APTA 2017
Conference Report
The 23rd Asia Pacific Tourism Association Annual Conference took place in Busan, Korea, from the 18th to the 21st of June, 2017. Under the chairmanship of Dr. Yeong-Hyeon Hwang (Dong-A University, Korea), the APTA 2017 annual conference was very successful. More than 250 valuable delegates attended, from 25 different countries or regions (Korea, Australia, Azerbaijian, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UK, USA and Zimbabwe). There were academics, researchers, industry practitioners, and city/government officials, and making the conference such a huge success by sharing their valuable ideas for sustaining the hospitality, leisure, and tourism industries.
After double-blind reviewing processes, a total of 156 research papers (about 20% of 196 submitted papers were rejected) were presented in poster/concurrent sessions during the three days of the conference. The issues of this year’s research presentations were categorized into eight domains: Tourism Marketing, Ecotourism, Special Interests Tourism, Mental Health, Education, Information & Technology, Human Resource Management, and Corporate Social Responsibility. During the conference, Mr. Bob Harayda was invited to give speeches about tourism issues in Composite Resorts – “Prospect and Issue of Integrated Resort Development: Experience of the Sands Group”. For the graduate panel session, Dr. Carol W. Shanklin, Dr. Jafar Jafari, Dr. David Weaver and Dr. SooCheong (Shawn) Jang served to lead the great panel discussion about “21st Century Knowledge Skills for Hospitality and Tourism: Preparing Graduate Students for Diverse Careers”.
The APTA 2017 conference awards ceremony was held to celebrate those candidates who achieved outstanding results in their academic contributions. First, the Founder’s (Dr. Hai-Sik Sohn) Award was given to Prof. Emeritus. Manat Chaiswat at the Prince of Songkla University to recognize his dedication to developing and sustaining the hospitality, leisure, and tourism industries in Asia Pacific region.
Second, the Best Paper Award was presented to Jinwon Kim and Sarah Nicholls for their paper – “Access for All? Beach Access and Equity in the Detroit Metropolitan Area”. Third, the Thesis-in-Progress Session Best Paper Award was presented to Youngseok Sim and Seulki Lee who drew up paper- “Interaction between Spatial Price Strategies on Conditional Proximity in Lodging Market”. Lastly, the APJTR Article of the year 2016 was given to Markus Schuckert, Xianwei Liu and Rob Law for their paper – “Insights into Suspicious Online Rating: Direct Evidence from Trip Advisor”.
Sponsorships were very important to the APTA2017 Busan conference. The assistance of our sponsors (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Houston, Institute for Tourism Studies, Busan Tourism Organization, Dong-A University, Korea Tourism Organization, Wakayama University, Xiamen University, University of Florida, Catcha Coens, and Busan Culture & Tourism Festival Organizing Committee) made this conference more ample and successful.
Overall, the APTA 2017 Busan Conference was evaluated to offer a significant academic platform for scholars and industry professionals to exchange their research outcomes and industry trends. Next year, the APTA 2018 Conference will take place in Boracay, Philippines.
Awards
APTA Founder’s (Dr. Hai-Sik Sohn) Award
Prof. Emeritus. Manat Chaiswat, Prince of Songkla University
APTA 2017 Best Papers
Jinwon Kim and Sarah Nicholls
“Access for All? Beach Access and Equity in the Detroit Metropolitan Area”
APTA 2017 Thesis-in-Progress Session Paper Award
Youngseok Sim and Seulki Lee
“Interaction between Spatial Price Strategies on Conditional Proximity in Lodging Market”
APJTR Article of the year 2016
Markus Schuckert, Xianwei Liu and Rob Law
“Insights into Suspicious Online Rating: Direct Evidence from Trip Advisor”
