Dear APacCHRIE members and friends:
I am pleased and honoured to serve as the President of APacCHRIE in 2024/2025, and to continue building on the success achieved by our past presidents over the previous 22 years. My deepest appreciation especially goes to the founding chairman Prof. Kaye Chon, the visionary leader who created the federation.
In today’s post-pandemic era, people have been resuming to their normal life from the isolated world. The boom of travel and hospitality industries is witnessed all over the world while overtourism has become a hot agenda item again in some popular destinations. All the unprecedented challenges and opportunities that have recently been encountered indicate that our world needs tourism and hospitality scholars’ continuous endeavour in resolving global issues, nurturing elites, and providing foresights for stakeholders in the industry. An international platform that brings scholarly and industry talents together while facilitating knowledge exchange plays a crucial role, which lends credence to the significance of APacCHRIE, a leading hospitality and tourism education association within the Asia Pacific region.
As one of the federations of International CHRIE, APacCHRIE is dedicated to serve members in the Asia Pacific region. The geographical boundary has not constrained our exposure to broader stakeholders. Our members can gain access to resources beyond the region. Towards this end, our annual flagship conferences have received attendees coming from different parts of the world. Following the great success of the post-pandemic APacCHRIE conferences in Clark and Seoul, the next APacCHRIE conference will be held in Chiangmai (Thailand), which is another exciting destination renowned for its rich culture, natural beauty, and sincere people. In addition to the annual conference, our online and regional activities will continue to bring you new ideas and new friends. Your active participation is the lifeblood of our momentum.
With a strong team of board members who are serving you in your respective countries and regions, APacCHRIE is open to your reflections and suggestions which enable the betterment of our service provided for the members in the Asia Pacific region. I believe that collective wisdom will bring our federation to the next high and look forward to fruitful interactions with you in the coming year.
Yours sincerely,
Lawrence Hoc Nang Fong, Ph.D.
APacCHRIE President (2024/2025)