HTM students book their ticket to case competition Finals in Dubai

Three Ted Rogers School Hospitality and Tourism Management students have successfully advanced in the international Sustainable Hospitality Challenge – booking their ticket to the Finals in Dubai.  

The Sustainable Hospitality Challenge, organized by the Netherland’s Hotelschool The Hague and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, empowers the next generation of hospitality professionals to push the boundaries of innovation to create value-added solutions that will contribute to a more sustainable world and hospitality landscape.

This year’s event, which took place virtually March 31, 2021, featured students from 17 hospitality business schools from around the world competing in the semi-finals. Each school had two minutes to pitch an innovative idea, and two minutes to respond to questions.

As the population continues to grow and the risk of overtourism increases, Ted Rogers School students Michelle Novotny (HTM alumna and MScM student), Raina Patel and Brian Riback pitched their idea to instill values of the “Slow Movement” (external link, opens in new window)  within students through academics, work and lifestyle as a potential solution to change the industry.

Their innovative idea landed them a spot in the Finals for the competition, which is taking place at the Arabian & African Hospitality Investment Conference (AHIC) in Dubai in late September.

This is not the first time a team from the Ted Rogers School competed at the Finals for this event. HTM students Annie Bird and Jasmine Burji won the Sustainable Hospitality Challenge last year.