May
2011 - Professor Kaye Chon, Dean and Chair Professor
of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University (PolyU), has been honoured by the United Nations
World
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) with the UNWTO Ulysses Prize, a top honour
which
is also widely considered as the “Nobel Prize in Tourism”.
The
Ulysses Prize is awarded to a
distinguished scholar with outstanding contribution to extending the
frontier
of knowledge in tourism. In awarding the distinction, the UNWTO seeks
to
recognise and stimulate knowledge creation, dissemination and
innovative
applications in tourism and to bring to light the latest advances in
this area.
Dean Chon is the first recipient of this prestigious prize in the
entire Asia
Pacific region.
“It is a
tremendous compliment for me to be awarded the Ulysses Prize,” said Dean Chon. “It
has given me and my team at the SHTM strong impetus to further
develop professional education and research for the fast-growing hotel
and
tourism industry in Hong Kong, the region and around the world.”
Dean Chon
joined PolyU in 2000. Under his able
leadership, the SHTM has risen as one of the world’s leading
institutions in
hospitality and tourism management. In 2009, the School was ranked No.
2 in
global ranking of hospitality and tourism schools based on research and
scholarship, according to a study published in the Journal
of Hospitality and Tourism Research.
Dean Chon is
also well known for advocating the new
wave of hospitality and tourism
education known as the “Asian Paradigm”, leading the way for SHTM to
become a
global centre of excellence in hotel and tourism management education.
This
prestigious honour is testimony of the exceptional contribution that Dean Chon has
made to the
development of global hospitality education through his leadership and
research
contributions.
|
Professor
Kaye Chon
Dean and Chair Professor
School of Hotel and Tourism Management
The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University
|
Dean Chon was the past Chairman of the
International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators and is currently
Chairman
of Pacific Asia Travel Association’s Education and Training Committee.
He was a
professor at the University of Houston in the United States before
joining PolyU.
The
Ulysses Prize will be presented by the Secretary-General
of the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation
in Vilamoura, Portugal, on 2
June.
|