HTM students place top 10 in the world at global market study competition
Congratulations to a group of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) students from the Ted Rogers School of Management who placed 9th in the world at the virtual 2023 STR & ICHRIE Global Student Market Study Competition (external link) .
STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry, and the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE) provides programs and services to improve the quality of global education, research, service and business operations in the hospitality and tourism industry.
The Ted Rogers School team, made up of Xinyi Tan, Kaitlyn Washbrook, Brian Vuong, Audrey Yip, Libby Worden and Edward Su, advanced to the global competition held on November 19 after finishing fourth out of 22 teams in the North American challenge earlier that month.
For the competition, student teams were asked to choose specific cities or markets, analyze different types of hotel and tourism data and deliver a live 30-minute presentation via Zoom based on their findings to a panel of senior-level industry judges. The Ted Rogers School team chose the city of Montreal to focus their analysis on.
The judges praised the students’ overall presentation and how well they worked together as a team. The panel also liked the fact that the team had included Airbnb in their analysis, which no other team had addressed, and how well they answered questions.
The HTM students were appreciative of their experience they gained by participating in the STR & ICHRIE competitions. “We learned a lot regarding how data can be used to inform decisions,” the team explained. “Although we weren’t required to develop solutions, spending so much time with the data taught us about its importance. There are so many factors within a destination that affect the hotel industry and this was one of our main takeaways.”
HTM Assistant Professor and team supervisor, Dr. Hyunghwa (Rick) Oh, says that the students' performance was impressive because it required them to thoroughly research and understand their chosen market, analyze various data sets and effectively communicate their findings.
In preparing for the competitions, he says that the team showed great progress in their ability to take constructive criticism and use it to enhance their skills. “It’s a positive sign of their dedication and ability to adapt, and this adaptability is crucial in both academic and professional settings,” Dr. Oh explains.
He adds that the support the team offered each other was a key aspect of effective collaboration. “That kind of collaboration is essential for collective success in complex tasks like market analysis presentations, which require diverse skills and perspectives,” he explains. “Watching the students' progress, skills development and collaboration was rewarding.”