Richard Shipway hosts video conference with UK Nepalese Friendship Society

Posted . Filed under Guest speakers, News, Research.

Tomorrow morning, Richard Shipway is hosting a video conference with UKNFS (UK Nepalese Friendship Society) in order to look into potential collaborations between Bournemouth University and them.

The conference will look at Bournemouth University perspectives (existing and future projects) and Nepalese Perspectives (existing and futures projects), before a panel discussion on future UK and Nepalese collaborations.

In the morning, Richard and the other UK delegates will go live across to Nepal and will be joined by six colleagues from the UKNFS.

As well as receiving presentations from the UKNFS, which will be chaired by Ram hari Adhikari, the project lead, Porfessor Edwin van Teijlingen from Bournemouth University will be giving a presentation.

His presentation will be used to inform the UKNFS about our existing and future projects here at Bournemouth University.

We also be following up from the conference after it takes place and hopefully soon bringing you news about future collaborations with the UKNFS.

For more information on the UKNFS please see http://www.uknfs.org/

Susan Horner and Kimberly Kirk-Macaulay present published paper At EuroCHRIE

Posted . Filed under News.

On Saturday, Hospitality Management Graduate Kimberley Kirk-Macaulay and Dr Susan Horner presented their paper at the 30th EuroCHRIE conference in Lausanne.

The European Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education (EuroCHRIE) is the official federation for Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and Africa of International CHRIE, the leading international organisation that supports education and training for the world’s largest industry.

EuroCHRIE represents 169 International CHRIE members. The European Federation brings together educators from hospitality & tourism management schools and universities into a global network in close co-operation with industry representatives. Under the CHRIE umbrella, both education and industry combine their efforts to shape the future of hospitality & tourism.

The 30thannual conference was held from the 25th – 27th October in the historic city of Lausanne in Switzerland was this year tilted “Hospitality for a better world”.  The conference is aimed at lecturers and industry experts and most the papers are presented by doctorate students and lecturers.

Kimberley and Susan’s paper, titled “Status-Seeking Consumer Behaviour and its Impact on the Hospitality Consumption of Young Professional Females”, fought off intense completion to be accepted.

Susan commented “Over the last three years I have tried to get a paper published on the basis of an undergraduate dissertation in order to get the students present it at EuroCHRIE.

This year was the first paper to be accepted from Bournemouth University and only in my first year here! Kimberley’s paper fought off intense competition to be accepted, since a great deal were rejected.  

Her final presentation was highly praised by the audience which included delegates from across the world including leading Universities who deliver hospitality programmes in Europe and the US”

Congratulations to both Susan and Kimberley on this fantastic achievement!

For more information on EuroCHRIE please see http://eurochrie2012.ehl.edu/

PhD student gets MSc work published

Posted . Filed under News, Research, Student Experience.

Zornitza Yovcheva a PhD student, has had her paper published after two and half years of revision the Journal of Applied Ergonomics.

Zory is doing her PhD in User-Centred Design of Smartphone Augmented Reality Applications in Urban Tourism Context as part of the John-Kent Institute in Tourism.

The published paper was a result of her MSc work on Geo-Information Science at the University of Twente.

The article, titled “User requirements for geo-collaborative work with spatio-temporal data in a web-based virtual globe environment” is co-authored by Corné P.J.M. van Elzakker and Barend Köbben as well.

Zory commented  “The feeling of having your work published and knowing it is part of the academic literature is fantastic and very rewarding!  It has been quite a wait and many hours of editing and answering reviewer’s comments. Looking back, I feel that the waiting and efforts were absolutely worth it!”

The abstract for the article can be seen below:

Web-based tools developed in the last couple of years offer unique opportunities to effectively support scientists in their effort to collaborate. Communication among environmental researchers often involves not only work with geographical (spatial), but also with temporal data and information.  Literature still provides limited documentation when it comes to user requirements for effective geo-collaborative work with spatio-temporal data. To start filling this gap, our study adopted a User-Centered Design approach and first explored the user requirements of environmental researchers working on distributed research projects for collaborative dissemination, exchange and work with spatio-temporal data. Our results show that system design will be mainly influenced by the nature and type of data users work with. From the end-users’ perspective, optimal conversion of huge files of spatio-temporal data for further dissemination, accuracy of conversion, organization of content and security have a key role for effective geo-collaboration. 

Congratulations to Zory on this achievement!

If you would like more information on Zory’s research please email zyovcheva@bournemouth.ac.uk

20 Years of Graduates

Posted . Filed under News, Student Experience.

This November sees the 20 year anniversary of BU gaining university status.  What better way to mark the occasion than through a look at some of our School of Tourism graduates from the past two decades?

Jihong Fu

MSc Events Management – 2011

As an international student, I treasured a lot of my time to live and study in BU. Although I can’t boast that I’ve made the full use of my university life, I did try my best. I’ve learned and experienced so much in the past year: I enjoyed the inspiring lectures, the group works with arguments and communication and all sorts of social practice such as volunteering.  Besides, I’ve learned how to get over the culture shock and live happily and independently in a new country, make friends here and be part of the community. Now, facing the real world outside the campus, I’m still working hard with dreams and beliefs. Time flies, but what life taught you will always be with you.

Lydia Ward

BA (Hons) Events Management – 2010

Originally from south Devon, I moved toBournemouthin 2006 to study for a four year event Event Management degree. During these years I met and worked with some fantastic people and was lucky enough to make many great life-long friends.  In 2008 I moved toLondonfor a placement year at The Royal Society of Medicine’s event venue,One Wimpole Street. In 2010, having completed my demanding final year at Bournemouth University, I relocated back to London to work for Banks Sadler, a market leader in the Events Agency industry.  Having lived inLondonfor two years, the fresh air of Devon called me back and I moved toExeterto work for a large national company. My job now incorporates event management and business support and has great scope for career progression.

Ross MacLeod

BA (Hons) Leisure Marketing – 2005

After graduating I swiftly disappeared to Canada for the snowboard season; I had planned this as part of my gap year following four years studying in Bournemouth.  This single gap year turned into four, and I found myself spending time in Borneo working as a dive instructor, beach lifeguarding inNew Zealandand travelling aroundSouth America.  This adventure was linked with annual summer returns to the beaches ofDorsetwhere I worked as a beach lifeguard for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a job which opened the door to being able to utilise my Leisure Marketing degree.

In 2010 I was given the opportunity to work at RNLI headquarters inPoolecovering a maternity leave over the winter.  I worked hard for the six month secondment and was pleased when the position was made permanent.  Nearly three years on I’m still with the charity, working on safety prevention campaigns to keep the British public safer around the coast.

My advice to graduates would be don’t rush for the ‘grown up’ job – it will find you soon enough, make sure you’ve enjoyed yourself first!

Lynsey Holbrook

BA (Hons) Leisure Marketing – 2002

Following graduation in 2002, I moved toLondonand returned to Jardine Communications, my placement year employer and specialist motorsport PR agency. I worked across national motorsport properties before being seconded toShanghaiin 2004 to manage BAT’s Chinese market activation in the build up to the inaugural Formula 1 China Grand Prix.

In 2006, I moved to Momentum Worldwide’sLondonoffice as Account Manager on Intel’s sponsorship of the BMW Sauber Formula 1 Team, progressing through the agency while building a specialism in international sponsorship activation for the likes of Nokia, Mobil 1 and most recently UPS, for whom I led the integrated activation of their groundbreaking London 2012 Logistics partnership.

In my new role of Sponsorship Director,UK, I am tasked with leading the sponsorship department’s growth strategy in the post-Olympic marketplace and establishing MomentumUKas the agency’s centre of excellence for international sponsorship strategy and execution.  MomentumUK’s sponsorship client group includes American Express, UPS, Mobil 1, UNICEF, Ricoh and TAM Airlines.

Right now, there isn’t a job on the planet (in Marketing anyway…) I would rather be doing, but when I’m not working I really haven’t grown up at all – it’s all about a good time with friends – preferably in sunnier climes.

 

 

 

Bournemouth University School of Tourism at World Travel Market

Posted . Filed under News, Research.

Next week Bournemouth University’s School of Tourism will be exhibiting at the World Travel Market at the Excel Centre in London.

World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry – is a vibrant must attend four-day business-to-business event presenting a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to UK and International travel professionals. It is a unique opportunity for the whole global travel trade to meet, network, negotiate and conduct business under one roof.

As well as exhibiting at the four day event, Professor Dimitrios Buhalis will be hosting two free seminars on eTourism and Tourism Futures during World Travel Market.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis commented “Bournemouth University is committed to work closely with the international tourism industry and to creative innovation tourism solutions based on research and knowledge creation. Naturally we work closely together with the World Travel Market where we will be exhibiting demonstrating our courses, research and consultancy services and exposure the BU talent in terms of students, graduates and staff to the global tourism industry. We also share knowledge with the international community by organising two important seminars, one on eTourism and another on Tourism Futures. We very much hope to welcome you at the stand EM1592 and our events. “

For more information on the free seminars please see http://buatwtm.eventbrite.co.uk/#

Lorraine Brown and Immy Holloway publish Essentials of a Qualitative Doctorate

Posted . Filed under News, Research.

On 31st October, School of Tourism’s Lorraine Brown will see her book that she co-authored with Immy Holloway published.

Immy Holloway is professor emeritus in the School of Health and Social Care at Bournemouth University. As a sociologist she taught and supervised qualitative research for several decades. She was the founder member and a co-director of the Centre for Qualitative Research at Bournemouth University before retirement and still works there part-time. She is active in pursuing her interest in qualitative research by supervising PhD students as well as writing articles and books, some of which have been translated into several languages.

Lorraine Brown is senior lecturer in Tourism Education at Bournemouth University and head of postgraduate programmes within the School of Tourism. Her research interests include cross-cultural interaction, the impact of prejudice on the sojourn experience and the outcome of culture contact. She teaches qualitative research methods to masters and doctoral students and supervises doctoral students. She has published findings from qualitative studies in a range of journals, including event management, tourism and hospitality and education.

The book, titled Essentials of a Qualitative Doctorate, is a step by step guide to writing a qualitative Doctorate.

The book takes you through from selecting a research topic and writing a proposal, all the way through to completion

Lorraine commented “The book is a guide for students doing a PhD based on qualitative research. It breaks down the process step by step, including writing a proposal, deciding which approach to data collection to take, ethical issues and the role and location of the literature. Advice is also offered on the end stage of the research journey: writing up and dissemination of data.”

To order the book please see here

John Fotis has been invited to deliver a key note speech at the 11th annual “Tourism and Development” conference in Athens

Posted . Filed under Guest speakers, News, Research.

BU’s eTourism Lab member and PhD student John Fotis has been invited to deliver a keynote presentation, among a number of distinguished speakers, at the 11th annual “Tourism & Development” conference in Athens, organized by the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).

The conference is taking place on 29-30 October at Athenaeum Intercontinental, and the keynote panel consists of Mr Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship; Mrs Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries; Mrs Olga Kefalogianni, Minister of Tourism; Dr Andreas Andreadis, SETE President; and Mr George Drakopoulos, SETE Director General and President of the Affiliate Members Board of UNWTO.

John’s keynote will be entitled “Communication and promotional strategies for tourism enterprises and destinations: A low cost approach and ways of influencing travel related consumer behaviour”. The presentation will describe the role of social media in tourists’ “expanded trip”, their impacts on travel related consumer behaviour, and will suggest tactics and actions that destinations and tourism companies can incorporate into their marketing and communication strategies. The topic relates directly to John’s PhD research (under the supervision of Prof Dimitrios Buhalis, Prof Alan Fyall, and Dr Miguel Moital) on the role and impact of social media in leisure travel related consumer behaviour.

The Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (www.sete.gr) represents 14 Panhellenic Unions of Tourism Enterprises & 485 Tourism Business Units, and aims at constantly boosting competitiveness and demonstrating the key role of tourism in the Greek economy. Their annual conference is considered to be the leading tourism forum in Greece.

 

Digital Destinations Project Launch Event

Posted . Filed under Guest speakers, News, Research.

Dr Philip Alford networking with guests at the launch

Last week saw Bournemouth University’s School of Tourism host two launch nights for the ESRC funded Digital Destinations programme.

The aim of the project is to capture change in the adoption and use of digital technologies and to develop a strong, competitive local tourism economy. Through increased understanding and use of emerging digital technologies, tourism businesses will be in a position to increase their marketing and management effectiveness, and develop new products and services that will provide an enhanced experience for visitors to their destinations.

The 12-month project has a number of deliverables that will present exciting opportunities for the businesses involved:

  • Sixty businesses recruited and divided into 6 groups of 10 from across the Dorset & New Forest region;
  • Each group participates in a series of knowledge exchange activities including strategic online marketing workshops, webinars on best practice case studies in e-marketing, expert speaker presentations and exclusive access to resources and materials to enable them to stay ahead of the digital economy;
  • Participating businesses will work toward creating an online marketing strategy;
  • Each individual business will be evaluated and benchmarked against best online marketing practice and then monitored throughout the 12 months of the project. Each participant business receives an analysis of its online marketing performance and the goal is to demonstrate a significant increase in online customer engagement through the lifetime of the project;
  • The creation of online marketing business communities allowing exchange of knowledge between practitioners and leading experts and academics and also with other practitioners – the co-creation of knowledge in a practical setting;
  • A listing on the Digital Hub website where each participant will also be able to download research articles, best practice papers, video links, etc.;
  • A final year online marketing student from the School of Tourism allocated to each business to work on an online marketing project;

The launch nights were held at the Executive Business Centre on the Lansdowne campus. Businesses were invited to the launch night to hear more about the project before deciding if they want to fully commit to the year-long project.

Guests were given the opportunity to network with each other, whilst enjoying canapés and some live classical music, before the presentation began.

Dr Philip Alford gave the potential businesses a brief presentation on what to expect from being part of the Digital Destinations project before the businesses got the chance to ask questions about the project. There were plenty of questions indicating a highly engaged audience.

Two Bournemouth University School of Tourism Students Join FMI

Posted . Filed under News, Student Experience.

Taken from http://www.fmigroup.co.uk/2012/10/girl-power-four-young-graduates-join-fmi-2/

FMI’s successful internship programme has triggered the careers of four women under 25.

Embracing fresh ideas and understanding emerging technologies are essential to advising our clients well. At FMI our successful internship programme ensures we keep on trend with the latest web and social media movements by bringing the best fresh, young talent on board.  “Working in the events and marketing arenas, it’s essential that we are ahead of the game,” says MD John Fisher. “Young graduates bring the latest approaches with them. This helps us drive our clients’ work through new, dynamic channels while keeping a firm eye on the bottom line.”

Over the past two years FMI seems to have followed a female-trend in this arena. “It hasn’t been intentional,” promises Fisher, “Just the way the CVs have fallen, and we are very impressed by our four new women under 25, all of whom are proving great contributors to the wider FMI team.”

Bev Fraser first came to FMI as an intern from her Events Management degree at Bournemouth University. She ended up running her own programmes, including trips to Marrakesh and working on a complex roadshow for LV. “My internship definitely contributed to me getting a first,” she says, “and I was thrilled to be asked to return as a permanent event executive this September.”

Korean-American student Jessica Lee had just completed her Masters in Linguistics at Oxford University when her CV hit Fisher’s desk. “We jumped at the chance to hire Jessica,” says Fisher. “With LG Mobile Europe as a key account, her fluent Korean has impressed our clients from Seoul. She also brings exceptional digital and research skills to our communications team.” Jessica has recently been promoted to an account manager role and, like FMI’s other new recruits, she is definitely a child of the digital age.  “It’s true, my brain can switch pretty easily between facebook, PowerPoint, twitter and The Financial Times,” she laughs. “FMI has a unique creative process that places an emphasis on engagement from beginning to end. I love how all our projects start as a collaboration by bringing our own background and knowledge to bear from the onset of an idea in order to arrive at innovative and engaging solutions. Our team is fantastic, and because everyone is so friendly and willing to listen to and incorporate your ideas, I find myself quickly learning—and constantly learning—about brand strategy, digital solutions, web-programming and events, all through a fun, social environment”

“Fran Gilman found us through social media,” Fisher continues. “And that really says it all. An avid communicator with a passion for all things digital, her summer placement from The University for the Creative Arts, Farnham has since turned into a part-time permanent role.” Still studying from a degree in Advertising and Brand Communications, Fran supports FMI’s digital campaigns, bringing technical flair and social media expertise into the mix.  Both in and out of the workplace Fran says, “I’m like a sponge – soaking up information and knowledge at every opportunity.”

With three young women now settling into their new careers at FMI, a new intern has already been hired for 2012-13. Following in Bev Fraser’s footsteps, Lauren Moulsley will be with FMI until next summer. “Working for FMI has already taught me so much about the events industry,” she says. “I am given a lot of responsibility and am able to get involved with all stages of the event planning and execution process. I’ll be returning to Bournemouth University with an even bigger love for events, teamed with the knowledge and experience to become a good event manager.”

Judging by the experience of her predecessors, Lauren may well find her sojourn back to college is only short-lived. We’re proud that at FMI an internship often leads to that step on the career ladder that, in this economic climate, most students are struggling to find.

For more information about applying for an internship at FMI, visit email info@fmigroup.co.uk

BAEM and BALM Innovation Field Trips

Posted . Filed under News, Student Experience.

Last week first year Events Management and Leisure Marketing students were taken on field trips as part of their Event Innovation and Leisure Innovation units, respectively.

With the aim of making the experience of developing a business case for a new event/product as realistic as possible, students are given a local client to work with.

After visiting the organisation at the beginning of the academic year, students go through the process of coming up with a new event/product, including its marketing plan.

It all ends with a presentation in April/May, where students have to present their idea/business case in a Dragons Den style pitch in front of the client.

This year’s clients include:

AFC Bournemouth

Haskins Garden Centre

The Bournemouth International Centre

Farmer Palmers

The Green House Hotel

The Littledown Leisure Centre

The O2 Academy

Demonstrator in Events Management, Kate Jones, took her students to the O2 Academy Boscombe, see picture. Kate’s group were lucky enough to see rapper Labrinth’s crew set up for his show in the evening.

“It is hugely beneficial to students to be able to undertake a project on “real life” clients and students in previous years have said how valuable that aspect has been. The field trips that I went on with my students were really excellent and our clients are very encouraging of the work our students produce. We are hoping this year’s students will be as equally innovative with their event and leisure products!”

Pearl Morrison, Events Tutor said: “The challenge has been set high again this year for our students to be creative and come up with some innovative new ideas for our external organisations. Students really enjoyed the tour of AFC Bournemouth with Black Label Events visiting the Radio Station and the new Bubbles Champagne Room.  Taking the students to venues off-site has worked really well to engage and motivate students over the last 4 years. Gail Collins, Marketing Manager of the BIC commented that the students ‘were the most focused group she has seen from Bournemouth University and was very excited about the Dragons Den presentations after Easter’

We will be keeping you up to date with the students’ progress on the Innovation Unit throughout the year.