Tourism Speaker Series by Dato' Thangavelu Kuppusamy, Deputy President, Malaysia Tourism Council

As a part of the teaching and learning activity, the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events (SHTE) organized a virtual Tourism Speaker Series entitled ‘Planning and Managing Tourism Project?’ on 3rd May 2021. The session aimed to introduce tourism project planning procedures from the industry’s perspectives. Around 50 students from various programmes such as Bachelor of International Tourism Management (Hons.), Bachelor of International Tourism Management (Hons.) (Events Management) and Foundation in Arts joined this 2-hour session.

Dato' Thangavelu Kuppusamy, Deputy President of Malaysia Tourism Council (MTC) was invited as a Guest Speaker to share his knowledge and experiences in planning and handling the tourism project in a systematic method. This session covered several essential components such as tourism planning, tourism management, marketing strategies, technologies in tourism and cultural tourism of Sarawak.

In tourism planning, he explained the levels of tourism planning (which include international, national, regional and sub-regional levels) and the planning process with relevant tourism project examples. He described the different types or forms of tourism and how the respective tourism stakeholders managed these forms. He also linked the roles of tourism supply and tour operators in this management process. He further explained how technologies had been widely used in tourism to support the development and sustainability of the industries and projects. Furthermore, Dato' Thangavelu provided additional information on the impact of Covid-19 on the Hospitality and Tourism industries and vaccine passport as a potential strategy to overcome the consequences of the pandemic.

The Q&A session became more interactive when the students asked about tourism projects and sustainable matters. Dato' Thangavelu encouraged the students to actively participate in tourism assignments and projects organized by the school and share the outcomes with the respective tourism stakeholders such as the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), Tourism Malaysia, Tour operators. The speaker series was a very insightful and enjoyable session for the students.

TCI Alumni Highlight: Chef Andrew Mah Chen Wei, Michelin Starred Restaurant Executive Chef, France

A successful Alumni of Taylor’s Culinary Institute, Chef Andrew Mah Chen Wei now resides in France and works as an Executive Chef at Hôtél de la Cité: Restaurant La Barbacane in Carcasonne, a 1 Michelin starred restaurant. In January, the restaurant was re-awarded a Michelin Star that they have been awarding for the past 5 years, making them one of the best restaurants in the region. Chef Andrew’s journey began with his studies in Diploma in Culinary Arts, followed by Advanced Diploma in Patisserie & Gastronomic Cuisine at Taylor's University.

This young passionate Chef decided to pursue his dream and landed a job in the South of France. The recipe of his success is cooking with passion, inspiration and creativity. He also believes that growing with the team is one of the keys to his success. Currently, he is into creating fusion gastronomy and it has always been his focus to merge different cultures into French Cuisine.

Andrew is skilled in butchery for both fish and meat, classical and gastronomic cuisine, as well as fusion cuisine, having majored in Chinese and Malaysian cuisine and Garde Manger. The restaurant has also been one of our proud internship placements for the past 10 years partnering with our Advanced Diploma in Patisserie and Gastronomic Cuisine program. This remarkable collaboration has allowed him to share his knowledge and experience with his juniors and guide them through their culinary journey.

Exclusive Workshop for Kryative Innovation Award Participant on “How to Make a 3-Minute Video Pitch"

International Kryative Innovation Award is an Indonesian-based learning platform for young innovators organized in the form of online competitions and collaborations. Its global partners collaborate together in organising this competition during the World Creativity and Innovation Day initiated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Antoon De Rycker, Programme Director of Postgraduate Programmes, School of Media and Communication, Taylor’s University was recently invited to conduct an exclusive workshop entitled “How to Make a 3-minute Video Pitch” for the young participants of KIA 2021.