Dusit Thani College Student Presents Innovative Solution to Venice Overtourism at Prestigious Young Hospitality Summit 2025

Dusit Thani College proudly announces that third-year International Hospitality Management student Mr. Heng Meng (Joey) has successfully represented the institution at the prestigious Young Hospitality Summit (YHS) 2025, held at the world-renowned École hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland from March 24-26, 2025.

Established in 2010, the Young Hospitality Summit (YHS) is the world’s largest student-organized hospitality summit, held annually at École hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland. The event brings together industry professionals and hospitality students in a collaborative environment focused on innovation and addressing contemporary industry challenges. YHS has become the most influential student-organized hospitality conference globally, featuring keynote speeches, panel discussions, fireside chats, workshops, and networking events with leaders from international hospitality brands. The summit’s flagship event, the YHS Challenge, tasks participants with developing innovative solutions to pressing industry problems.

At this year’s YHS Challenge, Joey and his international team tackled the critical issue of overtourism in Venice, Italy – a UNESCO World Heritage site struggling with sustainability challenges due to excessive visitor numbers.

The team developed “VenEase,” a gamified mobile application designed to combat overtourism through smart visitor distribution. Taking inspiration from interactive games like Pokémon GO, the app incorporates live traffic monitoring and intelligent routing systems to guide tourists away from overcrowded areas toward lesser-visited attractions throughout Venice.

“VenEase makes exploring Venice more fun, like playing a game,” Joey explained. “Tourists earn points and rewards while discovering cool spots all over the city.”

The solution aligns with Venice’s Strategic Plan for Sustainable Tourism by implementing:

Real-time heatmap-based traffic management

Decentralized tourism promotion to highlight hidden gems

Smart itineraries that adjust dynamically to prevent congestion

Incentives for exploring lesser-known neighborhoods

“The Young Hospitality Summit was amazing,” Joey shared. “I got to work with students from all over the world and learn how they think about hospitality problems.”

Joey enjoyed putting his classroom knowledge to work on a real problem. “It was great to use what I’ve learned at Dusit Thani in a real-world situation. Creating VenEase was challenging but fun – we had to think about the tech side but also how to get tourists to actually use it.”

Beyond the challenge, Joey took full advantage of the networking opportunities at YHS, connecting with industry professionals and fellow hospitality students during workshops and social events.

Mr. Simon Lloyd, Dean of Hospitality Management and Business Administration at Dusit Thani College, commented: “Joey’s participation in this prestigious global event exemplifies our institution’s commitment to nurturing forward-thinking hospitality leaders. The innovative solution his team developed demonstrates exactly the kind of creative problem-solving and sustainability mindset that today’s hospitality industry demands.”

Joey’s participation marks Dusit Thani College’s continued engagement with the global hospitality education community and highlights the institution’s focus on preparing students to address contemporary challenges through innovation and cross-cultural collaboration.

(A video demonstration of the VenEase concept is available at: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/e4EwRsiopn0)