The 16th Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) Annual Conference at IFT

The 16th Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) will be held at IFT from 13-16 July, 2010. The Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) is an internationally acclaimed association in the field of tourism comprised of 17 Asia Pacific countries and regions. The purpose of APTA is to further facilitate quality tourism research especially in the Asia-Pacific area, to share research achievements and to exchange ideas between academics and their counterparts in the business world. A conference is held annually and a journal is published quarter-annually and its quality research papers are distributed all over the world. IFT, being a Macao representative of APTA, is proud to bring the annual meeting to Macao as one of our 15th Anniversary celebration series this year. Macao, being one of the fastest developing and most exciting tourism destinations in Asia, transforms herself into a modem, vibrant and cosmopolitan city that boasts the latest world-class attractions in gaming and entertainment. The conference themed “Competition and Collaboration between Regional Tourism Destinations” attracted hospitality scholars, researchers, practitioners and trade members of the region to submit and present their papers in Macao. The opening ceremony of the conference was hosted by Dr. Sang Taek Lim, Chairman of APTA and Dr. Fanny Vong, President of IFT. Two hundred and twenty delegates from Australia, Canada, Mainland China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Chinese Taiwan, Thailand, and United States were invited to attend this conference. There are also representatives from Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. Aiming to create a platform and opportunity to exchange the latest developments, trends, and research in the area of competition and collaboration between regional tourism destination, ideas are shared, discussed, and debated in the conference. Papers of both applied and conceptual orientation are presented on the following topics, along with other relevant concerns: - Destination Management
- Restaurant Management
- Hotel Marketing/Management
- Travelers’ Behaviour
- IT and Tourism
- Forecasting
- Hospitality Management
- Human Resources Management
- Community-Based Tourism
- Sustainable Tourism
- Casino Management
- Tourism Policy/Planning
- Brand Equity/Branding
- Financing/Accounting
- Event Management
- Tourism Industry
- Hospitality Education
- Tourism Trends Speakers include: - Prof. Kaye Chon
Chair Professor of Hotel and Tourism Management and Director of School, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Dr. Dai Bin
Vice Director, China Tourism Academy - Dra. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes
(Deputy Director) representing the Director, Macau Government Tourist Office - Mr. Kwon Ping Ho
Executive Chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings - Dr. Sang Taek Lim
Chairman, Asia Pacific Tourism Association - Dr. Fanny Vong
President, Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao