APTA 2012
Conference Report
The 18th Asia Pacific Tourism Association Annual Conference at The Grand Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan was held from June 26 to 29, 2012. The conference was a great success, helping participants realize its topic, “New Tourism New Waves: Forging the future of Asia Pacific Hospitality”.
A total of 220 valuable delegates and board members came from 16different countries or regions (Korea, USA, Australia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, Macao, UK, Vietnam, and France). The participants were from various fields. They were academics, researchers, industry professionals, and city/government officials.
Many interesting papers (171 papers) in various fields (e.g., Tourism development, hospitality and tourism marketing, information technology, sustainable tourism, hospitality and tourism education, human resource management) were presented at the conference.
In addition, there were 4keynote speeches. Dr. Nigel Hemmington, who is the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Culture and Society at Auckland University of Technology. Dr. Alister Mathieson, who is the Dean of the School of Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism in Humber College, Toronto. Dr. Kaye Chon, who is the Chair Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. And Dr. CihanCobanoglu, who is the Professor of Hospitality Technology and Dean of the College of Hospitality and Technology Leadership at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM).
Among 171 papers presented, The Best Paper Awards were given toShirley Guevarra and Girlie Encallado Lee, for their paper “Assessment of Eco-Friendly Practices of Food Carts/Kiosks Employees in a Metro Manila MRT Station”, and toHenry Tsai, Jinsoo Lee, Steve Pan, and Nelson K.F. Tsang,for their paper “Examining Structural Relationships Between Casino Quality, Image, Value, and Loyalty: The Case of Macau”. The Dr. HaiSikSohn (Conference founder) Award was given to IlianAssenov andChadapornKleangtapong,for their paper “Environmental Awareness and Management Practices in the Hotel Industry of Samui Island, Thailand”.
Overall, the APTA 2013Taipei Conference undoubtedly promoted more exchanges between tourism industries in Asia-Pacific. In addition, this conference provided ample academic spaces and opportunities for the tourism/hospitality scholars and industry professionals to share and exchange their research outcomes and ideas. The venue for the APTA 2013 Conference will be Bangkok, Thailand.
Awards
Dr. HaiSikSohn Award
Assenov, I. &Kleangtapong, C. “Environmental Awareness and Management Practices in the Hotel Industry of Samui Island, Thailand”
Best Papers
Guevarra, S. &Lee, G. “Assessment of Eco-Friendly Practices of Food Carts/Kiosks Employees in a Metro Manila MRT Station”
Tsai, H., Lee, J., Pan, S. &Tsang,N. “Examining Structural Relationships Between Casino Quality, Image, Value, and Loyalty: The Case of Macau”
