Lancashire Tourism Awards 2013

UCLan was the headline sponsor at the recent 10th annual Lancashire Tourism Awards held at Blackburn Cathedral.

The glittering occasion saw 20 of the county's finest tourism businesses awarded for excellence in their field and recognised by an audience of over 400 industry colleagues and sponsors.

The ceremony was hosted by Simon Calder, Senior Travel Editor of The Independent, TV and radio broadcaster, while Marketing Lancashire's Chief Executive Ruth Connor gave the opening address. Celebrity Chef Paul Heathcote delivered the closing speech.

The presentation of the Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award was a highlight of the evening, with the award going to all 250 Guilders of the Preston Guild 2012 - volunteers who welcomed over one million visitors to the city and ensured the smooth-running and success of this event held once every twenty years.

UCLan also sponsored the Visitor Event Award, won by the Lancaster Music Festival, and the Large Hotel Award claimed by Holiday Express, Burnley.

Jane Shaw, Division Leader for Tourism, Hospitality and Events at the university, said: "It was a wonderful evening and a great opportunity for UCLan to engage with a range of people from across the Tourism Industry.

"We are proud to be associated with the Lancashire Tourism Awards and hope to have the opportunity to be involved again next year."

Events Northern were UClan's guests for the evening - their representative Becki Cross' blog post about the event can be found here.

Cyprus delivers 'Tourism in Action'

Second year Tourism and Hospitality Management undergraduates gained industry exposure in a 'real world environment' as they visited one of the top tourist destinations in Cyprus.

The students explored Ktima Georgiadi in Scarinou as part of their 'Tourism in Action' module. Course Leader Anna Farmaki explained the purpose of the trip: "As part of their module students are conducting a business audit on an agrotourism development in the Larnaca region.

"We had distinguished guest speakers from the Larnaca Tourism Board and Cyprus Tourism Organisation who presented to students before our visit. We visited Ktima Georgiadi and spent the day there observing the facilities, performing activities and also had a traditional Cypriot lunch (including homemade wine and some dancing).

"Students interviewed the manager, interacted with visitors and also did some activities including donkey rides, tasting of donkey milk and olive oil making using the traditional mill method. It was a great experience and students will develop wikis sharing what they’ve learn by linking their experience to theories/models."

Anna also confirmed UCLan Cyprus is the first University to be granted permission to access restricted areas at Larnaca International Airport, with Swissport managers recently giving first year students a tour covering operations from baggage handling to security and also allowing them to see the way cargo is handled.

Master's students enjoy annual Residential

The largest ever number of International Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management postgraduate students travelled to Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District to participate in our annual Master's Residential.

Accompanied by Dr Martine Middleton and Mac McCarthy, over 65 students from around the world stayed for a wonderful weekend filled with activities designed to combine a programme of work, rest and play.

Fieldwork tasks were conducted relating to customer service, food and beverage provision, restaurant management, tourist attraction/destination appraisals and aspects of contemporary hospitality management.

The Residential represents the first event of several enhancement activities undertaken by students throughout the year. Other events will include a night-time visit to Manchester Christmas Markets and a full day/evening around the tourist historic city of York. The programme culminates in a Delegate Dissertation Away-day in support of student personal and academic development.

Tourism students take part in Masterclass

Eight outstanding UCLan Tourism students took part in a Masterclass at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. As part of the Institute of Transport and Tourism's involvement with the European Union Citizens' Rail Project, the group joined students from RWTH, Plymouth University, Design School Nantes and Hogeschool Zuyd at the two-day event.

This transnational and interdisciplinary Masterclass brought students together with a range of industry experts and leading academics to develop concept plans for community engagement at two sites in Germany and The Netherlands. Students presented their findings to partner members of the project from across Europe.

Associate Lecturer Peter Mcgrath accompanied the students on the trip and was full of praise for their efforts: "It was a privilege to see our students' professional and enthusiastic attitude. They were outstanding ambassadors for UCLan. They took the lead in all of their working groups and presented to a high-profile audience.

"I was really impressed with how the group applied their knowledge of tourism and linked it with other disciplines from the built environment and applied Geography to develop some really innovative ways of helping engage communities from a social, economic and environmental perspective."

UCLan Tourism student Beth Higson felt the trip was a useful aid to her studies: "The Masterclass has helped develop our presentation skills as we had to outline a range of complex ideas to an international audience."

Emma Robinson commented: "It was an excellent opportunity being involved in such a large project and it’s good to know our ideas will be developed into a finished product."

Pictures from the trip can be found here. Final presentations from each workshop group and photos from the event are here.

UCLan and Merlin team up for 'Tourism in Action'

First year Tourism Management students took time out from their theoretical studies to gain some real industry exposure with one of the largest visitor attraction operators in the world - Merlin Entertainments.

Europe's leading name in location based, family entertainment has partnered with UCLan to deliver a 'Tourism in Action' module which has been designed specifically to engage students directly with industry at a very early stage in their course.

Merlin Operations Manager Brad Rowbotham conducted a presentation followed by a Question & Answer session. The students then visited a number of Blackpool's leading attractions including Madame Tussauds, Blackpool Tower Eye and Blackpool Tower Dungeons, with a view to assessing tourism development and facilities within the resort and the influences determining the success of visitor attractions. It was also an opportunity to develop their research and networking skills.

Students will be conducting a presentation on the project’s findings and creating a Wiki site detailing these as part of the module.

Course Leader Carley Sutton and Merlin Group have established ongoing work experience and international graduate opportunities for UCLan Tourism students, which could see them progress straight onto the company's 18 month fast track graduate programme, training to be one of the future leaders of a global business.

Carley said: "In engaging students directly with the tourism industry, the Tourism in Action module allowed students to visit Blackpool and its Merlin Entertainments cluster. This study visit exposed the students to professional tourism practices and allowed them to understand the complexities of destination management and organisational challenges – the students had a unique field visit experience."

  



OMAN
CELEBRATES UK & IRELAND OFFICE’S TENTH ANNIVERSARY AT WORLD TRAVEL MARKET



The Oman Ministry of Tourism will be celebrating the 10th
Anniversary of its UK Office along with the destination’s many achievements
over the period at this year’s World Travel Market (stand number ME500). Oman increased
its visitor numbers in 2012 alone by 15% and consistently increased visitor
figures from