Proving their worth

DEANA Zafiera Ghazali, Nailah Norrizan and Maisarah Amzah, hospitality and tourism management students from Management & Science University (MSU) did the university proud by winning the Youth Conference Best Paper Award in the 15th Asia Pacific Council on Hotel, Restaurants and Institutional Education (ApacCHRIE) Conference held in Bali, Indonesia from May 31 to June 3.

APacCHRIE is the leading association for hospitality and tourism education in the region. The theme of this year's annual conference was on " Hospitality and Tourism Opportunity and Challenges among the Youth: A Highlight on the Cultural Heritage Tourism".
The conference focused on various aspects of education, training, academic development, opportunities and challenges in the hospitality and tourism industry within a dynamic and challenging global context. It also provides the platform for students from different cultural backgrounds to interact, discuss and exchange ideas, knowledge and practical skills.
The MSU team proved their worth when their research paper "Factors Affecting Customer Loyalty Towards Airlines Industry: Case Study of Malaysia Airlines" beat other participants from Australia, China, Indonesia and Macau for the winning presentation.

According to Deana Zafiera, "It was a memorable experience to be part of this international event. It provided us with the opportunity to gain more knowledge about current issues in the hospitality and tourism industry. It also helped build our confidence level, improved our communication skills, and also made us to be more independent person.
"I would like to thank MSU, our parents, family, project supervisor, lecturers and friends who have given us the motivation and guidance to achieve success in this field."
Personal development is one of the key components instilled in the learning process at MSU to further strengthen the marketability of graduates. This achievement has added another notch to MSU's students success list.