THE-ICE 6^th International Panel of Experts Forum 2012

The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management in Dubai UAE

"Changing times in tourism and hospitality education"

Presentation Download Available

6th IPoE Forum 2012 Event Report

THE-ICE held the 6th International Panel of Experts Forum 2012 at The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management in Dubai, United Arab Emirates 18 - 20 November 2012.

The Theme "Changing times in tourism and hospitality education" built on past forum themes focusing on current strategic issues facing tourism, hospitality and events education. Extensive networking opportunities were provided throughout the event, which was open to members and non-members of THE-ICE. The Forum featured a series of invited presentation panel sessions by some 23 leading tourism and hospitality educators and industry experts within the region and internationally. Key presentations focused on the changing needs of student expectations and profiles, industry perceptions and how the student meets industry expectations, technology in education and curriculum and the need for changing teaching methods.

The panellists were drawn from research universities, applied teaching universities, private hotel schools and vocational colleges. The Keynote Opening Session included presentations by Professor Badr Aboul-Ela, Director, Commission for Academic Accreditation, Professor Brian King from Hong Kong Polytechnic and Mr Warren Fox, Executive Director Knowledge & Human Development Authority, Dubai In addition presentations were also given by Mr Ronan Fitzgerald, Managing Director Cesar Ritz Colleges Switzerland, Dr Stuart Jauncey Dean The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, Professor Max Schachner, Head Academic Mobility IMC University of Applied Sciences, Dr Craig Thompson, Academic Dean, Stenden University The Netherlands, Mr Ron Hilvert the CEO Emirates Academy (UAE), and Mr Guy Bentley, CEO Blue Mountains Intl' Hotel School (Australia). Furthermore, a number of the panels also included invited speakers from the industry, such as Mr Terry Kane, Director of Digital StrategyJumeirah Group, Mr Kevin Wallace, President & CEO Jebel Ali Resorts and Hotels and Mr Matthew Boice, Vice President, EMEA & India Ellucian.

Held for the first time in Dubai, the Forum included dedicated reviewed paper sessions. A select number of papers were chosen for presentation, and a 'Best Paper' award was given to Dr Ceridwyn King (Temple University - US) on "Using online discussion forums to create learning communities amongst international Tourism and Hospitality masters students".

The Forum also included two workshop sessions. Workshop 1: Giving Back to the Community – Window Dressing or a Serious Endeavour? This session also included a presentation by Mr Guy Bentley, CEO Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School, Mr Florian Willie Executive Assistant Manager Kempinski Grand & Ixir Hotel, Bahrain City Centre and Julie Glass, Projects Manager, THE-ICE. The workshop highlighted the need for not only industry but educators to come on board and look at unique ways to support developing countries and provide necessary education for the underprivileged. - Workshop 2: Student Satisfaction Survey – What’s our Commitment to Improving Quality Service? Was led by Mr Guy Bentley. This session included presentations by Dr Anita Zehrer, MCI Management Center Innsbruck, A/Prof Laura Lawton, Griffith University Australia and Pauline Tang, General Manager THE-ICE, and looked at the best practice opportunities to improve student participation and quality service.

As part of THE-ICE's 'Social Responsibility Initiative' members of THE-ICE pledged sponsorship to the Sala Bai Hotel School in Cambodia.  These members were, CQUniversity, Queensland Australia, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast Australia, Charles Darwin University Northern Territory, Australia, Lyceum of the Philippines University and KDU University College, Malaysia.  Collectively, these members contributed AU$2,000.00.  Furthermore, THE-ICE Members contributed a further US$2,000 in donations in support of the Sala Bai Hotel School.  The amount raised will support at least one Sala Bai Student for a full-years tuition.

The student event team held a dinner on the second night in honour of the Sala Bai Hotel School.  The event was themed around The Paddy Hat a story the Southeast Asian Farmers believed would give them agricultural success for the growth in their rice and tea plantations. The dinner was prepared with a Southeast Asian theme and was truly delicious.

THE-ICE wishes to thank our members for their kind support for Sala Bai.Mr Ron Hilvert, Managing Director The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management was thanked by THE-ICE and presented with a plaque in gratitude for hosting this years’ event. Further thanks and congratulations were extended to Mr John Fong for his leadership of the student event team who were Mr Richard Newell, Ms Hanna Falko, Mr Christopher Perri, Mr Manuel Hesse and Mr Semyon Khanovyche. The student team are to be congratulated on their professionalism and hospitality both leading up to and during the IPoE event.

THE-ICE would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsors Blue Mountains Intl' Hotel Management School (Australia), IMC Krems (Austria), Griffith University, Gold Coast Australia and The University of Queensland, Brisbane Australia.

Sala Bai Hotel School Cambodia Social Responsiblity Initiative

As part of our Social Responsibility initiative THE-ICE sponsors 3 NGO schools in Vietnam and Cambodia.  This year THE-ICE will feature one of these schools the Sala Bai Hotel School at the IPoE 2012 Forum Event.  Based in Siem Reap Cambodia the school provides housing and education for 100 disadvantaged Cambodian girls and boys between the age of 17 and 23 each year.  The School was founded in 2002 by the French NGO Agir pour le Cambodge. The vocational training taught at Sala Baï is taught over an 11 month period between September to July with the final month dedicated to assuring industry placements for all of the students.

Over the past 10 years some 800 young girls and boys have been trained and are employed in the TH&E industries in Cambodia. The Sala Bai Hotel School offers these students hope and the joy of education and thus removing them from the destructive path of poverty and human trafficking.

THE-ICE would like to invite you to support the Sala Bai Hotel School by way of advertising sponsorship in the 6th IPoE Event Programme.  Your support will assist the Sala Bai Hotel School to contribute to the continued development of responsible tourism and vocational training in Cambodia.

Proudly sponsored by the following THE-ICE Members

Proudly hosted by

The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management

The Jumeirah Group

Proudly Sponsored by

The Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School Sydney Australia

The University of Queensland, Australia

IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems Austria

Griffith University, Gold Coast Australia

Proud supporters of the Sala Bai Hotel School Siem Reap Cambodia

CQUniveristy Queensland Australia

Southern Cross University, Gold Coast Australia

Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory Australia

KDU University College, Malaysia

Lyceum of the Philippines University, The Philippines

2011 5th International Panel of Experts Forum

Proudly hosted by Taylor's University
Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
23rd - 25th November 2011

Presentations Panel 1  Presentations Panel 2  Presentations Panel 3  Presentations Panel 4  Presentations Panel 5  Presentations Panel 6

Presentations Workshop Session 1  Presentations Workshop Session 2

Paper Presentations Session 1  Paper Presentations Session 2

Paper Presentations Session 3

THE-ICE Social Responsibility

The 2nd Graduate Research Colloquium (GRC) in Hospitality and Tourism 25 November 2011

The 2011 THE-ICE International Panel of Experts Forum was hosted by Taylor's University in Malaysia. This year's theme focusing on "Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality Education" and it included a substantial list of 24 invited experts from over 12 countries. Unlike the more traditional research conferences, each of the six panel sessions consisted of 4 invited panelists and addressed a very specific theme. The panel topics focused on the curriculum issues - such as 'Developing innovative Masters degrees" as well as other more applied topics such as 'Innovations in developing and using on-campus training facilities".

The panelists were drawn from research universities, applied teaching universities, private hotel schools and vocational colleges. They included Professor Brian King from Victoria University (Australia), Ms Veera Pardpattanapanich Rector of Dusit Thani College (Thailand), Professor Chris Roberts from DePaul University (USA), Professor Eva Werner Rector of IMC Krems (Austria), Mr Ron Hilvert the CEO Emirates Academy (UAE), Mr Mark Woodbridge Dean of the Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development (India) and Mr Guy Bentley, CEO Blue Mountains Intl' Hotel School (Australia). Furthermore, a number of the panels also included invited speaker from the industry, such as Mr Reginald Pereira who is the CEO of the Malaysian Hotels Association.

Held for the first time in Asia, the Forum also introduced newly dedicated reviewed paper sessions. A select number of papers were chosen for presentation, and a 'Highly Commended' paper award was presented to James Richards (William Angliss Institute) for his paper on "Which Master do we Serve", and a 'Best Paper' award was given to Dr Scott Richardson (Central Queensland University) on "The importance of work-based learning in tourism and hospitality programs: A case study of Taylor's University Malaysia".

The Forum also included two workshop sessions. One session focused on benchmarking, and was led by Mr Guy Perring from our strategic partner i-graduate. This session also included a presentation by Professor David Harrison from the University of the South Pacific (Fiji) and Mr Alan Williams from the Australian School of Management (Australia). They focused on how they had used THE-ICE benchmarking data to reflect on, evaluate and improve the student experience. The 2^nd concurrent workshop session was on marketing and led by Mr Paul Loftus CEO of i-studentgroup. He discussed the re-development of the THE-ICE website, and our recently launched THE-ICE e-Magazine see http://www.i-studentadvisor.com/2011/iht-ice which is aimed at parents and counsellors.

As part of our launch of THE-ICE's 'Social Responsibility Initiative', Jimmy Pham was invited as a Keynote speaker to talk about his experience of founding KOTO to initially help street kids in Vietnam. He gave a moving presentation in the opening panel that focused on the plight of those who needed a helping hand-up in life, and how and why he created the training restaurants in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The organising committee of students from Taylor's University were so touched with hearing about KOTO in the lead up to the Forum, that they voluntarily held three events to raise money to support KOTO students and presented him with a cheque for RM12,500.

Mr Pradeep Nair, Deputy Vice Chancellor, and Neethia Ari Ragavan, Dean of the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts at Taylor's University, were both thanked by THE-ICE for being such wonderful hosts. Further thanks were also extended to the co-Chairs for this event Dr Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore and Dr Paolo Mura as well as to the student organising team who were ably led by Ms Samantha Yap and Ms Xyril Choong.

THE-ICE would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsors Blue Mountains Intl' Hotel Management School (Australia), IMC Krems (Austria), Dusit Thani College (Thailand) and William Angliss Institute (Australia) for their additional support.

Panel Session 1

"Changing Times - The need to innovate"

Chair - Dr JS Perry Hobson, THE - ICE

• Pradeep Nair, DVC Taylor's University - Malaysia
• Professor Brian King, Victoria University - Australia
• Mr Jimmy Pham, KOTO - Vietnam
• Mr Victor Foo, First World Hotel - Malaysia

Panel Session 2

"Innovations in tourism hospitality and event education"

Chair - Associate Professor Stephen Craig - Smith, University of Queensland - Australia

• Clive Robertson, Oxford Brookes University - United Kingdom
• Associate Professor Dianne Dredge, Southern Cross University - Australia
• Dr Andy Nazarechuk, President of APacCHRIE - Singapore
• Mr Reginald T Pereira, CEO Malaysian Association of Hotels - Malaysia
• Professor Jamie Murphy, Murdoch University - Australia

Panel Session 3

"Innovations in internationalisation"

Chair - FH-Professor Mag Eva Werner, IMC University of Applied Sciences - Austria

• Mr Paul Weeks, The Hotel School Sydney - Australia
• Dr Charles Arcodia, University of Queensland - Australia
• Dr Paolo Mura, Taylor's University - Malaysia
• Dr Craig Thompson, Stenden University - The Netherlands

Panel Session 4

"Industry led education innovations Hotel Schools owned by the Hotel Companies"

Chair - Mr Peter Lewis, Vice President Kaplan Education - Singapore

• Mr Mark Woodbridge Oberoi Centre of Learning & Development
• Ms Mae Ho Seok Khen, Berjaya University - Malaysia
• Veera Pardpattanapanich, Dusit Thani College - Thailand
• Mr Ron Hilvert, Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management - Dubai

Panel Session 5

"Innovations in developing and using on? campus training facilities"

Chair - Dominic Szambowski, INTI International College - Malaysia

• Mr Neethia Ari Ragavan, Taylor's University - Malaysia
• Mr Jouni Ahonen, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences Helsinki - Finland
• Mr Jim Hopwood, Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School - Australia
• Professor Peter Jones (MBE), The Edge Hotel School Kaplan Education - United Kingdom

Panel Session 6

"Innovations in Masters Degrees"

Chair - Mr Guy Bentley, Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School - Australia

• FH-Professor Mag Eva Werner, IMC University of Applied Sciences - Austria
• Associate Professor Stephen Craig-Smith, University of Queensland - Australia
• Dr Chris Roberts, DePaul University - US
• Mr William Costley - Hilton Worldwide - Malaysia

Workshop Session 1

"How to get the Best out of the Strategic Relationship between THE-ICE & i-studentgroup"

• Paul Loftus - CEO iStudent Group - UK

Workshop Session 2

"THE-ICE International & Domestic Student Anonymised Benchmarking Report - what it means to you"

Chair - Ms Pauline Tang, THE-ICE - Australia

• Mr Guy Perring, i-graduate Director SE Asia - Malaysia
• Mr Alan Williams, Managing Director, Australian College of Applied Education - Australia
• Dr David Harrison, The University of The South Pacific - Fiji

Paper Presentation Session 1

Facilitator - Prof Michael Ottenbacher Heilbronn University - Germany

• Mr James Richards, William Angliss Institute - Which Master do we Serve (Highly Commended Paper Award)
• Ms Alana Harris, William Angliss Institute - Building research capacity in a changing environment of Australian tourism and hospitality education
• Robert McKenzie, Silpakorn University International College- The effects of societal culture on an international collaborative programme in Thailand
• Dr Craig Thompson, Stenden University - 25 Years of Evolution; Real World Learning @ Stenden University
• Dr Scott Richardson and Dr Gareth Butler, Central Queensland University - The importance of work-based learning in tourism and hospitality programs: A case study of Taylor's University Malaysia (Best Paper Award)

Paper Presentation Session 2

Facilitator - Professor Brian King, Victoria University? Australia

• Narayan Prabhu, Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration - Building industry training facilities at campus - The case of Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (A Constituent College of Manipal University) Manipal
• Mr Billy Ng and Souji Gopalakrishna Pillai, Berjaya University College of Hospitality - Integrating Green concepts in culinary curriculum with a Project based learning approach
• Ms Rokhshad Tavakoli, Taylor's University - Continuous Dynamic Student Evaluation System of International Lecturer by Tourist Students
• Mr Ronald Willie Binati and Souji Gopalakrishna Pillai, Berjaya University college of Hospitality - Beverage learning through edutainment competitions, special reference to immersion methodology practices at Berjaya hospitality school of Management, Malaysia

Paper Presentation Session 3

Facilitator Professor Jamie Murphy, Murdoch University - Australia

• Mr Chris Harris, Berjaya University College of Hospitality Malaysia - The Uses of Facebook© technologies in Hospitality curriculum on an experiential learning platform for a new generation of students
• Souji Gopalakrishna Pillai, Berjaya University College of Hospitality, Malaysia - Enhancing student centred learning through Tablet PC's technology -special reference to culinary educational practices
• Nancy Chesworth, Mount Saint Vincent University Canada - Beyond ‘How to's": Toward an Integrated Model of Intercultural Communication
• Aguado Serafin Gutierrez, Virtual University of Michcoacan and Professor Jamie Murphy, Murdoch University - Towards Open Learning Communities

Proudly Sponsored by

William Angliss Institute - Australia
Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School - Australia
University of Applied Sciences FH Krems - Austria
Dusit Thani College - Thailand

Proudly hosted by

Taylor's University - Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

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2010 Panel of Experts Forum

Organised to be held at the Naresuan University Centre, June 2-3 in Bangkok, Thailand

Due to civil unrest in central Bangkok in late-May 2010, and in the interests of safety and security interests of our panel presenters and attendees, the decision was made to cancel the PoE Forum.

2009 Panel of Experts Forum

Held 12 - 13 October 2009 - The Hotel School Sydney
"Developing Excellence in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Education"

About the Forum  Panel 1  Panel 2  Panel 3  Panel 4  Panel 5  Panel 6

About the Forum

Educators & researchers in the areas of Vocational, Private and University Higher Education were invited to attend the 2009 Panel of Experts Forum that took place at The Hotel School Sydney from the 12 - 13 October 2009, Sydney, Australia. This year's Panel of Experts Forum included some 75 delegates and panelists from Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Fiji, UK, Thailand, Singapore as well as Australia.  Over the course of the 2-day Forum, six panel sessions focused on a number of important topics. 

The conference theme "Developing Excellence in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Education" addressed the needs, issues and value surrounding THE Accreditation, Benchmarking and the Development of Best Practice. 

Dr Perry Hobson, Managing Director of THE-ICE, kicked off this year's Forum with a presentation entitled "THE-ICE: Past, Present and Future" which gave an overview of the history and development of THE-ICE and its transition over the last 18 months.

THE-ICE - Past Present and Future Presentation - Dr Perry Hobson

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Other panels on Day 1 included:

Panel Session 1: Accreditation and QA - as THE-ICE is focusing on accreditation plus marketing, George Brown (Think Education, Australia) began this first panel session by trying to de-mystify some of the terms about accreditation, he also spoke about the growing importance of international accreditation and also about the problem of fake accreditation agencies. Roger March (UNSW, Australia) looked at the motivations behind accreditation particularly within the context of Business Schools, and the cost vs benefits completing such accreditations. Finally, Stephen Craig-Smith (UQ, Australia) spoke about the challenges facing institutions entering the higher education market and also gave some further background to the development THE-ICE accreditation.

THE-ICE - Dr George Brown - Presentation
THE-ICE - Professor Roger March - Presentation
THE-ICE - Associate Professor Stephen Craig-Smith - Presentation

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Panel Session 2: International Issues Facing TH&E Education - given the enormous changes in international education this panel started off with Professor Oswin Maurer (Bolzano,Italy) identifying that the Bologna Process was still very much a work in progress for most of the education systems within Europe, and pointed out that many issues still remained unresolved. Nigel Hemmington (AUT, NZ) spoke of the challenges facing fields of study such as 'hospitality' within a traditional university setting, while Ted Wykes (Royal Roads, Canada) reflected on the problems facing hospitality and tourism programmes within 'University Colleges' institutions in Canada - in so much as that they were neither seen as universities or vocational colleges. Dominic Szambowski (Blue Mtns, Australia) then looked at the rapid expansion of large corporate private providers (such as Laureate, Cengage and Kaplan) now entering the tourism and hospitality related education. Finally, Russell Arthur Smith (CNI, Singapore) commented on the challenges facing Asian based institutions in terms of how they met the demand for TH&E education in the region particularly given the shortages of faculty.

THE-ICE - Professor Oswin Maurer - Presentation
THE-ICE - Dr Nigel Hemmington - Presentation
THE-ICE - Dr Ted Wykes - Presentation
THE-ICE - Mr Dominic Szambowski - Presentation
THE-ICE - Dr Russell Arthur Smith - Presentation

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Panel Session 3 - Developing T&L Excellence - Dianne Dredge (SCU, Australia) spoke about her recently funded ATLC project, and questioned the structure and lack of flexibility seen in many tourism undergraduate programmes. Pierre Bechendorff (JCU, Australia) reflected on their recent project on the student experience at JCU and how inter-connected so many of the factors were. Alison Owens (CQU-Sydney, Australia) discussed that their research had shown that many international students were failing not because of problems with their actual academic studies, but about adjusting to life in a foreign country. Finally, Janet Elms-Smith (NSI-TAFE, Australia) reflected on the many challenges facing vocational education in Australia.

THE-ICE - Dr Dianne Dredge - Presentation
THE-ICE - Dr Pierre Bechendorff - Presentation
THE-ICE - Dr Alison Owens - Presentation

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Panel Session 4: Contribution of Intl' Students to Tourism - this was the first panel session that brought both industry and educators together. It follows on from initiatives of THE-ICE to recognsie the overlap, importance and connections between international students and tourism. The panel opened with John King (Chair, Australian Tourism Export Council) reflecting on the recent government reports that are looking at this topic. Meanwhile, Professor Mike Davidson (GU, Australia) spoke about the initial focus group findings of his STCRC funded project. They seemed to indicate that there were many 'barriers to travel' facing international students. Kate Payne (AUT, NZ) reported on her quantitative research findings of international student travel patters in New Zealand, which showed considerable travel to regional areas in NZ. Finally, Euan Robertson (Tourism and Transport Forum) spoke about the inter-connected issues of local transport, housing, and access to tourism areas for international students and their visiting friends and families.

THE-ICE - Mr John King - Presentation
THE-ICE - Professor Mike Davidson - Presentation
THE-ICE - Ms Kate Payne - Presentation
THE-ICE - Mr Euan Robertson

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Panel Session 5: Building Stronger Links Between Education and Industry - following on from a similar panel at the previous Panel of Experts Forum held in Perth, this session was focusing on looking at what could be done to build up the linkages. This panel session drew on views from both practitioners and educators - and opened with a short presentation from Dr Asad Mohsin (Univ of Waikato, NZ). Following comments from Rachel Argaman (CEO, Toga Hospitality), Guy Bentley (Blue Mtns, Australia), Matt Hingety (CEO, Australian Tourism Export Council), Catherine Ng, (William Angliss Institute, Australia), Peter Lewis (The Hotel School Sydney) and David Bierman (UTS, Australia) a wide-ranging discussion involving all delegates at the Forum then occurred. John King (Chair of the SCU Industry Advisory Board) must be congratulated for his ability to Chair such a session. A number of areas for better linkages came out of the discussion, but in particular one thing was identified - that was the need for us to collectively create a professional body which can be supported by the various industry sectors and all education institutions.

THE-ICE - Dr Asad Mohsin - Presentation

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i-Graduate Benchmarking and Best Practice Workshop

On the second day of the International Panel of Experts Forum, William Archer, the Managing Director of i-Graduate Research, led a workshop on the use of the THE-ICE's version of the International Student Barometer (ISB). The ISB is now a well-recognised benchmarking tool, and is now used by some 300+ institutions around the world.

A specific ICE-ISB was developed for THE-ICE in 2007. The ISB analyses the international student experience over the four dimensions. In order to enable institutions/programmes to see how they perform within THE-ICE and against a wider group of institutions, i-Graduate Research has developed both an ICE-Index and also a Global THE-Index. THE-ICE Index is made up of responses from students who are studying at institutions who are members of THE-ICE, while the Global THE-ISB Index is drawn from responses of students studying hospitality, tourism and/or events at non-ICE member institutions.

The ICE-ISB allows for members to confidentially benchmark their institution/programme against THE-ICE Index, and also against one another. At this year's Forum, the workshop was kicked off by a number of presentations. Peter Lewis (The Hotel School Sydney) spoke about how he had used it to build a business case to move to new premises. Dr Michael Milgate (AIHS, Canberra) reflected on how they had changed their administration processes, and Alan Williams (ASTHM, Perth) spoke about how he had used his ISB survey results to completely revisit their student services. Following their presentations, a number of groups were formed that focused on specific issues (such as the living environment, internationalisation etc.) that had come out of the ISB. A report back session then identified the many areas for action, and some 25 specific action-steps were identified and committed to by various delegates which included everything from:

Presentations available shortly - 1. Mr Peter Lewis 2. Dr Michael Milgate 3. Mr Alan Williams 4. Mr Will Archer

• extending orientation to 5-weeks rather than seeing it as just a 1-week information dump
• involving community groups, and tourism activities in the student orientation- initiate activities to break-down the 'them and us' between domestic and intl' students
• providing students with feedback of the ISB results- increase use of non-verbal forms of communication for intl' students
• offering intl' study tours to domestic students
• view students as an 'alumnus' from Day 1 not their last day and so forth and so on........

William Archer from i-Graduate noted that he was really pleased to see the action orientated nature of the attendees at the Forum pointing out that "many institutions only focus on what they do well. It was very encouraging to see the focus here being on what needed to be done to improve the experience for international students, rather than just resting on their laurels".

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Panel of Experts Forum History

In 2005 THE-ICE established the International Panel of Experts Forum to be a series of high-level events focusing on the strategic issues facing tourism, hospitality and events education. Each Forum has a highly focused theme, and leading experts from around the world are invited to present their views on and share knowledge in the areas.

THE-ICE has been privileged to have leading educators from countries such as Austria, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, China, India, Thailand, Korea, the UK and USA to address one of its' Forums. The experts are not only invited to address the theme, but also to be part of an interactive and dynamic session. A number of past presentations are available on THE-ICE website.

Past IPoE Forum Themes

2005 - "Critical Issues and Future Directions of Tourism and Hospitality Education"

The inaugural International Panel of Experts Forum was held in November, 2005 at the Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast Australia.  A series of panel focused sessions and presentations gave some futuristic insights into the international student experience, rethinking TH&E education and engaging with industry links. Invited speakers included Professor Pauline Sheldon, University of Hawaii (USA), Professor Kaye Chon, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (SAR-China), Professor Chris Cooper, University of Queensland (Australia), Clive Robertson, Oxford Brookes University and HLSTE (UK), Derrick Casey, Regency Institute of TAFE (Australia), and Professor John Tribe, University of Surrey (UK).

2006 - "Internationalisation of Tourism and Hospitality Education"

The second International Panel of Experts Forum was held at Conrad Jupiter's on the Gold Coast, Australia in November, 2006. The focus was on presenting a pragmatic and progressive view on the internationalisation of tourism, hospitality and event education. With a significant perspective from the Asia-Pacific region, the forum addressed the changing needs of students, institutions and industry, and investigated the future role of international partnerships, quality assurance, and branding in the context of increasingly fast-paced global change. Invited speakers included Professor Marion Joppe, University of Guelph (Canada), Dr Eva Werner, IMC Krems (Austria), Dr Jutamus W, Assumption University (Thailand), Wayne Crosby, William Angliss Institute of TAFE (Australia), Singh Bhuie, (India), Professor Huimin Gu, Beijing Intl' Studies University, (China) and Dr Betty Leask, University of South Australia.

2008 - "Developing and delivering industry-relevant education and research"

The 3rd International Panel of Experts Forum was held in conjunction with hosting the 6th Asia-Pacific (APacCHRIE) Conference in Perth in May 2008.

The format offered a wider diversity of presentation formats in addition to the traditional Panel of Experts sessions - which have been a trademark of past Forum events. It was organised by THE-ICE, and hosted by the Australian School of Tourism & Hotel Management (ASTHM). The event also included an industry breakfast, and an international Education Fair. Invited speakers included Dr George Brown, Think Education Group (Australia) Vik Nair, Taylor's University College, (Malaysia), Dr Hanquin Zhang, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (SAR-China), and Fritz Gubler, Founder Blue Mountains Hotel School (Australia).

2009 - "Developing Excellence in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Education"

The 4th International Panel of Experts Forum was held at The Hotel School Sydney, Australia from the 12^th - 13^th October 2009. Educators & researchers in the areas of Vocational, Private and University Higher Education were invited to attend. Some 75 delegates and panelists from Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Fiji, UK, Thailand, Singapore as well as Australia attended the 2-day Forum and actively engaged in six panel sessions addressing the needs, issues and value surrounding THE Accreditation, Benchmarking and the Development of Best Practice. 

• Panel Session 1: Accreditation and QA
• Panel Session 2: International Issues Facing TH&E Education
• Panel Session 3 - Developing Teaching & Learning (T&L) Excellence
• Panel Session 4: Contribution of International Students to Tourism
• Panel Session 5: Building Stronger Links Between Education and Industry
• i-Graduate Benchmarking and Best Practice Workshop

Organised to be held at the Naresuan University Centre, 2nd – 3rd June in Bangkok, Thailand. Unfortunately due to civil unrest in central Bangkok in late-May 2010, and in the interests of safety and security interests of our panel presenters and attendees, the decision was made to cancel the PoE Forum.

2011 - "Innovation in Tourism & Hospitality Education"

to be held at Taylor's University, Malaysia from 23rd to 25th November 2011.
See speaker information and past forum presentations:   

• 2008 Developing and Delivering Industry-relevant Education and Research
• 2006 Internationalisation of THE
• 2005 Critical Issues & Future Directions