From October 28 to 30, 2026, the Future Hoteliers Summit 2026 was grandly held at Beijing Hospitality Institute. Two students from the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management (FHTM) at Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), Xie Xin and Han Yuewen, attended the summit under the guidance of Assistant Professor Wang Shuo. They were randomly grouped with outstanding contestants from universities across the region and engaged in cross-institutional collaboration around the theme "Blend Boundaries, Reshape Hotels."
FHTM faculty member and students participating the event. From Left: Xie Xin, Assistant Professor Wang Shuo, Han Yuewen.
This year's summit focused on the deep integration of hospitality with culture and tourism technology, intangible cultural heritage, wellness and community services, aiming to help the traditional hotel industry break through development bottlenecks and achieve innovation-driven upgrading. The summit's core competition segment, the "Peak Showdown," adopted a cross-institutional random grouping format, requiring contestants to design comprehensive operational proposals for cross-industry hospitality innovation, which were then fiercely contested through team presentations and expert Q&A sessions.
Group photo of the Excellence Award Recipients (Han Yuewen, first from the right)
Han Yuewen's team turned their attention to the cross-industry integration of wellness and culture-tourism. The team proposed a cooperation model leveraging local hotel resources in Sanya in partnership with professional wellness institutions, designing tailored wellness and cultural experience products for young travelers, families with children, international tourists, and senior citizens. With "Traditional Chinese Medicine wellness" as its core differentiator, the proposal effectively controlled costs through festive marketing, cross-industry partnerships, and phased small-scale pilot programs, while dynamically adjusting product offerings based on participation and satisfaction data. Demonstrating innovative thinking that combines market potential with practical feasibility, the team was ultimately awarded the Excellence Award.
Group photo of the Second Prize and the Best Popularity Award Recipients (Xie Xin, second from the left)
Xie Xin and her teammates jointly completed the proposal "Hearing Peace: A Cross-Border Innovation Plan Integrating Urban Music into Hotel Operations." Centered on the philosophy of "One Hotel, One City; One City, One Sound," the proposal drew on the profound jazz culture of Peace Hotel Shanghai, systematically integrating urban music into hotel operational scenarios. The team designed a five-step experiential journey of "Listen, Learn, Create, Perform, and Enjoy," anchored by a 60-minute music co-creation workshop as the core product, organically connecting dining, performances, and accommodation. With its innovative four-party co-creation mechanism, rigorous eight-week lightweight pilot, and robust copyright risk-control system, the proposal established a standardized operational model replicable and scalable across different cities. Highly recognized by the judges for its innovation, feasibility, and cultural value, the team advanced to the on-site "Peak Showdown" defense session and ultimately won the Second Prize and the Best Popularity Award.
The Second Prize and the Best Popularity Award Certificates
These achievements fully demonstrate the well-rounded capabilities of FHTM students in cross-industry integration, experience design, and teamwork, and also reflect the Faculty's teaching achievements in using competitions as a platform to deeply integrate theory with practice. Going forward, the Faculty will continue to support students in participating in high-level professional competitions, cultivating more outstanding talent with innovative vision for the hotel and culture-tourism industries.
