Student project features on Italian television

Dr Elisa Burrai led a group of students who tackled a project for our client Lollovers led by Simone Ciferni who aimed at using wedding tourism to experience sustainable tourism in the small Italian hamlet of Lollove, located in central Sardinia. To this end, students investigated the potential of Lollove to attract British tourists to choose it as their wedding venue. As part of their project the students devised a questionnaire that was completed by 60 participants and carried out 9 semi-structured interviews with British tourists aged between 18- and 30-year-old.

The findings of the study were aligned with the client’s vision to develop a type of tourism that is ‘slow’, niche and with limited numbers of tourists visiting. It is a type of tourism that respects the natural surroundings and values the socio-cultural characteristics of the destination. The findings also highlighted the need for tourists to have a technology-free experience, reducing the time spent online and on social media so they are able to fully focus on the intimate experience that weddings offers. The rural, remote setting provides a feeling of authenticity and uniqueness, described by one participant “I want a unique experience so having it in a small destination would definitely give me this”.  

Lollovers were delighted with the work of our students and the passion and effort they invested in the project. Simone commented ‘In short, the students have given me the right means to give legs to this project, and for this I want to thank you!’.

Dr Peter Robinson, Head of the Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Management, added ‘The consultancy projects undertaken by our students represent real-life concerns for the companies involved.  However, not all student projects manage to stimulate interest beyond the organisation concerned.  It’s testimony to Elisa and the students’ that their client felt there was value in sharing their work with a wider audience’.