Wittenborg "Delighted" to be Hosting EuroCHRIE 2021 in Apeldoorn

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences is proud to announce that it will host the prestigious Hospitality and Tourism Educators Conference (EuroCHRIE) in 2021! Hundreds of delegates from around the world are expected to descend on the small Dutch city Apeldoorn in the autumn of 2021 where Wittenborg is located. EuroCHRIE stands for "The European Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education". APaCHRIE is the Asian-Pacific equivalent.

CEO, Maggie Feng, in the Running for Top Position at EuroCHRIE

Meanwhile Wittenborg, led by its CEO Maggie Feng, is working closely with the team behind this year's host city, Aalborg, in Denmark where EuroCHRIE2020 is expected to be held from 5 – 8 October, although organisers are keeping a close eye on the situation around COVID-19. Feng is currently in the running to become EuroCHRIE's Director of Networking & Conference – results of the election will be made public in the next few months.

Opportunity for 100s of Wittenborg Students

"The conference will not only give us the opportunity to interact with researchers and research-minded scholars, but also to share teaching and learning experiences with educators and improve on our practice, so that our students get an even better learning experience," Feng said. "I  expect hundreds of our undergraduate and postgraduate students to get involved in different roles during the conference. This will be a great learning opportunity for business, event, and hospitality students."

Wittenborg's hospitality programmes are some of the most popular among students. Its Hospitality Business Administration pathway offers specialisations of its broad BBA bachelor’s programme, such as Hotel & Hospitality Services Management, Event Management,
Tourism Management, Hospitality Management and Sport Business Management. It also offers a number of joint bachelor’s & master’s degrees with the University of Brighton.

Wittenborg's Manager Event Design EuroCHRIE2021, Shiolim Dsilva, said preparations for 2021 are coming along nicely and on schedule. "I came on board around February this year. We are preparing for different scenarios depending on developments around COVID-19." An important part of the programme would be securing a superb line-up of speakers. According to Dsilva they have already reached out to different high-profile speakers, including the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven.

Theme: Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The theme for EuroCHRIE 2021 is "Thrive on Innovation and Entrepreneurship". This is in line with its main objective of shaping the future of education and industries in hospitality, tourism, event management and culinary art, says Dsilva. "Topics such as data security, robotics, self-service, artificial intelligence, block chain, social innovation all have an impact on these industries. We want delegates to challenge themselves to explore and adopt new methodological perspectives into their research areas under the umbrella of entrepreneurship and innovation."

WUP 16/6/2020
by Anesca Smith
© WUAS Press