The tourism and hospitality industry plays an important role in the world economy and significantly contributes to the global employment market. IIF has established a Tourism and Hospitality Section (THS) to enhance the impact of tourism and hospitality forecasting in academia and industries globally. The THS is a community composed of academics and practitioners interested in various aspects of tourism and hospitality forecasting.

THS will organize special sessions at ISFs to build a platform for tourism and hospitality forecasters to present their latest research to a global audience and to inspire research ideas and collaborations by discussions with researchers from different disciplines. THS is more than happy to host early career researchers and PhD students who represent the next-generation of forecasters by attending and presenting their studies.

THS welcomes researchers and practitioners from across the world to work together on tourism and hospitality forecasting.

THS committee

Chair: Ulrich Gunter Modul University Vienna, Austria
Past Chair: Doris Chenguang Wu Sun Yet-Sen University, China
Vice Chair: Anyu Liu, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Vice Chair: Andrea Saayman, North-West University, South Africa
Secretary: Hanyuan Zhang, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Upcoming Events

Announcement of the PhD Forecasting Hackathon

We are proud to announce the PhD Forecasting Hackathon, hosted by the Tourism and Hospitality section of the International Institute of Forecasters at the prestigious International Symposium on Forecasting at 10am-5pm on June 30, 2024. This hackathon will challenge you to unleash your forecasting skills and predict the future of the hospitality industry in Hong Kong.

The task is to forecast the Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) for hotels in different categories in Hong Kong, spanning from April 2023 to December 2023. RevPAR is a crucial metric that measures a hotel’s financial performance, and accurate forecasting can have a significant impact on strategic decision-making and resource allocation. The historical data of RevPar will be provided and participants are allowed to use any publicly available data sources in addition to the provided dataset. Participants can compete individually or in teams of up to 4 members. The top-performing individuals or teams will receive a cash prize up to 300 euros.  Please feel free to register at https://forms.gle/M64DmsTXehQeg3Cp9.  More information can be found here.  Should you have any enquires, please feel free to email THSIIF@outlook.com.

Contacts
Dr. Ulrich Gunter Ulrich.Gunter@modul.ac.at
Dr. Anyu Liu an-yu.liu@polyu.edu.hk

Past Events

Tourism Forecasting Competition amid COVID-19 Round II: Recovery of the Chinese Outbound Travel Market from the Pandemic July 31, 2023

Tourism and Hospitality Forecasting in Turbulent Times May 5, 2021 Available on YouTube

Co-organized by Tourism and Hospitality Section, International Institute of Forecasters, Centre for Competitiveness of the Visitor Economy, University of Surrey