Call for Papers: NextGen Experience Summit 2026 | Hong Kong, 11–13 December 2026
July 25, 2026
The inaugural NextGen Experience Summit 2026, hosted by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, will be held from 11 to 13 December 2026. Its theme is "Reimagining Sports, Tourism, and Beyond".
The experience economy has reshaped how organisations create value, shifting the emphasis from delivering products and services to creating memorable and meaningful experiences. Tourism and hospitality have long stood at the forefront of this shift as the quintessential experience industries, while sport has become one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving sectors. Sport today is more than competition; it is an experience-driven industry where memorable moments, emotional connections, and immersive engagement define value. As technology, fan expectations, and business models evolve, the sector calls for a new generation of leaders able to work at the intersection of sport management, business strategy, and the experience economy. The summit brings together scholars, industry leaders, and practitioners to explore how research, education, and collaboration can shape the future of the experience economy, with a particular focus on sport, tourism, and beyond.
Summit sub-themes
A diverse range of submissions is welcome. Sub-themes to consider include the following.
Eleven sub-themes
Spanning sport, tourism, hospitality, and entertainment across the experience economy.
- 1The experience economyImmersive fan experiences, experience co-creation, sensory design, and memorable moments across sport, tourism, hospitality, and entertainment.
- 2Sport consumer behaviour and the fan economyFan loyalty and identity, Gen Z and emerging segments, experiential marketing, athlete and influencer branding, NIL, storytelling, and new sponsorship categories.
- 3Venues, facilities, events, and hospitalityVenue and destination design, smart facilities, mega-events and festivals, host-city strategy, premium and VIP experiences, and F&B innovation.
- 4Sport tourism and destination experiencesSport-driven destination branding, event and mega-event tourism, cross-border sport travel, integrated resorts, and the sport-tourism-hospitality synergy.
- 5Digital business, analytics, and AIDigital transformation, AI personalisation, OTT and streaming, immersive media (AR/VR), and data commercialisation.
- 6E-sports, betting, and competitive entertainmentE-sports governance, sport-gaming convergence, legalised betting, operator-league partnerships, and competitive integrity.
- 7Retail, merchandise, and licensingMerchandise and licensed products, omnichannel retail, and athlete-driven product lines.
- 8Greater Bay Area sport economy and economic impactCross-border business in sport, tourism, and hospitality, regional mega-events, GBA integration as a global experience hub, impact analysis, and community development.
- 9Active aging, health, well-being, and quality of lifeLifelong sport engagement, wellness tourism, the silver economy, and the role of sport and recreation in physical and mental well-being and community vitality.
- 10Women in sport, DEI, and social responsibilityWomen in sport and hospitality leadership, female fan engagement, gender equity, inclusive experience design, ethical leadership, and sustainability and ESG.
- 11Workforce, talent, and leadership developmentEmployee well-being, career pathways, HR strategy, curriculum innovation, and education across sport, hospitality, and tourism.
Submission format and key dates
Abstracts should not exceed 2,500 words, excluding references, and must be written in English. Submissions must not have been previously published, and the author's name and affiliation should not appear anywhere in the paper. Authors of selected abstracts are invited to give a 15-minute oral presentation in English, accompanied by a slide deck or an alternative medium such as spoken word, documentary, or case study. Submissions are made through ConfTool.
Key dates
Abstracts up to 2,500 words, submitted anonymised through ConfTool.
- Abstract deadline31 August 2026
- Notification28 September 2026
- Summit dates11–13 December 2026, Hong Kong
Questions can be directed to the Academic Program Chair, Prof. Sungwoo Choi, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Chinese University of Hong Kong, at sungwoochoi@cuhk.edu.hk.
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