First place webinar competition winners for "Top 3 Strategies to Attract Outbound Chinese Travelers" -- (center l to r): Luc Espaillard, Nieves Carbon, Yilei Sheng, Yichun Fan; pictured with HFTP Foundation Executive Director Lucinda Hart (left) and HFTP Deputy CEO Thomas Atzenhofer (right). — Photo by HFTP
Second place webinar competition winners for "Virtual Reality Employee Training Webinar" -- (center l to r): Heng-Yu Chin, Hava Suchait, Chien-Yao Pai, Etii Bhsin; pictured with HFTP Foundation Executive Director Lucinda Hart (left) and HFTP Deputy CEO Thomas Atzenhofer (right). — Photo by HFTP
Third place webinar competition winners for "How Does 5G Affect Hotel the Hotel Industry" -- (center l to r): Danique Nijhof, Kanchan Balani, Sofia Gallego de Chaves, Sijia Zhang; pictured with HFTP Foundation Executive Director Lucinda Hart (left) and HFTP Deputy CEO Thomas Atzenhofer (right). — Photo by HFTP

Capturing the Chinese tourism market is the topic of the winning webinar in a competition for graduate-level students completing a masters certificate at the Conrad N. Hilton College, University of Houston (UH). The competition was sponsored by the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) Foundation and held for students earning their HFTP-UH Global Masters Certificate, a program for candidates of the Master of Science in Global Hospitality Business, a partnership between the University of Houston, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne. The top webinar was titled "Top Strategies to Attract Outbound Chinese Travelers," and was produced by students Nieves Carbon, Yichun Fan, Yilei Sheng, Luc Espaillard.

The webinars were produced over the course of the MS Global Hospitality Business program, where the students were assigned to complete a thorough study on a critical hospitality industry topic. The competitors were then tasked with presenting the results as a webinar. Upon completion, a group of judges from HFTP watched the webinars and voted for the competition winners, identifying the top three.

"The presentation style in each of these webinars were top-tier, addressing incredibly current topics much like what is presented at HFTP conferences," said HFTP Foundation Executive Director Lucinda Hart, CAE, MBA."Without a doubt, these students are entering their careers with a strong background."

The winning teams were announced at a reception on December 12 at the University of Houston. The winners included:

1. Top Strategies to Attract Outbound Chinese Travelers 

Graduate Students: Nieves Carbon, Yichun Fan, Yilei Sheng, Luc Espaillard

2. Virtual Reality Employee Training Webinar
Graduate Students: Heng-Yu Chin, Hava Suchait, Chien-Yao Pai, Etii Bhsin , Siran Liao

3. How Does 5G Affect Hotel the Hotel Industry
Graduate Students: Danique Nijhof, Kanchan Balani, Sofia Gallego de Chaves, Sijia Zhang

The prized webinars are now available to the HFTP membership on the association's ProLinks webinar site. In addition, members of the winning teams will be given a complimentary one-year HFTP membership to help the soon to graduate students navigate their career paths.

Agnes DeFranco, professor and Conrad N. Hilton Distinguished Chair said, "UH is very pleased to partner with HFTP in this competition. HFTP is always at the forefront of providing solutions and ideas for industry issues. This webinar competition is another great example of HFTP, thinking outside the box, working with our young professionals in creating alternative solutions."

About HFTP Foundation

The HFTP Foundation is the newly-established 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 three HFTP Research Centers - Americas, Asia and the Middle East.

About HFTP

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), established in 1952, is a hospitality nonprofit association headquartered in Austin, Texas USA with an offices in the EU. HFTP is recognized as a group supporting the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with an international network of members and stakeholders. HFTP offers expert networks, educational resources, career development programs, research, leadership opportunities and conferences and events. HFTP produces international events throughout the year, including the world's largest hospitality technology tradeshow and conference brand: HITEC. In addition, it oversees the hospitality-specific Pineapplesearch.com® and the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), Hotel-Online and Hospitality Upgrade Magazine. For more information about HFTP, visit www.hftp.org.