Fall 2024 Graduate Blog Competition Winners Selected

Four graduate students have had their research articles selected as winners of the Fall 2024 edition of the HFTP/MS Global Hospitality Business Student Blog Competition. This season’s submissions explored a wide variety of current topics in the hospitality industry, including artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) to help build tourism and blockchain technology.

About the HFTP/MS Global Hospitality Business Student Blog Competition

This project is sponsored each academic semester by the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) Foundation for students participating in the Master of Science in Global Hospitality Business program, a partnership between the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the EHL Hospitality Business School. Each semester, participating students are asked to focus on a critical hospitality industry topic and submit their study as a blog article. Upon completion, a group of judges selected by HFTP including industry experts and leaders review and vote for the competition winners.

This semester, four top-scoring articles were selected by the judging panel to be published on the HFTP Connect blog over the next few months:

• First Place – “How Technology-Driven Innovation Could Enhance and Should be Embraced by the Wine Industry” by John Boner
• Second Place – “Addressing Ethical Challenges in Syrian Tourism: A New Path with Blockchain and the Metaverse” by Jimmy Rowan
• Third Place – “Las Vegas: A Perfect Testing Ground for Smart City Innovations” by Daniela Gardere

The students who received top scores on their blog posts will also receive a free one-year HFTP Young Professional Membership (valued at $200 USD) to continue their professional development, education and networking as a part of the association while developing their career in hospitality.

About the HFTP Foundation

The HFTP Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®). The foundation assists HFTP in securing nonprofit funding for hospitality and travel industry-related research, educational projects and scholarships. The HFTP Foundation oversees the HFTP Research Center.