Yao-Chin Wang, assistant professor of hospitality innovation at the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, received two awards at the 2018 annual conference of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education in Palm Springs, California.

The ICHRIE annual conference is the largest international conference in the hospitality academy.

On July 27, Wang received both the Conference Best Reviewer Award, and the Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing Award from the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Cases.

This year, the Conference Best Reviewer Award was given to five outstanding scientific paper reviewers on different paper tracks. Wang was awarded for his review works on Marketing track. The Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Cases is an international refereed journal published by ICHRIE, edited by three senior hospitality scholars, respectively from Europe, Asia, and America.

The Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing Award for the journal was given to six reviewers from around the world. These two awards Wang won highlighted the research vigorousness and reputation for the University of Arkansas at the 2018 ICHRIE annual conference. Wang was also the winner of the Best Conference Paper Award at the 2017 ICHRIE annual conference. Wang has been a member of the ICHRIE conference since 2013.

During the 2018 ICHRIE annual conference, Wang also presented two papers. He is the single author for an oral presentation of his paper titled "A Theory of Loyalty Matrix for Hotel Brands." He also presented a poster as the first author of a paper titled "Hospitality Students' Cross-Cultural Course Experiences, Cultural Intelligence, and Attitudes toward Cross-Cultural Working Environments."

"I am very grateful for the research resources that the University of Arkansas provides," said Wang. "Northwest Arkansas is by far the best location for me to conduct my research work, not only for its richness and vibrancy in industry-related issues, but also for its incomparably diverse and refreshing natural environment that offers incredible mental recovery."