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16 December
WELCOME TO IMPACT2021

Mr Steve Hood
Senior Vice President of Research, STR

Professor Kaye Chon
Dean and Chair Professor
Walter & Wendy Kwok Family Foundation Professor in
International Hospitality Management
School of Hotel and Tourism Management
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to participate in the inaugural IMPACT2020 Conference, which will take place in Hong Kong on 30 October 2020 at Hotel ICON. The conference this year will be held both offline and online.
The global hospitality and tourism industry has been facing considerable challenges due to geopolitical and socio-economic uncertainties as well as global health crises, which includes the US-China trade war, Brexit, social unrests around the world and outbreak of pandemic disease such as Coronavirus. These challenges have affected the confidence of international tourists to and from the crisis affected regions and countries. The impacts of the on-going crises across the world on hospitality and tourism businesses have thus attracted considerable attentions from practitioners, policy-makers and academics.
Taking the theme of “Crisis Management and Recovery Strategies”, IMPACT2020 is organised in a timely manner to bring industry executives, government officials and academics together to discuss the crisis management and recovery strategies with a view to countering the negative impacts of the geopolitical and socio-economic uncertainties, global health emergency and crises on world tourism.
Jointly organised by the Hospitality and Tourism Research Centre (HTRC) of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and STR, the conference aims to bridge the gap between hospitality and tourism academic research and industry practice, thereby creating an “impact” in the hospitality and tourism community.
What’s more, IMPACT2020 is being run entirely by SHTM undergraduate students from the Special Events Class. These talented students have formed an organising committee to manage the conference and put together an enriching programme for our delegates from around the world, ensuring you an experience like no other.
We look forward to welcoming you to the conference and to Hong Kong!

Dr Mario HARDY
Pacific Asia Travel Association

Prof Andreas PAPATHEODOROU
University of the Aegean

Dr Jennifer CRONIN
Wharf Hotels Management Limited

Mr Dane CHENG
Hong Kong Tourism Board
FEATURED SPEAKERS
PANELISTS

Mr Martin DONOVAN
Mix Meetings
(Greater Bay Strategies Ltd)

Prof Dimitrios BUHALIS
Bournemouth University

Prof Kaye CHON
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr Zinan LIU
Royal Caribbean International

Prof Haiyan SONG
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr James MABEY
Asia and Middle East at Standard International, LLC

Mr Steve HOOD
STR

Mr Richard HATTER
Hotel ICON

Mr Danny MCCAFFERTY
Independent Hospitality Consultant

Prof Kaye CHON
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
