Following the launch, the President of the Travel and Hospitality Alumni Group Ho Shyn Yee shared with OAR more about the Group.

Congratulations on a successful launch of the Travel and Hospitality Alumni Group! You mentioned in your speech that this event took a couple of months of planning behind the scenes, but the idea behind the alumni group took several years in the making. Please share with us more about this.

Thank you very much – we are still in a daze at the tremendous success of the launch! Indeed, the idea of setting up the Travel and Hospitality Alumni group was first hatched about 7-8 years ago over a conversation I had with Mr. Ho Kwon Ping. Mr. Ho and I speak frequently about the importance of giving back through the alumni, and I have always been passionate about connecting alumni within the industry and with the wider professional network at-large. As you know, given that we have only 12 years of graduates, the SMU Alumni as a group is quite young. It took a while before we reached critical mass and for the most experienced of us to reach mid-upper management. Now we’re ready to bring everyone together and do some amazing things.

What are the plans for the Group? What can members look forward to in the coming months? 

The official launch is only really the beginning. We have exciting plans ahead, including leadership panels, breakfast talks, professional development workshops, more networking sessions, participation and partnerships at industry conferences etc. There is also significant interest from companies and prominent hotel school alumni groups to collaborate with us – the opportunities are limitless at this point. Looking at the next few months, we have negotiated discounted rates for the alumni to watch the opening show of local theatre production company W!ld Rice’s epic production “Hotel” on June 29th and 30th (http://www.wildrice.com.sg/productions/168-hotel). We are also partnering with a group of industry volunteers to organize a one-day conference/ seminar on August 27th called “Tern” (http://tern.online/). The conference will include industry insights from travel leaders, cover key trends and issues in talent attraction/ retention, and offer practical how-to skills on landing that dream job in travel and sustaining the passion. Undergrads, young professionals and any industry professional looking to remain relevant in their careers will find the conference insightful and beneficial.

We love the idea of the aeroplane balloons launched into the sky, what is the symbolism?

When one thinks of travel, one thinks of exploration - airplanes, hotels, cruises, rail, cars, local activities etc. We chose to release a few helium-filled airplane balloons during the ceremonial launch to symbolize the Travel and Hospitality Alumni Group taking flight and reaching greater heights.

How can an alumnus join the Group if they are in the travel or hospitality industry? Whom can they contact? 

Any alumnus currently in, previously was or are keen to join the travel and hospitality industry are more than welcomed to join us. Please feel free to contact us at SMUTravelandHospitalityAlumni@gmail.com and stay updated on our activities on our Linkedin Group page. We will also be sending out e-mailers to keep our database updated.