RMIT Vietnam students shine in international hospitality and tourism contest

Tiếng Việt

RMIT Vietnam students shine in international hospitality and tourism contest

RMIT University students continued to fly Vietnam’s flag high in a recent global hospitality and tourism competition organised by STR (Smith Travel Research).

STR is one of the prominent sources of premium global data benchmarking and market insights for the tourism, hotel, and commercial real estate industries.

Every year, the company organises a virtual market study competition in which students worldwide are asked to conduct an analysis of various types of hotel and tourism data. The teams will then deliver a professional-quality presentation based on their findings to a panel of senior-level industry judges.

“Will the Thai capital of Bangkok be able to ensure business stability for its tourism and hospitality industry post-COVID?”

This was the question that a group of RMIT University Vietnam students set for themselves when entering this year’s STR Student Market Study Competition.

RMIT students delivered their presentation in the global final round of the 2022 STR Student Market Study Competition.

It was by conducting sophisticated market analysis to answer this question that the team won the Champion title in the Asia Pacific competition, prevailing over competitors from Hong Kong, China, Singapore and more.

The team advanced to the global competition as a Top 10 finalist out of 29 teams worldwide and continued to hold their own against universities with well-established hospitality programs.

The RMIT Vietnam champion team included four students – Dinh Le Bao Ngoc, Nguyen Pham Linh Dan, Pham Ngoc Bich Phuong and Dao Minh Nghia – all in their third year studying for a Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management in RMIT’s Hanoi campus.

Team captain Linh Dan said: “None of us has taken part in any international competitions before. So when this competition was announced in July, we saw it as a golden opportunity for us to learn more about the hospitality business.”

“It was at times a bit challenging to maintain our ‘inner fire’ for the competition, as it took around two months of intensive study, market analysis, and working as a team every single day to finetune every part of our presentation. I’m grateful that our team worked very well together, and we truly enjoyed the whole process.”

(From left to right) RMIT lecturers and students: Dr Justin Matthew Pang, Dinh Le Bao Ngoc, Nguyen Pham Linh Dan, Pham Ngoc Bich Phuong, Dao Minh Nghia, and Dr Jackie Ong.

This is the first time RMIT Vietnam has had a team winning the Asia Pacific championship and the third time it has advanced to the global finals since joining this annual competition in 2020.

Under the mentorship of RMIT lecturers Dr Justin Matthew Pang and Dr Jackie Ong, the teams have consistently maintained a high standard of performance and been well regarded by the organisers and contender institutions.

Dr Pang recalled: “This year, our student team worked very hard to research the Bangkok market thoroughly. They even touched base with industry practitioners to obtain more insights and viewpoints in preparation for their presentations.”

“I hope they will be able to take what they have learnt from this endeavour and apply it to their future jobs and careers,” he said.

RMIT Vietnam won the Asia Pacific edition of the STR Student Market Study Competition, championing over VinUniversity, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Beijing Hospitality Institute, Nanyang Polytechnic and other national teams from Asia.

Previously, RMIT Tourism and Hospitality Management students have twice won high honours in the UNWTO Students' League competitions held by the World Tourism Organization.

RMIT Senior Program Manager Dr Jackie Ong believes that joining international competitions provide great growth opportunities for students, which is why such activities will continue to be encouraged and supported.

“It’s a chance for students to push their personal limits and bring out the best in themselves, often within a very short time frame,” she said.

“In addition, competitions encourage students to adopt innovative techniques and strengthen their networking and teamwork skills, which are essential elements for the real-life professional world.”

Story: Ngoc Hoang

Business and management

Media Release

28 November 2022