Source: Business School
Written by: Business School
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

From May 31st to June 2nd, 2018, the 16th Asia Pacific Council on Hotel Restaurant Institutional Education (APacCHRIE) Conference, sponsored by Asia Pacific Association on Hotel Restaurant Tourism Education and undertaken by Business School of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSBS), was successfully held. The theme of this annual meeting was Innovation and Sustainability. APacCHRIE council meetings, keynote reports, theme forums, youth conferences and other activities were held, attracting nearly 300 representatives from more than 20 countries and regions in the world, including more than 30 APacCHRIE and EuroCHRIE council members from the Asia Pacific region.


On the 1st of June, the opening ceremony of the APacCHRIE annual meeting was held at SYSBS. Professor Xiao Haipeng, Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU); Mr. Zeng Xiaofeng, Deputy Director of the Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province; Professor Kaye Chon, Founder of APacCHRIE; Mr. Samir Thapa, Chairman of APacCHRIE; and Profesor Wang Fan, Dean of SYSBS, made speeches. The opening ceremony was chaired by Professor Liu Jingyan, the chairman of the annual meeting & deputy dean of SYSBS.

Vice President Xiao Haipeng noted that SYSU was founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Over 94 years since the establishment of SYSU, the Whampoa Spirit “Dare to be the world's first” had inspired many outstanding scholars. It was the source for SYSU to make positive contributions to the society in all aspects. The Department of Hospitality and Service Management of SYSBS took the lead in targeting world-class standards. It had ranked the first for many years in discipline construction, personnel training and scientific research. He hoped that this meeting would enable good dialogues among business schools around the world, and further enhance the academic influence of the Department of Hospitality and Service Management of SYSBS in the world.

Deputy Director Zeng Xiaofeng pointed out that tourism management schools and colleges in Guangdong represented by SYSBS continually train and provide professionals for the Guangdong tourism industry. He hoped that this meeting would promote the academic research of Guangdong tourism management disciplines and promote the development of Guangdong tourism industry.

Prof. Kaye Chon remarked that APacCHRIE built a communication platform for professional scholars in the tourism and food service industry in the Asia Pacific region and even around the world.

Mr. Samir Thapa noted that there were numerous development opportunities for China's tourism market. Both academic research and industry practice would bring precious experience to the experts and scholars who attended this meeting.

Dean Wang Fan introduced the school history and discipline construction of SYSBS, hoping to conduct multicultural exchanges and cooperation with different countries and schools in a wider range.

Prof. Kaye Chon; Prof. Chris Ryan, Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Management; Prof. Sara Dolnicar from the University of Queensland, Australia; Mr. Feng Jin, Secretary of the Party Committee of Lingnan International Enterprise Group, Guangzhou; and Prof. Dai Bin, Dean of the China Tourism Academy, made wonderful keynote reports, providing theoretical and practical guidance for the development of Chinese tourism industry and hotel industry.

271 papers were submitted for the conference. After fierce competition and rigorous review, 3 outstanding papers were finally selected, and 2 outstanding papers were selected by the youth meeting, and an award ceremony was held.

The three-day meeting provided a communication and sharing platform for scholars and industry experts from all over the world. The concept of “integrating Chinese and Western management wisdom and cultivating entrepreneurial and innovative spirit” was implemented, further consolidating and promoting the international academic influence of the tourism and service management discipline of SYSBS.