Greater Bay Area, in the hope of deepening their understanding through different perspectives and promoting a consensus in the industry. They also had in-depth discussions on the major challenges facing the tourism and hospitality industry, including limited resources and intensifying competition, as well as the ever-increasing need for developing sustainable practices to thrive amid the challenges.
The other forum is titled ‘Forum for Tourism and Hospitality Graduate Students in the Greater Bay Area’. Many outstanding master’s and PhD students from the Greater Bay Area participated in the forum. Through exchanging ideas with well-known industry experts, the students learned more about the latest developments of the industry.
The forums invited 16 distinguished scholars from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macao, and mainland China to be the keynote speakers. They are William Tang, national hotel star rating inspector and deputy secretary-general of Les Clefs d’Or China; Justin Ng, assistant vice president of Sustainability Life Cycle Management at Galaxy Macau; Sebastian Chung, director of Safety, Health, Hygiene and Environment at Mandarin Oriental Singapore; Rob Law, professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Liu Jingyan, professor and associate dean of the Business School at Sun Yat-Sen University; Hannah Shen Han, professor of the Department of Tourism at Fudan University; Don Dioko, professor and director of the International Tourism Research Centre of Macau at the Institute for Tourism Studies; Cevat Tosun, professor of the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Macau University of Science and Technology; Justin Li Jun, professor and head of the Department of Exhibition Economy and Management, School of Tourism Management, South China Normal University; David Fu Yi, assistant professor at Guangdong University of Finance and Economics; Joanna Li Zhou, professor and head of the Hotel Management Programme at Jinan University’s Shenzhen Tourism College; Eric Chan, associate professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Amy So, associate professor and interim director of the Centre for Career and Research Advancement in Integrated Resorts at UM; Lawrence Fong Hoc Nang, assistant dean (international and external relations) of FBA and assistant professor of the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management at UM; Yeongbae Choe, assistant professor and associate head of the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management at UM; and Jacey Choe, assistant professor of the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management at UM.
The forums were organised by the Centre for Career and Research Advancement in Integrated Resorts under the FBA, with support from Asia-Pacific CHRIE (a leading hospitality and tourism education association in the Asia–Pacific region), Sun Yat-Sen University’s Business School, Fudan University, Xiamen University’s School of Management, South China Normal University, Jinan University’s Shenzhen Tourism College, and Macau University of Science and Technology. The two events drew more than 450 leading educators, scholars, industry practitioners, and students in the related fields from Portugal, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macao, highlighting Macao’s role as a ‘bridge’ that facilitates communication between Greater Bay Area cities and the outside world.
