In announcing the designation, the Academy�s President, Prof. William Gartner of the University of Minnesota in the US, said, �The School of Hotel and Tourism Management at PolyU is very active and well known by the international tourism industry and academia and highly deserving for this designation.�  

Prof. Kaye Chon, Chair Professor and Head of HTM, said, �This is a remarkable and significant recognition for us. Having the Academy�s presence in our School will further solidify our position as one of the leading schools of hotel and tourism management on a global basis.�

As the world headquarters and Secretariat of IAST, HTM will provide member services to the Academy and will also receive financial support to establish a �Hospitality and Tourism Resource Center�, a unique, industry-specific library to provide information services to hospitality and tourism community worldwide.  

The Academy is an international organisation which has been established with the aim of enhancing both theoretical and practical research in the field of tourism. Its membership comprises highly accomplished tourism researchers from throughout the world and the total number of members is limited to 75.

In addition, the School is the only one in Asia which has been designated by the World Tourism Organisation as one of its Education and Training Network Centres around the world since 1999. Its programmes have been reputed as among the best in Hong Kong and the region.

Earlier on, the University renamed the department as a �School� to better reflect its growing stature and scope of work.

Since its establishment in 1979, some 10,000 students have graduated from HTM. For the current academic year, about 1,000 students have enrolled in the School's taught programmes, including Higher Diploma, Bachelor's and Master's degree, as well as MPhil and PhD research degree programmes.