International Tourism Management students take part in online international conference

Morgan Edmund

During the three-days we joined Zooms calls to listen to presentations and were allocated our task and groups.  I was assigned to work with a team which included participants from Finland and Poland and were given Tackork, a berry farm that provided accommodation and water sports on the Finnish archipelago.  Our aim was to come up with a new type of accommodation for the business.

The three-days were intense and at times stressful.  After considering various options we came up with a treehouse design and worked intensively to get it completed on time. I had to use the various skills that I have learnt throughout my degree, such as communication and listening, quick thinking and problem solving, as well as other skills I did not expect to use - such as my art skills to create prototype images of the treehouse.

On the final day we had to present our findings to Tackork and to our delight, they enjoyed it.

What I learned from the conference is that businesses are working hard behind the scenes to be ready for when they are able to conduct business again. I find it inspiring that there are businesses out there that are working harder than ever to resume business in uncertain times. Additionally, it was brilliant to work with people from other countries as they all gave incredible insight to what the situation was in their countries and each had their own wonderful ideas.

Viktoria Kamenova Georgieva

It was interesting to engage with small tourism businesses and to have the opportunity to work in the current pandemic. My team’s task was to come up with a marketing strategy to attract Asian tourists to a small Finnish farm and promote rural tourism. This enabled us to consult and interview people from the Asian market as well as to look at their behaviours and how they will change after the pandemic.

This project brought valuable skills that I can now go on and apply in a professional setting. I had the chance to work with new software programs, read about the current tourism trends and network with other students and businesses. It was also a good time to apply what I have learnt from my tourism course into practice. Although I have never previously participated in an online sprint and was not familiar with what was expected of me, everything ran smoothly, and the staff were very helpful.

The conference lasted for three very intensive days but was full of fun moments and getting to know the other students. I am grateful that thanks to Leeds Beckett’s connections, I had the opportunity to participate.