The Host, School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), was founded in 1979 and is one of the world's leading hotel and tourism management schools in Asia, and amongst the top such schools worldwide. SHTM was ranked No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality and Tourism Management" category according to Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2023 for the seventh consecutive year. SHTM has more than 90 faculty members drawn from some 20 countries or regions, and is currently training over 100 doctoral students in Hong Kong and China.

The Co-organizer, School of Tourism Management (STM) at Sun Yat-Sen University, was founded in 2004 and is a leading institution providing excellent tourism education at both undergraduate and graduate levels in China. Many of its academic staff are also renowned academics within and beyond China. STM has been one of the Knowledge Network Members of the World Tourism Organization since 2007. 

The Initiating Unit, China Tourism Education Association (CTEA), is a branch of China Tourism Association and is officially registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China. In the 16 years since its establishment, CTEA has gathered tourism education institutions of various types and levels with good reputations, significant impact and excellent leadership across the country. It is committed to promoting the development of tourism education and enhancing the quality of talent training so as to render robust talent support for the development of the tourism industry.