The Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management from the Universiti Teknologi MARA Pulau Pinang Branch has successfully organised the 3rd Penang International Conference on Hospitality 2023 at PARKROYAL Resort Penang from 13th to 14th September 2023. The conference is co-organised with (1) Technical Vocational Education and Training Division, Ministry of Education Malaysia, (2) Department of Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, (3) Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 4) Department of Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management, IOWA State University, United States of America, (5) Faculty of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand, and (6) Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia. Additionally, the conference received tremendous support and sponsors from the Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Tourism Malaysia, UiTM Technoventure Sdn Bhd, Seberang Perai City Council, Dandy Modern Food, Hotel UiTM Shah Alam, Cyberview Resort and Spa, Ancasa Residences and Ancasa Hotels and Resorts, Malaysia.
3rd PItCH 2023, themed Recovery and Resilience: Strengthening the Hospitality and Tourism Industry through Sustainable Development Goals, attracted more than 150 participants from different states in Malaysia and various countries joined the conference via pre-recorded video or physical presentation. The participants submitted their abstracts and full papers in any of the four tracks: (a) sustainable health and wellbeing, (b) sustainable education and human capital, (c) sustainable innovation and economic development, and (d) sustainable environment and natural resources. The four tracks reflected the conference organisers’ determination to ensure the industry’s recovery and resilience.
Dr Nur Hidayah Che Ahmat, the Conference Chair and Director remarked that “the conference serves as a platform for strengthening international collaboration and knowledge transfer between industry players, academicians and students”. The two-day conference covered two physical keynote sessions by Professor Dr. Susan Wohlsdorf Arendt (Director of Online Learning, Iowa State University, United States of America) and Associate Professor Dr Norzuwana Sumarjan (Dean, Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, UiTM Selangor Branch), two parallel sessions, and a dinner and award ceremony. In addition to that, all the pre-recorded video presentations and the three pre-recorded keynotes by Professor Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu (Dean, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, USF Muma College of Business), Professor Dr. Barry O’Mahony (Dean, College of Business, Abu Dhabi University), and Mr Ashwin Gunasekaran (Chief Executive Officer, Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau) are available on the conference website (https://www.pitchpenang.com).
The conference organiser promoted Malaysian culture during the dinner and award ceremony, as most participants wore national costumes. The event’s highlight was the “silat semerap” performance during the opening and cultural dance at the end of the dinner, performed by the Wak Long Music and Art and the delegates on stage. It is hoped that this international conference will become a stepping stone for more collaborative efforts between the institutions and countries.