The 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Tourism Management Postgraduate Forum was held at the Taipa Campus of City University of Macau from May 13 to 14, 2026. Themed "Emerging Formats and Innovative Models of Cultural and Tourism Integration," the forum attracted submissions from three Year 4 students of the Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management (THEM) programme at Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University (BNBU), Wang Runmo, Lin Yincheng, and Chen Lefeng. Among them, Wang Runmo and Lin Yincheng's co-authored paper was awarded First Prize.

Second from right: Lin Yincheng, THEM Year 4 (Wang Runmo absent)

How Can Tourism Promotions Make Tourists "Feel" the Journey?

Wang Runmo and Lin Yincheng's paper Beyond the Visual: How Crossmodal Cues Shape Tourist Responses Through Narrative Immersion investigates how crossmodal advertising uses visual or textual cues to evoke imagined sensory experiences, such as sound, smell, and touch, thereby enhancing narrative immersion and booking intention. Tested across hotels, food and beverage, wine tourism, and nature attractions, the paper further introduces two novel constructs, "sensory proximity" and "sensory bandwidth," offering a theoretical framework and practical guidance for digital marketing in tourism destinations and hotel brands.

Lin Yincheng, Year 4 THEM student

Wang Runmo, Year 4 THEM student

How Can Cultural Heritage Tell a Better "Local Story"?

Chen Lefeng's paper Localized Narratives and Experience Construction in Cultural Heritage Tourism from a Cultural Layers Perspective: A Case Study of the Songtsam Tibetan Cultural Tourism Brand integrates cultural layers theory with narrative design, constructing a three-dimensional analytical model, "Cultural Layers-Narrative Framework-Experience Dimensions." The study reveals how Songtsam guides tourists from aesthetic perception to emotional resonance and spiritual experience through a progressive narrative across material, social, and core cultural layers, exploring a possible path toward the coexistence of commercial operation and cultural preservation.

Chen Lefeng, Year 4 THEM student

The forum featured a roundtable discussion with editors of internationally renowned academic journals, including Professor Catheryn Khoo, Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Management Perspectives, and Professor Marianna Sigala, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, offering attendees insights into cutting-edge research and academic publishing. For the three students, the experience was both a rigorous test of their research capabilities and a valuable opportunity to engage in in-depth exchanges with young scholars from universities across the Greater Bay Area and beyond. The BNBU THEM programme has long encouraged students to step beyond the classroom and participate in cross-regional academic exchanges, extending their research perspectives to real-world industry and societal needs. The outstanding performance of these three students is a vivid reflection of this commitment.

Jointly organized by the Faculty of International Tourism and Management at City University of Macau and the Department of Tourism Management and Institute for Tourism Development and Planning at South China University of Technology, with support from the Macao Foundation, the event attracted participants from over 30 institutions across Mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, and South Korea. It stands as a key platform for young tourism management scholars in the Greater Bay Area.

Text: Wang Weilu

Photos: Lin Yincheng, Chen Lefeng, Faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau

Editor: Wang Weilu