HCMC – A team of students from RMIT Vietnam outperformed other countries to progress to the final round of the 2022 STR Student Market Study Competition hosted by Smith Travel Research (STR), one of the prominent sources of premium global data benchmarking and market insights for the tourism, hotel, and commercial real estate industries.

The RMIT Vietnam team comprised four third-year students: Dinh Le Bao Ngoc, Nguyen Pham Linh Dan, Pham Ngoc Bich Phuong and Dao Minh Nghia, all currently pursuing a Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management degree on RMIT’s Hanoi campus.

Under the mentorship of RMIT lecturers, Dr. Justin Matthew Pang and Dr. Jackie Ong, the team won the Asia Pacific edition of the STR Student Market Study Competition, beating rivals such as Hong Kong, China and Singapore, advancing to the global competition as a top-10 finalist out of 29 teams worldwide.

“Will the Thai capital of Bangkok be able to ensure business stability for its tourism and hospitality industry post COVID?” was the question that a group of RMIT University Vietnam students set for themselves.

RMIT Vietnam won the Asia Pacific championship for the first time and advanced to the global finals for the third time since 2020.

Each year, STR organizes a virtual market study competition in which students from around the world are asked to analyze different types of hotel and tourism data. The teams will then deliver a professional, quality presentation based on their findings to a panel of senior-level industry judges.