Outstanding Paper Award

Dr Cham with his certificate

Faculty of Accountancy and Management Head of PhD and MPhil Programmes Dr Cham Tat Huei along with other researchers received the Outstanding Paper Award at QS Subject Focus Summit Research Sharing Session held at UCSI University, Malaysia from 5 to 7 December 2018.

Dr Cham received the recognition for the research paper titled, “The Intention of China Tourists to Visit Sarawak: A Study of Push and Pull Factors” which seeks to support the understanding of factors influencing China tourist to travel to Sarawak. The paper was co-authored with Swinburne University of Technology lecturer Dr Bibiana Lim Chiu Yiong, Universiti Putra Malaysia senior lecturer Dr Cheah Jun Hwa and Wawasan Open University MBA student Julie Liaw.

“The rising of Chinese tourist market has found to have a significant impact on the global tourism industry. Particularly, it was reported that the Chinese tourists benefitted the global tourism industry whereby they made up more than 700 million trips during the holiday season and contributed as much as $80billion dollars in the global tourism revenue. Malaysia is one of the countries that benefited from this market due to the uniqueness and diversity of its culture. Hence, it is important for the policymakers and the stakeholders to understand the importance of this market segment in continuously creating competitive and sustainable strategies in order to remain relevant in this promising industry,” said Dr Cham.

Dr Cham further added, “Among all the tourisms, medical tourism is one of the niches and potential markets for the Chinese tourists. This requires further investigation to be conducted in order to have a better understanding of this market. As for the current research, I would like to thank my co-authors and colleagues for always being so supportive in my research journey. The credit also goes to Sarawak Research Society Chairman Dr Hiram Ting for his endless support throughout this research in Sarawak.”

The inaugural Summit dedicated to Hospitality and Tourism saw more than 200 delegates from 40 countries. The aim of the Summit is to foster a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the hospitality and leisure management education and to begin articulating a practical vision for moving hospitality schools forward.

QS Asia is the regional subsidiary of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the producers of the widely respected QS World University Rankings as well as various regional and subject rankings. Having provided strategic solutions to universities for their brand exposure and international recognition for more than a decade, QS Asia is indeed the best advisor Asian, Middle Eastern and African universities can consult when seeking the fastest and most cost-effective globalisation measures. Established in Asia and run by people from the same continent, QS Asia commits itself to manifesting Asian higher education excellence to the rest of the world. This is achieved through innovative conferences, well-organised exhibitions, unique seminars and specialised summits, as well as publications that are wide-ranging in content and extensive in global distribution.