PolyU Scholar Conferred UNWTO Ulysses Prize

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.

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.

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 2011.

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