Last week, I was honorably invited to share my research on strategies to maintain hospitality value in self-service technology in the Asian Institute of Tourism (AIT), University of the Philippines.
My story with AIT began over a decade ago, first as a curious sit-in student, then as a private student for one semester. It was here that I found the social phenomena of tourism & hospitality - the act of people (leisurely) moving from one place to another and the interactions between hosts and guests - fascinating. In 2019, AIT also gave me the chance to stand at the front of a classroom, where I experienced the joy (and challenge) of college teaching for the first time. Those experiences sparked a dream that eventually led me to pursue a PhD at Fox School of Business at Temple University and, today, to become part of the top school faculty at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Returning to AIT to share my research felt like coming home. I’m incredibly grateful to Dr. @Edieser Dela Santa, Dean @Giovanni Francis Legaspi, and andre joseph anthony alip for their generous invitation, and my other AIT friends and faculty/students from @UP Diliman Dept. of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management who joined my talk and/or came to support.
Thank you, AIT, for being more than the starting point of a dream but a home!