With the desire of developing students and providing them a well-rounded educational experience, the College of Hospitality and Institutional Management of Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU-CHIM) organized its 4th CHIM MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions/Events) National Students’ Conference last October 17 to 19, 2018 at the Peninsula Manila Hotel. The event gathered a pool of notable speakers who spoke on topics focused on the conference theme: “Tourism and Hospitality Industry Landscape in the Connectivity Era”, a subject relevant to students as the said industry is strongly influenced by technology today.
DAY 1
The first day of the conference, attended by CHIM students from the Quezon City Campus, was opened by the Dean of CHIM, Dr. Ignacio C. Cordova, Jr. who delivered the welcome remarks and introduced keynote speaker Czarina Zara-Loyola, Director of the Office of Tourism Development Planning, Research and Information Management. She delivered an encouraging speech about the current growth and impact of the country’s tourism that inspired the audience to pursue a career in the tourism business.
This speech was followed by talks about: Game Changing Technologies in Tourism and Hospitality in Industry 4.0 by Kim Arana of Fasttrack Solutions Inc.; Revolutionizing MICE and Event Experience in the Digital Age by Raymund Recto of Big Shift Creativ Centrale; Food and Kitchen Management in the Digital Ecosystem by Chef Rency De Jesus; and Skills Revolution 4.0 in the Aviation Industry by Beth Ramos and Juan Paulo Gomes of OMNI Aviation.
DAY 2
The second day of the conference was for the Valenzuela and Cabanatuan CHIM students. The panel discussion was an engrossing exchange of thoughts, and was composed of respected speakers namely, Chrishalie Mae Cailao of Accenture, John Cristoper Aguilar of Asiana Airlines, Drake Dryden Mangahas of the ALC Hotel Group, and Andrew John Fernandes of Hennan Group of Resorts. OLFU President, Dr. Caroline S. Enriquez, along with the OLFU Campus Administrators, also made an appearance to show their support for the esteemed event.
DAY 3
The third and last day was for the Antipolo CHIM students who had the same series of activities as the first day participants.
In addition to the plenary speakers over the three days of MICE, Memorandums of Agreement with OLFU were formalized— on Day 1 with OMNI Aviation, and on Day 2 with Rajah Travel Corporations. These alliances open avenues to wider learning experiences for OLFU CHIM students.
