On February 28th, the PATA Student Talk in Macau 2025 “Tourism Theme Exploration Competition” was held by the PATA Macau Chapter Student Club at the Macao University of Tourism, Taipa Campus. The objective of this event is to cultivate students' interest in tourism innovation and to promote the development of such interest, mainly in areas of "economic diversification", "smart tourism", as well as "cultural heritage".
In the opening speech, Ms. Katherine Chen, Chairman of the PATA Macau Chapter Student Club and UTM Year 4 student from Retail and Marketing Management Bachelor's Degree Programme, stated "We will jointly explore the application and transformation of intelligent technology and cultural creativity in the tourism industry. This perfectly aligns with the Macao SAR Government's “1+4 Development Plan for Moderate Diversification of the Economy”, which emphasizes the integration of technology, culture and education into the development of the tourism industry.”
Throughout the event, a total of six talented teams presented their respective unique opinions and perspectives on the aforementioned topics, with renowned professionals from the tourism and hospitality industry evaluating their performance and providing participants valuable feedback.
The esteemed judges invited for this event comprise prominent figures in the tourism and hospitality industry, including:
Mr. Alfred Ng (Director of Macau Services Division, Shun Tak-China Travel Ship Management Ltd.);
Ms. Amanda Wan (Representative of Macao Government Tourism Office);
Dr. Amr Abdulqawi AI-Ansi (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology);
Dr. Catherine Li (Coordinator for Marketing and Brand Management Programme, Macao University of Tourism);
Ms. Crystal Chan (Executive Director of Sales, Venetian Macau Ltd.); and
Dr. Max Zhao (Dean, Faculty of Creative Tourism and Intelligent Technology, Macao University of Tourism).
All in all, the PATA Student TALK in Macau 2025 successfully induced discrepant new thoughts into the industry, promoting the appearance of new pioneers within this field of expertise in the future.