The outbreak of COVID-19 not only disrupted our life, but also brought unprecedented challenges to teaching and research for universities around the world. Under the new normal of online learning, how to improve the teaching quality and explore a better education mode became common concerns for all educational institutions and organizations in this field.
On 20th November, 2020, the webinar of “New Ways of Teaching and Research in Tourism Management Brought by COVID-19 Challenges” was successfully hosted online by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Tourism Sub-Alliance of the University Alliance of the Silk Road (UASR).
Many well-known scholars and elites gathered together, conducted an in-depth discussion on the topic, actively explored new modes and paths of higher education research and teaching in the field from different perspectives under the new situation, and jointly drew a wonderful blueprint for education development.
Dr. Siming XIE of SHTM delivered the opening speech and introduced the guests, including Prof. Bixi DING and Dr. Yaozhong LIANG of SHTM; Prof. Chengli SHU, Assistant Dean, Director of Department of Marketing, School of Management at XJTU; Dr. Alexander Artemyev, Acting Associate Professor, Dr. Gulbaram Kulakhmetova, Acting Associate Professor, and Ms. Fatima Babazova, teacher, of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University; and Dr. Nantana Gajaseni, Vice President and Associate Professor, Dr. Chai-Ching Tan, Lecturer, School of Management, and Mr. Phutawan Ho, Lecturer, School of Management, of Mae Fah Luang University.
Based on the frontier of the times and social development, representatives from the above universities introduced the education and research status at the four universities under the new normal, and shared with the participants their experiences in online courses and academic research in the face of this year’s epidemic and challenges and also their views on the future outlook.
The University Alliance of the Silk Road (UASR), launched by Xi 'an Jiaotong University in 2015, is a non-governmental and non-professional organization. The UASR Tourism Sub-Alliance, founded in 2019 by SHTM, aims to provide a platform for win-win cooperation among major universities in the field of hotel and tourism education, promote close cooperation among UASR members in education and research, and provide a strong support for tourism construction in countries along the Silk Road.
Universities are beacons of human civilization and disseminators of knowledge and culture. Faced with the uncertainty brought by COVID-19, higher education needs to keep pace with the times for optimization and innovation.
This unique online seminar is an important platform for universities from different countries and regions to share insights and build consensus. This exchange and learning will further promote the innovative development of teaching and research in the field of hotel and tourism to a higher level.
