The Sustainable Hospitality Challenge is about empowering future leaders to develop solutions that enhance operational efficiency while promoting sustainability.
The Sustainable Hospitality Challenge is the largest global challenge for university students addressing sustainability in the hospitality industry.
It's held every year in a city somewhere in the world.
The challenge provides a global platform that aims to advance sustainable practices in the hospitality sector.
It's also about empowering future leaders to develop solutions that enhance operational efficiency while promoting sustainability.
In 2024, only one Australian university entered the competition in Bangkok.
A team of inventive students from Edith Cowan University's School of Business and Law made it all the way to the semi-finals.
Meet the team: Tia McQueen, Mikayla Fricker, Tosin Ogunmekan and Selvan Pooshandrom ready to impress the judges in the Sustainable Hospitality Challenge.
The hospitality shark tank
The ECU team captured the judges' attention with their pitch for a unique water-saving reverse osmosis system that significantly reduces operational costs for hotels.
They received exceptional feedback for their innovative ideas to reduce costs, conserve water, and enhance sustainability across the hospitality industry.
The team was made up of students from a range of disciplines, including International Hospitality Management, Marketing, Advertising & Public Relations, and the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.
The team's MBA student Selvan Pooshandrom said, "It was so rewarding to see our ideas being heard on an international stage and to contribute to the global conversation on sustainability in hospitality."
Competing teams were required to submit two deliverables, including a short video in the qualifying round, with semi-finalists pitching their concepts to an executive jury made up of senior hospitality industry executives.
Welcome to the hospitality shark tank!
Despite the intense pressure, Marketing, Advertising and PR student Mikayla Fricker said, "I was pleasantly surprised with the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received from the jury members.
"Hearing their thoughts and opinions made the whole experience feel worth it."
In further good news, the team have since been invited to present at the World Travel and Tourism Summit in Perth later this year.
Watch the team’s short video
Creative thinking is the new superpower
ECU in Western Australia is a strong believer in the power of creativity thinking and teaches all their students to be problem-solvers.
Dr Judy Lundy, Management lecturer and Director of the Master of Business Administration program at ECU, was full of pride for the team's accomplishments.
"This success reflects our students' ability to translate academic theories into real-world solutions," she said.
"It underscores the pivotal role of education in nurturing future leaders who drive sustainable innovation."
