BU’s first ever Hospitality Management Student Conference
BU held its first ever student and industry Hospitality Management Student Conference last week in London.
Over 90 students from the school of tourism travelled to the Kensington Hilton hotel in London, and were joined by around 30 students from West London College, where BU’s top-up hospitality degree is taught.
Final year students were excited about attending the event, hoping for it to provide an opportunity to increase employment prospects and network with potential employers.
Emily McMullan, a final year Tourism Management student said,
“I was interested in coming as I found out there would be a lot of employers from large hotels coming, and as I am going to be a graduate soon I have got to start looking for jobs and possibilities so I really saw today as an opportunity for future employment and networking.”
Students were able to listen to presentations and participate in a live Q&A with leading hospitality professionals from establishments such as Hilton worldwide Europe, Deloitte LLP, charity Hospitality action, and the Inter-Continent hotel group amongst others.
Two of the speakers were BU graduates, James Glover, Vice President of Food and Beverage for Hilton worldwide Europe and Trevor Childs Projects Manager at Ampersand.
James stated that “people and staff are the most important aspect of the business” and that Faulty Towers is the perfect example of how not to run a hotel, whilst complimenting Jamie Oliver as “epitomizing the modern day chef.”
He also commented on the current trend of guests having more knowledge, for example most customers have tasted a red Thai curry in Phuket, therefore expect an exact tasting one in your hotel.
Charles Kidd, head of learning and training delivery for Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa China and Australia for the Inter-Continent Hotel Group said he was keen to start working with BU grads,
“I think they are really passionate and give a really great foundation of learning and once you bring them into the working place they really have a great understanding of business.”
Students were pleased they attended the event, S. Yusupor, an MA Tourism and Hospitality Management student from Uzbekestan studying at BU said, “I cam to find out what is the future of the hospitality and touriusm industry what the plans are with other nationalities and senior management how they are planning to develop for the future of hospitality and tourism management.”
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Barbara Neuhofer of the eTourism Lab receives 2nd Prize for PhD proposal at ENTER2012
- Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis, IFITT President; Barbara Neuhofer, Bournemouth University PhD Student; Dr. Ulrike Gretzel, Chair ENTER 2012 PhD Workshop
Barbara Neuhofer, PhD student at the Bournemouth University eTourism Lab won the 2nd Prize of the PhD Workshop Best Proposal Award at ENTER 2012, held in Helsingborg, Sweden on 24th to 27th January for her proposal entitled “Revisiting the Tourist Experience: An exploration of the essence of the technology-enabled enhanced tourist experience”.
The annual PhD Research Workshop at the ENTER conference was attended by doctoral students from all over the world who are undertaking research in information and communication technology in the tourism industry. The ENTER 2012 conference was run by the International Federation for Information Technology in Travel and Tourism (IFITT), the leading independent global community for the discussion, exchange and development of knowledge about the use and impact of ICT in the travel and tourism industry.
Barbara’s research, supervised by Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis, Prof. Adele Ladkin and Dr. Scott Cohen, focuses on exploring how technologies can be used to enhance the tourist experience for the tourist throughout all stages, i.e. pre/during/post stage, of the travel process.
For further information on Barbara’s research go to: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/etourismlab/people/barbara-neuhofer
View Barbara’s PhD Research Poster: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/etourismlab/files/2011/12/ENTER-2012_Poster-Presentation_Barbara-Neuhofer.pdf
For further information on ENTER 2012 go to: http://www.ifitt.org/congresses/website/enter2012/Home_page
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Professor Dimitrios Buhalis announced as key note speaker at Timeshare Association annual conference
The annual Timeshare Association (TATOC) conference taking place next month will feature Professor Buhalis as the key note speaker.
The theme of this year’s conference is the e-tourism revolution and Professor Buhalis will be discussing how the tourism industry can take full advantage of technological developments such as consumer generated social media. Professor Buhalis will be specifically focussing on how organisations can use these tools to gain a competitive advantage.
The conference will be attended by delegates involved in the timeshare industry including committee members and business professionals.
The conference is taking place from Friday 9 March to Sunday 11 March at the Park Royal Hotel in Stretton. For further information visit: http://www.tatoc.co.uk/tatoc-conference
Read MoreBU Hospitality students scoop first place at top industry conference
Three winning BU hospitality students were at the Hilton on Park Lane attending the Master Innholders conference on Monday to collect their competition trophy.
Julian Dombrowsky, Suzanne Parr and Eleanor Moore stepped on stage in front of over 450 top industry professionals to do a short presentation and collect their award for creating the winning video which addressed ‘Maintaining Sustainable Competitive Advantage’ in the hospitality industry.
From left to right; winning students Julian Dombrowsky, Suzanne Parr and Eleanor Moore
The students joined a number of high profile speakers, including the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Danny Meyer, who complained that the internet has ‘disrupted the sanctity of a good idea’ and focused on the ‘empathetic and bespoke’ nature of good hospitality.
Rupert Gutteridge, Regional Director of Sales for EMEA, spoke about the trends in discreet consumerism, augmented reality, and the fact that, “In 2013 more people will use their phone to surf the internet than PC’s.”
Ufi Ibrahim, Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association, spoke about the impact of the visit Britain funding cuts and the unusually high UK airport taxes. Martin Couchman OBE announced new legislation such as the fact it will be compulsory to detail food calorie content on a menu in 3 years time.
The conference also discussed how the industry is equipped to tackle youth unemployment and the problem of alcohol and drugs abuse in the hospitality industry, with a powerful personal anecdote of destructive addiction from Phil Howard, Chef and Co-owner of The Square.
Students networking at the conference
Chairman of the London 2012 committee Lord Seb Coe was schedule to open the event, however the VIP guest ran 3 hours late and was swiftly rushed in and out, but gave a succinct thankful speech to the hospitality industry for making the Olympics 2012 feasible.
Lord Coe told his audience,
“The Olympics started of as a conversation with a few friends in a pub about 7 or 8 years ago, now the Olympics 2012 committee is the same size as an organisation like Cadbury.”
The former athlete credited the hospitality industry for making him feel at ease in his role for being in ‘such good shape’, and spoke about the ‘potential and opportunity outside London’, perhaps even hinting at BU’s very own local Weymouth site.
After admitting to a few nerves beforehand the students felt the presentation went well, Julian said,
“I am looking forward to the people I will be meeting and networking with over the next few days.”
Associate Dean of Hospitality and Retail Management Andy Boer who accompanied the students to the conference, thought they did “remarkably well, as it is no mean feat doing a presentation in front of 450 general managers staring at you!”
The winning trophy
Andy also acknowledged that at least 6 or 7 graduates approached him throughout the conference congratulating him on how great the students were, which also reflects how well the alumni go on to do in the industry.
The conference finished today Tuesday 17 with the students coming to the end of their brilliant prize, of being chauffeured to and staying in 3 top London hotels, and having exclusive meetings with senior staff and general managers.
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BU celebrates Chinese New Year
BU is celebrating the year of the dragon with the Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) on Monday January 23.
The CSSA invites anyone who wants to celebrate along to the evening, which is completely free and will be held in Dylans Bar on Talbot campus.
To celebrate Chinese new year there will be a Lion dance show beginning at 6.15 followed by a plethora of traditional Chinese music, costumes and culture activities from 7pm onwards.
There is also karaoke after the celebrations till late, and singing enthusiasts are invited to bring their own music if they have their own numbers rehearsed.
The Mayor and Mayoress of Bournemouth and the Mayor of Poole will be attending, along with
Ms Zhu Li from the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy.
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