CHME 2025 featured a strong roster of award-winning research, recognising innovation, excellence, and social impact. Dr. Maria Gebbels (University of Greenwich) received top honours, earning both the Overall Best Paper Award and the Critical and Cultural Studies of Hospitality category for her paper on fostering early engagement with healthy eating and hospitality careers among primary school children. Her work blended education and community outreach to demonstrate how hospitality values can be nurtured from a young age.
In the Hospitality Management category, researchers from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University presented a data-driven approach to hotel profitability, using a quadratic model to assess OTA versus direct bookings. The Clive Robertson Award for Learning, Teaching and Assessment was shared among academics from NHLStenden, Oxford Brookes, and Edith Cowan University for their exploration of how gender and course types influence entrepreneurial mindsets through live case studies. Additional awards were given in areas such as smart hotel service design (Taylor’s University and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia), employee sustainability competencies (La Laguna and Pula), and strategic tourism partnerships (Ulster University). Notably, the Best Doctoral Paper went to Syahrul Zuhara for research on self-service tech engagement. The Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award (sponsored by Co-Star) was awarded to Dimitri Lera, while Dr. Eden Jiao was named Rising Star in Hospitality Research.
