ASU’s Tourism Student Association hosts ‘fireside chat’

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Listening to industry professionals’ narrating story about their jobs can make you feel disinterested, which is why every semester, Arizona State University’s Tourism Student Association organizes a “fireside chat” session.

“We call our event a fireside (chat) for a particular reason,” said TSA President Valerie Brenes, a business (tourism) major who was managing the event. “And that’s because we don’t want it to feel too formal, like a speech or anything like that.”

This once-a-semester event in the past was arranged around an actual fire. Now, in the background, a video of a crackling fire plays, for in-person and Zoom attendees to take pleasure in.

The theme was innovation in tourism and lodging this night. The fireside chat featured guest speakers from EV Hotel Group. It’s a company that make use of AI and smart technology to get hotels and tourism better.

Founder and CEO, Ken Patel, Chief Impact Officer/NFL player, Jeff Driskel and Global Head of Investments, Nancy Patel were the three guest speakers who took part in person.

The team was invited to tour the ASU Tempe campus in the morning to get an idea about the university along with its community. They commended the innovative approach and charter of ASU.

The students and EV Hotel speakers at the fireside chat talked on different subjects, like the modernization in tourism and it’s future. The team painted a picture of the future of the hotel property which comprises automating routine tasks so that employees can invest their time to more vital works.

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