Barbara Neuhofer selected as this year’s ITT PhD Student of the Year

Posted . Filed under News, Research, Student Experience.

Last week it was announced that Barbara Neuhofer had been selected as this year’s ITT PhD Student of the Year.

Barbara was nominated by Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, who has worked closely with Barbara in the e-Tourism lab. This is Dimitrios’ 2nd student in a row that has received the prestigious award as his PhD student Andrew Spencer was also awarded ITT PhD Student of the Year last year.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis commented “This is a great recognition of the great progress that Barbara is doing in her PhD and the contribution to knowledge she is producing as evidenced in her publications and her community service through IFITT and other communities.

 I am particularly happy that this is the second student after Dr Andrew Spencer who won the ITT award last year and this is a testament to the cutting edge research we do at the eTourism Lab at Bournemouth University.”

The award will be presented to Barbara during the Chairman’s Summer Cocktail Party at the House of Commons on Thursday 18th July.

We will be bringing the news from that event next week.

Congratulations again to Barbara!

Andrew Hares PhD Success

Posted . Filed under News, Research, Student Experience.

Back in Early June, Andrew Hares was awarded his PhD due to some minor changes. His examiners commended Andrew on his research and were impressed by the quality of the thesis.

Andrew’s thesis was titled “Tourist understanding of and engagement with the climate change impacts of holidays” and a brief description is included below:

The research study examined tourists’ understanding of and engagement with climate change.  Holidays were treated as a social practice, in which the type of holiday, destination and transport mode are considered integral to the holiday package.  The aim of the study was to analyse the role that the climate change impacts of holidays play in the decisions of tourists in order to develop a conceptual framework of the barriers to behavioural change.  A mixed methods strategy was employed, based on a sequential exploratory design.  The results of focus group research in the initial qualitative stage of data collection and analysis were used in the formulation of a questionnaire survey adopted in the second quantitative stage of the study.

The findings of the research indicate that levels of awareness of the impacts of air travel on climate change are high, but awareness and understanding of other ways that holidays contribute to climate change is low.  Climate change impacts do not feature in the thoughts of the vast majority of tourists when they are planning their holidays, and only a very small minority of respondents in the questionnaire survey said that they think about the impacts their holidays have on climate change.  Although there were high levels of awareness of the impacts of air travel on climate change, this did not manifest in tourists’ attitudes towards behavioural change.  The majority of tourists were strongly resistant to changing their holiday and travel behaviour for climate change reasons.  A number of barriers to action are prevalent which lock tourists in to current hypermobile holiday lifestyles and prevent them from adopting less carbon-intensive holiday practices.  The research discovered that the most salient barriers to behavioural change in a holiday context are a combination of internal, external and structural constraints.

Andrew commented on the experience “The PhD was a very challenging journey, but the satisfaction at the end is huge.  To have a successful and enjoyable viva, and for the examiners to compliment me on both the quality of my written thesis and oral defence, makes the whole experience worthwhile.”

Congratulations to Andrew on this achievement.

 

MSc Event Management Students raise over £1700 for Charity

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Back in March as part of their Event Management degree the Masters students had to host live events. The events varied from conferences, to food festivals to charity events.

One group of students hosted an event called “Carnival Blowout” aimed at students to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Trust.

As well as a Carnival Theme there were DJs from around the world to entertain the guests. The event was sponsored by Bournemouth University and Chang Beer.

The students worked incredibly hard throughout the event and in the lead up to it. They managed to raise £1769.99 for the charity, which was the highest raised out of any of the masters events this year.

The students are here pictured handing the cheque over to Sue Rae, from the East Dorset Branch with their lecturer Julie Whitfield.

Congratulations to the students on this incredible effort!

 

 

 

 

 

Making Waves: The International Conference on Events and 10th AEME Educators Forum

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Next week Bournemouth University will be welcoming over 100 guests to the University for the International Conference on Events and 10th AEME Educators Forum.

The conference will be held at the EBC and will be attended by Event Management academics and professionals from around the globe.

The conference has an extremely varied programme across the week. There are several Keynote speakers attending the conference including Nick de Bois, MP and Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group who will be giving the first Keynote of the conference titled “The importance and challenges of events policy, practice and education”.

Other Keynote speakers at the conference include:

Alistair Turner – PR Director, Davis Tanner and Britain for Events Campaign

Jon Weaver – Marketing and Events Manager, Bournemouth Tourism, Bournemouth Borough Council

Professor Stephen Page – School of Tourism, Bournemouth University

Jim Winship – Secretary, Events Industry Forum

Professor Donald Getz and Professor Leo Jago to name a few

We will be sharing information about the conference with you throughout the next week. Keep and eye out for photos!

For more information and to see the full programme please see here

 

Rami Mhanna visits Russia as part of the Santander Travel Grant

Posted . Filed under News, Research, Student Experience.

Last year we bought you the story of Rami Mhanna receiving a Santander Scholarship. Below he shares his experiences of travelling to Russia as part of his grant:

As part of Santander Travel Grant, I am visiting Russia in order to do a research about Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

I started by visiting Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), which is one of the Santander Universities. I also visited the Russian International Olympic University in Moscow RIOU, where I met Professor Nicolay Peshin. And then, I did an interview at Sochi 2014 Committee in Moscow.

In Krasnodar Region where Sochi is located my research focused on the planning and preparation for Sochi 2014 as well as the perceptions of Sport and Tourism legacy. I met some of the key decision makers such as the Deputy Ministers of Sport, and Deputy Minister of Tourism for Krasnodar Region. During my stay in Krasnodar, I visited Kuban State University for Physical Education Sport and Tourism; I met the Vice Rector of Research and the head of Sochi 2014 volunteers centre. The Kuban University welcomed me and BU and they thanked me for doing research about Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

I moved then to Sochi city and I stayed 4 days, where I visited Sochi City Administration. I interviewed the Deputy Mayor of Sochi, the Deputy Head of the department for Sport and the Deputy Head of the Department for Tourism.

My visit to Russia was successful at all levels, and it will enrich my experience and my research skills.

I would like to thank Santander and BU and my great supervisors: Professor Adam Blake and Dr. Ian Jones for their support.

Dorothy Fox shadows officials at the Edinburgh Marathon in preparation for Bournemouth’s first Marathon

Posted . Filed under News, Student Experience.

On 6th October 2013 Bournemouth will host its first ever Marathon Festival run by GSI events. The course includes some of the most stunning views in Bournemouth & Poole as well as both piers as part of the 26.2 miles route. Bournemouth University will be managing two of the 6 sectors.

School of Tourism lecturer, Dorothy Fox, will be part of the senior race crew during the marathon.  As part of their training, they all attended the Edinburgh Marathon to shadow their counterparts.

Dorothy is leading the baggage team during the Bournemouth Marathon with members of Bournemouth Lifeguard Corps and Bournemouth School  Combined Cadet  Force.

Dorothy commented “The scouts who handled all the bags in Edinburgh were all very well organised group of volunteers and the trip was really useful.  I look forward to being involved in the Bournemouth’s first marathon”

For more information on the run and to register please see here http://www.run-bmf.com/

Sport students reflect on overseas activity and participation in international management game in The Netherlands

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In April 2013 Dr Tim Breitbarth, senior lecturer in sport management, visited BU’s new Erasmus partner Hanzehogeschool Groningen. Led by a local colleague, he also contributed to organise and run an intensive international student management game in further cooperation with colleagues from Coventry University and German Sport University. Overall, 140 students from 10 countries participated in the 5-day event.

After a very competitive application process, Shrehan Lynch (final year sports development), Andrew Imms (final year sports management), Oliver Fulljames and Jack Mogridge (both third year sports management) were accepted as the first set of BU students to attend this sports management game.

For more information please read this blog article

All four students were wonderful representatives of BU and their reflections collected weeks after the activity demonstrate the high value of international experience as part of learning and growing at university.

 

Oliver Fulljames, Jack Mogridge and Shrehan Lynch comment on the Groningen trip in particular and international opportunities in general

Oliver Fulljames

I would highly recommend that students from Bournemouth utilise the international opportunities on offer

“The Sport Management Game 2013 is an event that I feel I benefitted from both professionally and personally. The event focuses on teamwork within a multicultural setting, challenging each individual to overcome cultural barriers, along with allowing time to socialise with your peers over the week.

I now understand the cultural intricacies needed in order to work effectively with those from other countries with those whose English may not be of the highest standard. Not everything ran smoothly, initially it was very difficult when delegating tasks to others, despite this, it was a valuable learning curve and communication improved as the week progressed.

Friends made on the trip have already made plans to visit in London, whilst the favour will also be returned when visiting Germany and Netherlands. Many people worked at high profile sport organisations throughout Europe, which may provide me a point of call when I graduate and begin searching for jobs around Europe.

Overall, I believe that the Sports Management Game will not only add a valuable experience to my CV, but also provide me knowledge that I can put to use within the workplace and when back at university. I would highly recommend that students from Bournemouth utilise the international opportunities on offer.”

 

Jack Mogridge

Someone who hasn’t travelled a great deal, I was enjoying the experiences of this trip

“I can honestly say that the 5 days in Groningen easily exceeded my expectations. Highlights have been networking with like-minded individuals and making friends with the other international students either through work or social evening engagements. Having never worked in this type of environment I have attained skills which I can take into my final year at Bournemouth, the team I am working with on my placement and future employment. Someone who hasn’t travelled a great deal, I was enjoying the experiences of this trip, soaking up the wonderful culture that the Netherlands has to offer.

We began each day with an academic lecture at 8.30 before beginning group work at 10. Most days would be split up by one morning and one afternoon task which allowed enough time to produce a thorough piece of work. From HR to Marketing to Operations we covered all aspects of running a mega sporting event through engaging group activities such as: promotional videos, academic posters and a question time like set up to name a few.

Having only communicated through the medium of technology in the past, especially throughout my placement, meeting face to face was a different experience. Within this team in order to work most effectively we faced barriers to overcome. Communication was the most obvious of these, which proved difficult when two of the Dutch students spoke little English however once we overcome this and leaders in the group were distinguished productivity increased. Although difficult at times this was one of the reasons I applied for this opportunity and therefor I felt I needed to embrace it. My English skills proved valuable in the group and I soon took the role of leader, this gave me chance to interact with all the members on a personal level which proved very fulfilling.

I would like to thank Bournemouth University and especially Tim Breitbarth for the support throughout and in planning, preparation and communication throughout to offer such a wonderful opportunity.”

 

Shrehan Lynch

This experience taught me mainly about myself, I feel I show attributes of managing people well, using initiative and taking on responsibility of a high level

“After being part of the Groningen trip I must thank the University for giving me the experience. I learnt a great deal about myself on this trip and was able to appreciate an alternative culture.

Holland is a phenomenal country; the residents are friendly, relaxed and welcoming to visitors. The Hanze University itself had facilities to be in awe of and quite abstract building infrastructures that made it one of the most unusual universities I have been to.

The Sports Management Game allowed me to work in a group of mixed languages and cultures and I was able to take a team leader role as the only native speaker. This experience taught me mainly about myself, I feel I show attributes of managing people well, using initiative and taking on responsibility of a high level. I was able to lead this team into third place at the management game which I feel was a real achievement considering the barriers we faced as a team regarding language and prior academic learning.

On the whole this experience showed me that each culture learn differently within their universities and take different approaches individually to the learning process. Also, I learnt that I am a hardworking individual that can work with people from across the globe effectively to achieve results.“

 

BU scholars intensifying links to German Sport University Cologne

Posted . Filed under News, Research, Student Experience.

 

Dr Tim Breitbarth and Dr Andrew Adams, both senior lecturers in sport management, visited the elite sport university as part of on-going teaching and research collaboration.

Besides teaching extensively on various international Masters and undergraduate programmes and advising PhD researchers, collaborative work with the Institute of Sport Economics and Sport Management and the Institute of Sport Sociology were intensified and links into the Institute of European Sport Development and Leisure Studies were developed.

For example, Dr Breitbarth collaborates with Dr Stefan Walzel, senior lecturer in sport management and marketing, on an international project on corporate social responsibility in sports, which was recently awarded a prestigious 15,000 pounds research grand from UEFA. Amongst other, the partners also co-convene a special track at the 2013 European Association for Sport Management conference and co-edit a special issue on the topic. Dr Adams discussed EU project bid plans with German colleagues and discussed experiences with setting-up and managing international projects.

“Obviously, German Sport University Cologne is a unique place gathering internationally highly regarded researchers from all scientific disciplines, who work and teach in top-notch facilities. It is good to see two of our own students, Jake Stokoe and Jonathan Roberts, benefiting from this high-quality quality learning environment in the next academic year, when we start the reciprocal student exchange,” says Dr Breitbarth, who has helped the BU sports group to develop new and more international opportunities for staff and students.

As part of his guest lectures, he also promoted BU Masters programmes and the Bachelor (Hons) Sport Management Golf in particular, since the latter is one of only a very few programmes on the European tertiary educational landscape specialising on the sport that shows significant growth rates in most countries.

Richard Gordon presents at 3rd Fire Safety and Technology Forum

Posted . Filed under News, Research.

Back in May, Richard Gordon MBE was a key note speaker at the 3rd Fire Safety and Technology Forum.

Richard is currently Director of the International Disaster Management Centre at Bournemouth University.

The purpose of the event was to provide high-quality education, technology and networking opportunities for fire safety and other related responsibilities.

Last month Richard trained members of Bangladesh’s armed forces, civil administrators and development partners on disaster management.

For more information on the Disaster Management courses offered by Bournemouth University please see here

 

School of Tourism Highlights at next week’s Festival of Learning

Posted . Filed under News, Research.

Next week, Bournemouth University will be hosting the Festival of Learning across its different campus’.

Over the two weeks the Festival is on, there will be over 100 events to choose from. Many of the events are free and are delivered by BU staff keen to share their enthusiasm and experience with you.

Highlights offered from the School of Tourism include:

Don’t eat poo and die, eat poo and live: An investigation into the things that we eat and the things that we don’t

Designing the Ideal Menu

A Family Kitchen Safari Event

Social Media for the Terrified

eTourism Innovations in the Digital Era

This is only a small glimpse of the variety of the events held during the festival! To view the full programme please see here

With so much on offer, this is one Festival not to miss this summer.

For more information on the festival and to book any events please see here