Tourism and Hospitality

BU Sport students and academic succeed at European Association for Sport Management conference in Istanbul

As part of its internationalisation activities the Sports group within the School of Tourism had four students participating at the Student Seminar and the main conference of the European Association for Sport Management (EASM) in Turkey from 7 to 14 September.

The 4.5-full-day Student Seminar saw 60 students from 13 countries working in mixed international groups along management cases. Keynotes on those topics of current special interest were given by the NBA Europe Marketing Director, a recently retired UNICEF Programme Director, Professor March Krotee from North Carolina State University and Dr Tim Breitbarth, Senior Lecturer at Bournemouth University.

BU students John Bryson, Stefan Ferencz and Oliver Johnson won their case competitions with their respective teams, and therefor had the chance to present at the 21^st EASM conference. After the four winning groups’ presentations in front of a large audience, the jury decided on Oliver Johnson and his team as the overall winner of the management game. They were awarded during the conference’s closing banquet, which took place during a nightlong boot trip on the Bosporus.

Students present dissertation research to academic community

Beyond all four students’ great work as BU ambassadors during the Student Seminar, Luke Frary and John Bryson presented their dissertation research to the interested academic community, guided by Tim and Dr Andrew Adams, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management. Before his presentation, Luke had the chance to personally discuss his work on leadership over breakfast with 86-year old Professor Packianathan Chelladurai, arguably the most globally renown sport management and leadership scholar. John was asked by NBA Europe Marketing Director Naci Cansun to send his research results on the impact of CSR in professional sport and thoughts on managerial implications.

All students had to go through a very competitive application process and a good proportion of the overall trip was funded because of the students’ very strong applications to the BU Global Horizon Fund and the School of Tourism internal funding scheme. Besides their successes related to the conference, all students generally benefitted from the process of actively engaging and working with the large intercultural sports and business community.

Dr Tim Breitbarth workshop Lead Convenor at EASM conference

Despite its small presence at the world’s largest sport management conference, the BU Sports group made a big impact also due to Tim’s role as Lead Convenor of a very well-attended 1.5-day workshop on social responsibility management in professional sport, which for the first time brought most of the key researchers on the topic from North America, Australia and Europe together. In addition, experienced practitioners from Euroleague Basketball and German Society for International Cooperation were invited as keynote speakers and added to the discussion.

The workshop is part of the process which will lead to a special issue on the topic in Corporate Governance – The International Journal of Business in Society, with Tim leading a the guest editor team, which also features three colleagues from England, Germany and The Netherlands (www.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/call_for_papers.htm?id=4564).

Luke Frary with Andrés Guerrero, International Development Cooperation Expert and recently retired UNICEF Programme Director

Oliver Johnson (third from left) with his team from Finland, Germany and The Netherlands, which won the EASM 2013 Student Management Game.

Stefan Ferencz during group work

John Bryson with two of his team members from Germany and The Netherlands

Dr Tim Breitbarth, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management, with Professor Birol Cotuk, Dean Marmara University School of PE and Sport and Chair of the 21st EASM Conference, Istanbul/Turkey

Seven miles of golden beaches, fantastic water sports, a buzzing nightlife and the best School of Tourism in the UK – it’s got to be Bournemouth!  But how well do you know the South Coast’s premier tourist resort?

Test your knowledge at the National Coastal Tourism Academy’s webpage ‘Become a Bournemouth Tourism Ambassador’ http://www.bournemouthambassador.co.uk/

It takes well under an hour, gives you customer service tips, an extra certificate for the CV and, best of all, it’s completely free!

In late August, the BU senior lecturer spoke at the symposium celebrating the 20th anniversary of Cologne Business School hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. Alongside other invited speakers like the former CEO of Metro AG, the marketing director of Porsche AG and a director of the German Football Association, Tim elaborated on business ethics and sustainability in the 21st century. In particular, he focused the audience’s attention on developments in the sports industry.

From 4 to 6 September 2013 will be held at the University of Bournemouth, United Kingdom, the first meeting of the UNWTO.TedQual Students’ Advisory Board.

This Advisory Board has been created with the goal to learn from the students – in their role of future tourism professionals – about their thoughts, worries, aspirations and commitments once accessing the labour market, as well as, in turn, sharing the tourism sector’s main concerns regarding a better practice of the profession.

To attain this objective, students from UNWTO.TedQual Institutions from around the world will gather for three days in Bournemouth to share their opinion with UNWTO on two main topics: The Tourism Labour Market and how they, as future professionals, can make clear commitments to contribute to its Sustainable Development.

During the meeting, the Advisory Board will therefore have the opportunity to speak with the employers, to participate in mock job interviews, and work on the ethics Decalogue for future professionals of the tourism sector.

We strongly hope this Students’ Advisory Board will contribute to a better development of the sector, as well as to the development of the student’s own personal and professional talents.

For the full programme