On September 19th, the Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) at Virginia Tech and the School of Tourism Management (STM) at Sun Yat-Sen University co-hosted a webinar on "Digitalization and AI Technology for Tourism Research and Education." Approximately 40 faculty members, doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers from both institutions attended the event.

The webinar was chaired by Associate Professor and Assistant Dean Yi Liu of STM. Professor Xiaoming Zhang, Vice Dean of STM, and Professor Zheng Xiang, Head of HTM, delivered opening remarks, highlighting the background and objectives of the webinar. Dr. Liu, representing the Key Laboratory of Sustainable Tourism Smart Assessment (designated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China), provided updates on the lab’s recent research progress and preliminary achievements in digital tourism.

Following his presentation, Assistant Professor Chunhong Li, Dr. Ding Xu, and Assistant Professor Lirong Kou from STM shared their recent research on smart technologies and sustainable tourism. From HTM, Professor Nancy McGehee (Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Travel Research), Associate Professor Florian Zach, and Professor Zheng Xiang presented their insights and latest research on regenerative tourism, destination innovation, and the digital transformation of tourism, respectively.

The webinar concluded with discussions on curriculum development in digital technology applications for tourism, led by Associate Professor Yunjiao Guo and Dr. Kristin Lamoureux.

STM, consistently ranked as the top hospitality and tourism program in China and among the best globally, initiated this webinar following discussions on partnership development during STM's leadership team's visit to Virginia Tech in May 2024. This engaging two-and-a-half-hour webinar sets the stage for future research collaborations and the development of graduate programs between HTM and STM.