‘Professor-for-a-Day’: An Initiative to Nurture Communities of Learning and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism

Inviting industry professionals as speakers to university classrooms for the benefit of future managers is essential to an applied field of higher learning. This study examines the role of ‘Professor-for-a-Day’ in nurturing communities of learning and practice in hospitality and tourism education at the university level. Data were collected (auto-) ethnographically over five years (2012–2017) in Hong Kong, through in-depth interviews with guest speakers from the industry, subject lecturers who invite industry executives to their classes, and students who are exposed to these industry professionals. Simultaneously, participant observations of, and documentary sources about, industry executives’ guest lectures are also used in the analysis and report. The research results reiterate and reinforce the role of industry professionals as guest speakers in building communities of learning and practice in an applied field of study. The implications of this discussion for applied higher education are then deliberated, the study’s constraints are acknowledged, and directions for future research are explored.