Dr. Miranda Kitterlin and Dr. Michelle Yoo received the Best Paper Award for their work, "Festival Motivation and Loyalty Factors" at the TMS Algarve 2013 – Tourism & Management Studies International Conference held in Algarve, Portugal in November. The study, which was conducted on South Beach Wine & Food Festival participants, will be published in the upcoming issue of Tourism & Management Studies. Chaplin's Danqing Liu and Dr. Nancy Scanlon also presented at the conference.

Associate Dean Rocco Angelo was announced as the winner of the 23rd Annual South Florida Tourism Professional of the Year Award by the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism (AOHT) on November 19 at the Hyatt Regency Miami. The annual award honors a community leader who has made long-term and significant contributions to the hospitality and tourism community in South Florida. The AOHT operates in 14 public high schools in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The AOHT is also a member of the Career and Technical Education office of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the nonprofit National Academy Foundation, which supports partnerships between business and public schools to develop students for college and careers.