Professor Kaye Chon
Dean and Chair Professor
School of Hotel and Tourism

Management

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

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A former hotel manager and tourism industry consultant, Professor Kaye Chon (Ph.D., CHE, FIH) is Dean and Chair Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Prior to being appointed as Dean, Dean Chon has assumed the roles of Director and Chair Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management since year 2000.

Under Dean Chon’s leadership, the School has arisen as one of the world’s leading institutions in hospitality and tourism management. In 2009, the School was ranked no. 2 in the 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.

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Dean Chon was previously Professor and Director of Research and Director of Tourism Industry Institute at the University of Houston’s Conrad N. Hilton College in the United States.

Dean Chon is a graduate of the University of Maryland (AA), Georgia State University (BSc), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (MSc), and Virginia Tech (Ph.D.).

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A frequent speaker at international conferences, Dean Chon has published over 200 papers in international journals and professional publications and has authored or edited eight books. One of his textbooks Welcome to Hospitality: an Introduction has been adopted as a textbook in more than 100 hospitality and tourism schools worldwide. He is currently the Chief Editor of the
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing and the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research.

Dean Chon is recognised internationally for his research, scholarship and academic leadership in the areas of Hospitality Management, Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Convention Tourism. Throughout his career, he has presented lectures, seminars and speeches in more than 50 countries across all continents of the world.

In his university teaching that spans over 25 years, Dean Chon twice received “Teaching Excellence Award” and four times received “Research Excellence Award,” including the John Wiley & Sons Award and Howard B. Meek Award from International CHRIE, Martin Oppermann Memorial Award from the International Society of Travel & Tourism Educators (ISTTE), Michael D. Olsen Award from the University of Delaware, and Founders Award in Research from Purdue University and the University of South Carolina, all for his lifetime contribution to scholarship and research in tourism/hospitality. In 2003, he received the prestigious FTA Hospitality Humanitarian Leadership Award from Fred Tibbitts and Associates of New York for his leadership and community services in global hospitality industry development. In 2003, Dean Chon was also recognised by his alma mater Georgia State University as the “Most Outstanding Alumni in 30 Years”. He is honoured by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) with the prestigious UNWTO Ulysses Prize 2011.

Dean Chon is the past Chairman of the International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators and currently Chairman of Pacific Asia Travel Association Education and Training Committee.

He has been listed in Who’s Who In The World.