As one of the most influential hospitality management competitions in China, the 10th “Cesim Elite” National Hospitality Simulation Competition announced its semifinalist list on October 25, 2025. Two student teams from the Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management (THEM) programme of Beijing Normal University–Hong Kong Baptist University (BNBU) — “Tie Ren Si Xiang” and “Gao Sheng” — successfully stood out from nearly 300 teams nationwide under the guidance of Dr. Cai Danting, advancing to the national semifinals.

During the preliminary round, the participating teams completed six rounds of online hospitality operation simulations using the CESIM Hospitality platform, with cumulative revenue serving as the key criterion for advancement. In the upcoming semifinal stage, market groupings will be further adjusted, and a case analysis component will be introduced to comprehensively assess students’ strategic planning, business judgment, and practical operational abilities.

The "“Tie Ren Si Xiang"” team, named for its — symbolizing iron will -like resilience and pursuit of all-around proficiencyround strength in knowledge, practice, innovation, and collaboration, includes teamwork — is composed of 2023 THEM students TANG Xingzhou, ZHOU Linran, YU Qintian, and YIN Zhangzhe. The "“Gao Sheng"” team, meaning " — representing visionary thinking and winning through decision-making," consists of excellence — includes LIU Minhao, ZHANG Buwei, ZHANG Chengru, and WANG Zhiming. from different cohorts of the THEM programme. Both teams aim to leverage the CESIM platform's highly simulated environmentimmersive CESIM Hospitality simulation platform to testapply their theoreticalclassroom knowledge in areas like hotel operations, revenue management, and marketing, strengthening to realistic scenarios, enhancing their overall capabilitiescompetence through practical experiencehands-on practice.

The "Tie Ren Si Xiang" Team

The "Gao Sheng" Team

Their outstanding performance not only showcases the students’ individual capabilities but also highlights the THEM programme’s emphasis on industry–academia integration and experiential learning.

The 10th “Cesim Elite” National Hospitality Simulation Competition is jointly organized by the China Tourism Education Association, the Cesim Organizing Committee, and the School of Hospitality Management / International School of Hotel Management of Guilin Tourism University. The competition aims to promote educational reform in tourism and hospitality management and explore innovative models and pathways for talent cultivation in the new era.

We look forward to seeing “Tie Ren Si Xiang” and “Gao Sheng” deliver another brilliant performance in the national semifinals and achieve even greater success!

Competition Introduction

Text: Weilu WANG, Danting CAI

Edit: Weilu WANG

Images: "Tie Ren Si Xiang" Team, "Gao Sheng" Team