4th Annual E-Conference between Bournemouth University and Institute for Tourism Studies, Macau

Posted . Filed under News, Research, Student Experience.

Last week, some of the MSc Events students organised the 4th annual e-conference between the School of Tourism and IFT, Macau.

The e-conference was this year titled “Heritage and Tourism: An Unholy Alliance?”

Dr Jonathan Edwards, Dr Vijay Reddy, Dr Feifei Xu and PhD student Indra Bhaskara from the School of Tourism gave key note speeches at the conference.

Key note speeches were given by Dr Sharif Shamslmon, Dr Wantanee Suntikul and Dr Max Zhou from IFT.

The conference continued to build on the strong partnership between IFT and Bournemouth University.

IFT sent a thank you message on behalf of their president Dr Fanny Vong thanking Bournemouth University for the opportunity to be involved with the conference and also thanking the master’s students for all their hard work.

Richard Shipway commented that the MSc students were “fantastic, as always in their preparation beforehand and contribution on the day.”

Congratulations to the students for their hard work and thank you to everyone involved who made the conference a success.

A Festivity Mashup

Posted . Filed under News, Research.

 

 Last week the School of Tourism hosted a “festivity mashup” ideas cafe in the Loft. The event was put on by the Leisure and Recreation research theme from the School of Tourism.

‘Festivity’ is an expanding and critical phenomenon that is impacting on all areas of life from events, technology and gaming, health and wellbeing, media and digital culture, to tourism, fashion and food. 

The festivity mashup was an informal ‘eat, drink and discuss’ session that explored these areas. Guests were treated to pizza and snacks whilst they discussed the theme.

All the tables had been covered with white paper tablecloths so that the guests could write down their thoughts, opinions and discussions straight on to the table.

Going forward the discussions from last night will be used to shape research within the Leisure and Recreation theme.

For more information on the evening please contact Caroline Jackson CJackson@bournemouth.ac.uk

To view the highlights of the evening please see the link to watch the video

eTourism innovations in the Digital era event as part of the Festival of Learning

Posted . Filed under News, Research.

Monday, 10 June 2013 from 13:30 to 18:30 (BST) 

The Digital Era requires tourism organisations and destinations to use Information Communication Technologies and adopt eTourism innovations to strengthen their competitiveness.

This free event, which is part of the Festival of Learning, gives the opportunity to show case research undertaken by the eTourism Lab at the School of Tourism, Bournemouth University 

Chairman Professor Dimitrios Buhalis will ensure that there will be great interactivity and also networking will take place prior to the event on Facebook and on a social gathering at the Slug and Lettuce Pub in Bournemouth after the event.

The event will discuss a range of issues including:

  • Social Media, Location Based and Mobile (SoLoMo) Marketing is increasingly becoming a critical and pivotal tool for tourism marketing.
  • Social Transformation and the new generation of ‘digital travellers’ that make use of new technologies in all stages of the customer journey (mobile devices, tablets, desktop PCs etc.).
  • Augmented Reality and Gaming has the potential to augment a number of important activities, as well as different types of environments (hotels, parks, airports) and services (entertainment, education) to engage with a destination and its history, architecture, heritage and traditions; to interact not only with the physical surroundings but also with other people (residents and visitors). 
  • Online reputation and E-Branding The interactive power of social media encourage more business to consumer, consumer to consumer engagements and dialogues.

For more information on this event please see the Facebook page

To register please see here

David Kilburn interviewed on South Today and Radio Solent

Posted . Filed under News.

Yesterday David Kilburn was interviewed on Radio Solent and appeared on South Today as a Retail Expert. David was commented on the retail state in Christchurch.

Christchurch is currently going against the economic downfall facing most other towns. Christchurch currently has only 1 empty shop which is much lower than anywhere else in the South.

Experts including David believe this to be of the so called “Grey Pound”. Christchurch has the highest proportion of pensioners in all of England and experts believe this is the cause for the low shop vacancy rate.

David commented “They have lived here for a very long time and already have paid off their mortgages. They probably had good jobs; therefore they have a reasonable pension and a high disposable income”

You can watch David on South Today here (12 minutes in) or you can listen to the Radio Solent interview here (40 mins in).

Visiting Associate Professor Nao Li gives guest lecture on ICT use in China’s city destinations

Posted . Filed under News.

Nao Li is visiting the School of Tourism for 6 months sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The purpose of her visit is too collaborate on eTourism projects and publications on computer simulation of visitor behaviour in attractions and current challenges and opportunities of ICT use in China’s city destinations.

Yesterday she gave a guest lecture to students and staff on her research on ICT use in China’s city destinations. She shared the positive steps that China has been making in IT but also shared the limitations that China faces in implementing ICT use in China.

Nao is an Associate Professor of Institute of Tourism, Beijing Union University, as well as Director of Institute of Information Technology and Tourism and University President Assistant of Academy of Tourism Development at the university.

We welcome Nao to Bournemouth University and look forward to working with her over the next 6 months.

Managing Director of Chewton Glen gives guest lecture and presents students with prizes for the Master Innholders Competition

Posted . Filed under News.

Last week the Hospitality Management students were given a guest lecture by Andrew Stembridge, Managing Director of the Chewton Glen Hotel and the Clivedon Hotel.
Andrew is also Chairman of the Masters Innholders and is a member of the International Executive Board for Relais & Châteaux

Andrews shared his experiences of all the different jobs he has had within the industry:

I’ve always said yes to everything and its served me very well, that’s been my approach throughout life”

Andrew continued to provide insight and advice to the students “I do believe in legacies, whatever job you’re doing or whatever you’re doing you should leave behind legacies. I only go into things if I know I can leave it better than before.”

Following on from sharing his experiences with the students, Andrew took part in a question and answer session.

After his guest lecture, Andrew, awarded our students who took part in the Master Innholders Competition with prizes. The Master Innholders is one of the largest and most influential groups who represent the Hospitality Industry.

This year our team from Bournemouth University came 2nd in the competition. There video entry can be viewed here.

Congratulations to Fabian Amici; Camilla Larkan; Daniele Quattromini and Rebecca Cridge for their fantastic achievement.

For more on Chewton Glen please see here

BU Games Evening – March 18th from 6.45 in the Loft

Posted . Filed under News.

Come together with your friends for this FREE games evening being held at the Loft on March 18th from 6.45pm.

This event is open to all students and will include games, bingo and other team building games. There are prizes up for grabs for the winners so get registered and come along to celebrate the end of the academic term!

Please pre-register teams of 4 people either by leaving a message on the Facebook page or by visiting the event table in the Atrium on Thursday 14th March 9-5 or Monday 18th March 9-1pm.

For more information or if you have any questions please see the Facebook page

 

Miguel Moital takes part in IHG Trend Report Debate 2013

Posted . Filed under News, Research.

Last week, Senior Lecturer Miguel Moital took part in an event which launched the IHG Trends Report, compiled by The Futures Company.

The report called “The new kinship economy: from travel experiences to travel relationships” looks at specific trends and how they are going to affect the travel industry in the next 10 years.

Miguel was asked to be part of the panel of experts for the live debate. The debate was hosted by travel writer Simon Calder and the other panellists included Richard Solomans IHG CEO and Sarah King from The Futures Company.

The event took place at the Intercontinental Westminster Hotel and was attended by a range of media across travel, trade and lifestyle press. Stakeholders also attended including Visit England, ABTA, WTTC and Tourism Alliance

The debate covered all areas of the report but the general conclusion was that Hotels will increasingly categorise guests by needs and occasions instead of hierarchal structure.

During the debate Miguel noted a need to consider single parent families after ONS statistics found there is now triple the number of single parent families now than 40 years ago, as well as double the number of people living alone.

The report identified the need for a deeper relationship between people and brands facilitating a ‘kinship economy’ by helping people to connect.

For more information on the IHG Trend report please see here http://www.ihgplc.com/

Dr Tim Breitbarth invited to SRH Hochschule Heidelberg as part of a continuing partnership

Posted . Filed under News, Research, Student Experience.

 

At the end of February, Dr Tim Breitbarth was invited to SRH Hochschule Heidelberg by Prof Dr Sebastian Kaiser and Prof Dr Christian Keller (Head of Sports and Events Management; see photos).

 SRH is the oldest and largest private university for applied sciences in Germany. Bournemouth University has developed a strong partnership with the SRH over the past year, including Prof Kaiser’s various contributions to the BU International Week Sports and Events Management a few months ago.

 “SRH is a modern, dynamic and innovative place and it is interesting to see how they create very capable graduates and engage with industry by focusing on added value and dynamic capabilities rather than too many administrative processes”, Tim commented.

 The partnership includes student exchange opportunities and research-based publication projects especially in the field of golf and professional sports club management.

 During the visit Tim presented to final year event management students. The focus was on long-term results on the effects of the World Cup in Germany, as well as the economic and socio-political impact of hosting international sporting events in Qatar.

 In addition, Tim dedicated significant time of his 3-hour presentation to sharing some insights of the event industry in the UK as well as sharing information with the students about Bournemouth University in general and Masters opportunities in particular.

 For more information on the international opportunities and the partnership universities please contact Dr Tim Breitbarth, Senior Lecturer in Sport Management, on tbreitbarth@bournemouth.ac.uk