• The TIM School Celebrates Robert H. Burns� Legacy
• TIM School�s Enrollment On The Rise
• Industry Professionals Lecture at TIM
• Alumni Profiles: TIM Alumni Succeed in the Area of Information Technology and the Travel Industry
• Faculty & Staff Updates

On November 14, 2001, the TIM School honored Robert H. Burns at the 3rd annual �Celebrate a Legacy In Tourism� Fundraiser and Silent Auction. Each year, this event honors an individual who has made significant and long-term contributions to the travel industry. More than 260 key travel industry professionals attended the event.  According to Chuck Gee, dean emeritus of TIM, �Bob Burns played a prominent role of advocacy in getting, what was once a fledgling program in hotel, restaurant and tourism management during the early �60s transformed into our present School of Travel Industry Management under its first dean, the late Dr. Edward M. Barnet.  Mr. Burns was both a staunch friend and advisor to Dr. Barnet and to me when I joined the new UH TIM School in 1967 as the school�s first associate dean and professor of hospitality management. We often called on him for not only advice about the hotel industry and its educational requirements, but also to make available the superb facilities of the former Kahala Hilton to our students for class field trips, internships, and our very first TIM Night��TIM goes Intercontinental.� His help in fundraising for scholarships and other needs was much appreciated. Although TIM students may take paid internships for granted today, in the early �60s Mr. Burns had to do battle with the labor union to establish part-time internships for students at the Kahala. This was no mean feat. From a union perspective at the time, students were perceived as a potential threat in taking away legitimate jobs from full-time workers.� According to Gee, in the early years of the TIM program, the school relied heavily upon industry to provide lecturers to teach professional courses. �Mr. Burns came through for us there as well. As a lecturer, his reputation was one of a spellbinder�mesmerizing and inspiring the first several generations of TIM students who, as graduates in the field, never forgot the lessons he taught. Indeed, it was some of these graduates who thought it was high time we recognized Bob Burns� �legacy in tourism� at TIM and in Hawai�i.� Robert H. Burns is the chairman of the Robert H. Burns Holdings Ltd. He formed Hong Kong based Regent International Hotels in 1970. Before that Burns spent many years in management with Sheraton and Westin Hotels and in 1962 began eight years with Hilton International Hotels as general manager of the Kahala Hilton Hotel in Honolulu.  He also was a faculty member at the University of Hawai�i at Manoa and has written and lectured throughout the Pacific and Asia for the U.S. State Department and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). He has served as president of the Hawaii Hotel Association, as director and vice-chairman of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau and Chairman of the World Travel & Tourism Council. The TIM School honored Burns for his pioneering efforts in the development of the School, his service on the TIM Advisory Board and his contributions to tourism in the State of Hawai�i. The �Celebrate A Legacy In Tourism� Fundraiser and Silent Auction featured Pacific Rim cuisine, entertainment and a silent auction with selections ranging from worldwide travel packages to gourmet dining packages. Danny Kaleikini, who with Burns, helped boost international recognition of the Kahala Hilton Hotel, fittingly emceed the event. The event was sponsored by TIM International, Inc., the TIM School alumni association, which supports the School in its educational mission and represents the interests of the travel industry in the community. Proceeds from the event will benefit the TIM School and the TIM International, Inc. Scholarship Program.

TIM School�s Enrollment On The Rise -

October�s Netlinks function was a tremendous success with the participation of 125 student-industry pairs,� she said. �Of course, our secret weapon is Secretary Elena Tom, who does an excellent job of supporting staff and students,� she added.

According to Dr. Liu, high school counselors were invited to an orientation at the TIM School for the first time in spring, and they were very favorably impressed by what the school has to offer. At the end of the spring semester, she administered an online exit survey by Nobscot Corporation to graduating seniors, thus providing immediate feedback on the student experience. The highest agreement on the questionnaire was that respondents would recommend the TIM school. �We know this is true,� says Liu, �since two of our outstanding alumni, both GMs, have sent their children to TIM this fall.�

Not content to rest on these laurels, Liu says, �We still can do more.� The School plans to offer parent orientations and participate in community events including providing awards to high school students in areas such as technology, in order to increase awareness of the quality of learning at the TIM School.�

Several industry professionals are currently sharing their unique perspectives and invaluable experiences in the travel industry with TIM students.

Pat Kramm is teaching a course on hospitality management. Ms. Kramm is currently the director of training at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Her previous positions included reception manager with the Royal Hawaiian and the director of rooms division with the Ala Moana Hotel. She has accrued an extensive hotel operations background with major international hotel chains in the areas of executive housekeeping and rooms management, with assignments based in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, US mainland and Hawai�i. Ms. Kramm earned a BA in English Literature from the University of Singapore. She has been an instructor of the TIM School�s Hawaii International Hotel Institute (HIHI) since its inauguration in  1984. She also delivers Neighbor Island TIM seminars in the areas of cultural sensitivity and diversity in the workplace and training the trainers seminars.

Ed Wary is teaching a class entitled �Advance Management and Policy in the Hospitality Industry.� Mr. Wary is the owner/operator of Auntie Pasto�s and Dixie Grill. He sits on the board of directors for the National Restaurant Association, representing the State of Hawai�i. He has served as president of the Hawaii Restaurant Association. Mr. Wary also was a key partner in bringing the Outback Steak House to Hawai�i, along with Roy Yamaguchi.

Mr. Wary is one of the first TIM graduates to become an independent restaurant owner/operator and is the first TIM graduate and Hawai�i resident to complete the Foodservice Management Professional (FMP) certification program.

Kamealoha Smith-Hanohano is teaching a course on Management by Hawaiian Cultural Values. Mr. Smith-Hanohano earned an MA in Japanese Language from the University of Hawai�i at Manoa and a BA in Asian Studies from Hawaii Pacific University.  He assisted the Starwood Hotel chain in designing and implementing a Hawaiian hospitality and language training program for over 6,000 employees, resulting in this year�s �Keep It Hawaii� award in the historic perservation category.

As Stacy Aliapoulios was completing his studies at the TIM School, he worked full time for Sheraton Hotels in Hawaii as a guest services manager. After graduation, Stacy was transferred to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, as the reception manager at the Hotel Imperial. He worked a total of thirteen years for Sheraton Hotels. After much deliberation, Stacy decided to leave Sheraton and move on to Passkey, where he is now the director of hotel operations.

Passkey is an application service provider (ASP). They provide Internet-based software that runs citywide convention housing for convention bureaus, third-party vendors and hotels. Passkey is currently the leader in the group housing space and the only meeting planner resource that is able to host a live group reservation system and be accessible to meeting planners, participating hotels, convention and visitors bureaus and housing and travel suppliers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company employs 60 people and is privately owned by its employees and investors. Passkey has a four-year history of providing leading technology to the housing industry and was started by a group of people, which included former hoteliers. It now handles more than 1.4 million reservations and is available in more than 2000 Passkey-enabled hotels.

It is apparent that technology is shaping the way travel industry executives do business. When asked about his thoughts on technology and the future of the travel industry, Stacy replied, �In travel, if companies do not harness technology via the Internet, they will not be in business.�

Stacy sees customer service as the largest challenge for technology in the travel industry. The S.M.E.R.F.(social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal) market has not adjusted to the idea of transacting online. Many still feel they need a warm body to talk to, such as a call center. These call centers are expensive and many are tremendously understaffed. Even in a good economy, call centers are hard to run. Additional challenges Internet-based companies are facing include the economy and safety.

Stacy�s advice for those interested in entering this ever-changing field is to �pursue those firms that understand the Internet and work hard to use it intelligently�pursue companies that are solvent and make money.� Congratulations to Stacy and his success with Passkey.

Richard Johnson,   Hotel Online

The discovery of colleges that actually offered four-year degrees in Hotel Management in the library of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was the starting block of Richard Johnson�s career. It was at that point Richard, who also worked as a night auditor at the local Holiday Inn, knew exactly what he wanted to do. After much convincing, his parents allowed him to transfer to UH and enroll in the TIM School in 1969. After graduating in 1971, Richard had the opportunity to work for a number of properties including Caneel Bay Plantation in the US Virgin Islands, the Mauna Kea Beach Resort, the Metro Hotels in Dallas, Innco Hospitality in Wichita, Embassy Suites in Palm Springs, and was part owner of the Crossroads Hotel in Huron, South Dakota.

In 1996, Richard�s wife signed up for America Online for their home PC. This is where Hotel Online began. Hotel Online is run by Richard Johnson from the comfort of his home.

Hotel Online is a news and information source on the Internet for hotel owners, operators and upper-level management. It is advertising-supported and provides the latest and most relevant news, trends, discussion forums, employment opportunities, and classified advertising available anywhere. There are currently 17,000 subscribers. Each weekday, subscribers are e-mailed the latest industry news. 

Richard has seen hotel operations move from being completely manual, using hand ledgers, index cards and Monroe calculators, to being completely computerize. Richard�s advice to students interested in excelling in the hotel business is �enroll in technology-related classes�as every aspect of the hotel is now technology driven.� Not only that, the technology used is constantly being updated and fine-tuned based on the customer and hotel needs. To learn more about Hotel Online visit their web site at www.hotel-online.com.

Alex Kong,   Asiatravelmart

In 1997, Alex Kong founded Asiatravelmart Sdn. Bhd. And created Asiatravelmart.com. Asiatravelmart.com has been recognized for igniting a revolution in the travel industry by being Asia�s Number One Online Travel Marketplace, with more than 110,000 travel products in over 200 countries over 4,000 suppliers. A vast database of destinations and useful travel information and services is available at the users� fingertips. Asiatravel-mart. com is the one-stop mall for travel needs - air tickets, tour packages, transfers, hotel bookings, meals and car rentals. This service provides users worldwide access to an exhaustive library of destination guides, resources and the latest travel-related news. It also offers users the convenience of making real-time travel reservations at a mouse-click, 24-hours a day with wholesale prices, which could save the customers up to 80 percent of traveling costs.

Alex sees the future of the travel industry being continually changed by technology. Technology is altering the way business is conducted and has shifted the balance of power in the buy-sell equation by providing customers with more options, more information and more control. Technology and innovation are very important and must be able to service better, faster and cheaper beyond the national boundaries.

Alex discovered his passion for travel and the travel industry when he became a tour guide at age 14. He has strategically charted his career path and joined the travel industry upon graduation. Alex now holds 17 years of experience, gathered from working in an international destination management company, ticketing and outbound wholesale travel agency, as well as opening a Rainforest Lodge in Borneo. Alex�s comments for those interested in entering the field of technology in the travel industry are: technology changes the rules, those armed with the best knowledge will always win; move with the technology and equip yourself with every inch of knowledge that follows; one must be very open-minded, be innovative and creative and one must also be a doer and a great visionary leader.

In addition to Asiatravelmart.com, Alex has founded and serves as Managing Director of KC Information Technology (M) Sdn. Bhd, an e-commerce solutions provider that specializes in Web and e-commerce technologies.

Suzan Koa,   Asia Travel Network Ptd Ltd.

Suzan Koa completed her Bachelors in Travel Industry Management atthe University of Hawai�i in 1994 after being awarded the Prestigious Singapore Tourism Board overseas scholarship. Suzan went on to work in the area of international travel marketing. She was the Director for Southern China and Hong Kong at the Singapore Tourism Board in Hong Kong. In this position she spear- headed the Boards� marketing activities in Southern China and Hong Kong. She was with the Singapore Tourism Board for six years working in the areas of research, event marketing and market promotion. In 2000, Suzan Koa joined Asia Travel Network Ptd Ltd. (ATNPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Aisatravelmart Sdn Bhd (ATM), as the managing director. ATNPL is the appointed principal agent for ATM�s AFOOFA Solutions, Asia�s leading travel technology solution. The company has offices in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong and is backed by prestigious investors such as Merrill Lynch, Citicorp Capital, AsiaTech Internet Group and Shun Tak Holdings and currently employs 150.

AFOOFA Solutions services travel-related companies such as travel agents, hotels, airlines and travel portals, as well as multinational corporate companies. Suzan�s responsibilities include charting the strategic direction of the company and developing the Asia Pacific market for AFOOFA�s Solutions. She spearheads the sales and marketing of AFOOFA Solutions� travel technology products such as Business Travel Management System (BTMS) and online-travel booking engines. 

Suzan sees the greatest challenge in the area of technology in the travel industry as overcoming the mindset and thinking of the consumers and the members of the travel industry. When asked about her feelings of the future of technology in the travel industry she said, �Technology will always be a tool, a means towards generating new revenue sources and building the business from non-traditional channels as well as a way to reach out and service your customers in a more efficient and productive way. As such, I doubt technology will ever completely replace the intermediaries, like travel agents, as the world is not perfect, information is not perfect. As long as the travel agents can value-add and change their financial model for their business, they�ll be able to leverage on technology to make themselves relevant in the new Internet world.�

Chuck Gee continues to keep busy despite his retirement. His current works include a project with PriceWatersCoopers Global, in Sydney, Australia, in developing a 20-year tourism vision and master plan for New South Wales. Other projects include conducting an Educating the Educator Conference for Taiwan with Dr. Chris Cooper, chairman of Tourism Management at the University of Queensland. Chuck Gee is also participating in the redevelopment of Sunmoon Lake, one of the top ten tourist attractions in Taiwan. He also will be traveling to China as a member of the Department of Business Economics Development and Tourism (DBEDT) Trade Mission in December. During this trip, Chuck Gee will address recent trends in tourism and discuss how Hawai�i can help the development of tourism in China. Additionally, the University of Hawai�i will market itself to China as a place to study.

Dr. Fred Collison

Dr. Collison recently presented a paper on accreditation for graduate programs at a conference on graduate education research in Atlanta, Georgia and presented a paper at the Hawaii Conference on Business on Trans-Pacific Aviation Trends. Dr. Collison also presented a paper to the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) and the Airline Facilitations Council on trends in trans-pacific aviation as they affect Hawai�i. He also wrote a column for the Star-Bulletin recently on the current difficulties facing Air New Zealand. Other projects he is currently working on include hotel development in American Samoa and tourism development on the Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Islands. Dr. Collison will be on sabbatical leave in the spring.

Dr. Dexter Choy

Dr. Choy continues to conduct executive seminars throughout the Asia-Pacific region. His most recent seminars were held in Taipei and Jakarta. He also was asked to return to the Macau Institute of Tourism as a visiting professor. Over the past year, Dr. Choy has been working with the Ministry of Tourism of Sarawak, Malaysia to evaluate their goals and strategies for tourism development. Future projects that Dr. Choy is planning include updating research previously done on the Pacific Islands and completing a book on tourism development in Hawai�i and the Pacific Islands.

Dr. Misty Johanson

Dr. Johanson is chair of the undergraduate curriculum committee, responsible for evaluating and refining the undergraduate curriculum. She is also teaching a new core course, �Financial Management for the Travel Industry.� Papers recently published by Dr. Johanson include �Resort Marketing to the Members of the Baby Boom Generation: How to Attract and Retain this Affluent Market,� published in the Journal of Applied Hospitality Management, �Empirical Analysis Identifying Resort Marketing Demands: Implication for the Human Resource Development of Employees� and �A Trend Analysis of Vacationing and its Impacts on Resort Marketing,� both in the Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing. Other concepts she will be working on in the future include human resource issues associated with the effectiveness of training methods, job stress, job security, and emotional labor within the hospitality industry. Dr. Johanson has recently been appointed to the editorial board for the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education. Congratulations to Dr. Johanson on one of her greatest accomplishments, the birth of her daughter, Chloe, on April 16th!

Dr. Pauline Sheldon

Dr. Sheldon, the TIM School�s interim dean, continues to be featured in a number of conferences focusing on tourism and the travel industry. In late September, Dr. Sheldon was a keynote speaker at the World Tourism Organization (WTO) General Assembly in Seoul, Korea. At this conference, she spoke on the topic of �Sustainability, Security and Technology: Policy and Issues.� In February of 2002, Dr. Sheldon will be attending the 12th annual Council for Australian Tourism and Hospitality Education Research Conference as a keynote speaker in Western Australia. Additionally, Dr. Sheldon sits on the HVCB board and the board of the National Tourism Foundation � Education Committee and is now co-editor of the Journal of Information Technology and Tourism. She was guest editor of a special issue of the Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, focusing on the Internet and the travel industry, and published an article entitled �Data Mining Techniques and Tourism Internet Marketing,� co-authored with Ignacio Olmeda.

Dr. Juanita Liu

This year, Dr. Liu presented a paper entitled �A New Methodology for Valuating the Economic Impact of Culture in Tourism,� at the 40th Annual Conference of the Western Regional Science Association in Palm Springs, CA. She also gave a keynote address on the tourism retail sector at the conference. As interim associate dean she has added to the TIM curriculum by scheduling new course offerings such as service quality management and Hawaiian cultural values. She was given the task of implementing the School�s new graduate online certificate program, which will be offered in January 2002. She works closely with Assistant Director of Professional Programs Rachel Soma to offer programs for professional and executive training. In summer 2002 the HIHI program will offer new courses on time-share management and emergency management for the travel industry. Dr. Liu also assists faculty in grant writing and is coordinating research projects on the Pacific Islands and Haunama Bay.

Dr. B.J. Wie

Dr. Wie has recently been appointed the associate editor of the new economic journal, Networks and Spatial Theory: A Journal of Infrastructure Modeling and Computation. He also is an international editorial board member of the Korean Society of Civil Engineers� (KCSE) Journal of Civil Engineering, and he continues to serve as an editorial board member of the International Journal of Transportation Research. His current research includes the application of dynamic game theory to optimally determine congestion tolls in areas of air, rail, water and automobile transportation.

His recent papers accepted for publication include: �The Existence, Uniqueness and Computation of an Arc-Based Dynamic Network User Equilibrium Formulation� and �A Diagonalization Algorithm for Solving the Dynamic Network User Equilibrium Traffic Assignment Model.� Additionally, Dr. Wie has a paper under review for publication, titled �Dynamic Stackelber Equilibrium Congestion Pricing.�

Dr. Daniel Spears

Dr. Spears is the principle investigator for an $8,000 grant award: �Learning Out-comes Assessment of Constituencies at the School of Travel Industry Management.� He has been appointed to the University of Hawaii�s Faculty Senate for 2001-2002 and belongs to the Athletic Committee, which reviews gender issues in the athletic department. Dr Spears also is the faculty advisor for the UH Chapter of the Club Managers of America Association (CMAA). The local chapter was awarded $2,950 by the ASUH for a wine-tasting event to be held on January 25 at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider. (For more information on the wine tasting event, e-mail Matt Yokota at myokota@ hawaii.edu.)

Book and article reviews recently completed by Dr. Spears include: �The Strategy Focused Organization,� Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, �Use of the World Wide Web in Marketing Australian Dedicated Convention Centers,� Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing and a review of �Service Management: Adding Value Through Technology,� for a book published by Prentice Hall.

Dr. Spears continues to focus heavily on technology�s role in service quality and marketing and looks forward to incorporating service quality management into the School�s curriculum.

Dr. Mark Hukill

Under the direction of Dr. Hukill, the Gee Technology Learning Center is making good progress. The stages of specification and blueprint development for the Center are completed. The area in George Hall where the Center will be built is already cleared and ready for renovation. The Center will be equipped with state-of-the-art video-conferencing and multimedia equipment to support the School�s curriculum and programs which reflect developments in the travel industry that is becoming increasingly dependent on information technologies. The Center will also be used for distance education programs and will house a tourism knowledge database for the Pacific-Asia region to assist researchers in their studies. The Center is expected to be ready for use in May 2002. Dr. Hukill was the program chair for the recent �Hospitality Travel Toward New Technology� Conference.

Russell Uyeno

As the faculty advisor for TIM Night 2002, Russell Uyeno and his team of students are already planning for the big event. Russell also is leading the TIM School�s recruitment efforts and has attended international college fairs in Kobe and Tokyo, Japan. Assisting in these international college fairs were TIM alumni Kain Ouchi and Sawa Hiraizumi.

Laurel Leslie

Chef Laurel Leslie, WPC, CPC, continues to teach the TIM food service courses. Professor Leslie finds her students the most enjoyable aspect of her position at the TIM School and feels her responsibility is �to help the students do their jobs better�act as a support position for the students.� Chef Leslie enjoys teaching so much, she is now offering beginning, intermediate and advanced cake decorating classes on Sundays at the Ben Franklin store in Kailua.

Peter Leong

Peter Leong has been appointed to the new position of distance education specialist, to further the School�s initiatives in the area of Information technology and the travel industry. Leong�s most current project includes implementing the School�s new online graduate certificate program, to begin in January 2002. In addition to coordinating the e-TIM program curriculum, marketing, registration and web page design, Leong will also assist in the development and implementation of programs for the Gee Technology Learning Center.