Tourism and Hospitality

Tourism experts at Bournemouth University have organised another BU Tourism Futures Forum at the World Travel Market 2011. The forum will facilitate debate about key strategic changes in the tourism sector and the successful response of the industry. The forum will take place on Thursday 10 November 2011 at the ExCeL in London.

The global challenges and opportunities for both tourism destinations and suppliers around the world require innovation in management and operations, calling for a major rethinking of both strategic and tactical Tourism Management. The Tourism Futures Forum will provide an insight into the future dimensions of the tourism industry. It examines major trends in tourism demand and supply and explores the strategic changes that lead to the international tourism industry restructuring.

For more information please visit: http://buatwtm.eventbrite.com/

Guests at the School of Tourism's BU Talent event

Bournemouth University welcomed more than 60 business leaders and prospective employers to its Lansdowne Campus last week to showcase the talent and expertise it has to offer the business community.

The University’s School of Tourism hosted a one-day ‘BU Talent’ event to launch its new Enterprise and Employer Engagement Network, which aims to establish and build links with industry. Such links will then create further opportunities for student placements, graduate employment and enterprise activities.

Students from the School were invited to meet employers and discuss the value of completing a 40-week work placement as part of their four-year degree at BU, as well as the skills and expertise they develop when completing student consultancy projects with national companies including Waitrose, the Club Managers Association of Europe, TUI Travel PLC and CH&Co. Business leaders and employers talked about benefits of consultancy packages on offer at BU, such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), which are Government-subsidised partnerships between a company, the University and a graduate. So far the School of Tourism has undertaken 17 successful schemes with leading companies such as Dorset Cereals, Olives et al and Strainstall.

Among the guests was PGA Golf Captain and golf consultant Eddie Bullock, who spoke about his involvement with the School to develop the opportunities for BA (Hons) Sports Management Golf students alongside Programme Leader Ian Jones.

Mr Bullock said: “It really is a breath of fresh air to be associated with innovative and enthusiastic people who are fully committed with energy to deliver the right product to the market. The Golf/Hospitality sector has been starving for this type of programme, it’s a pleasure to work with Ian, and we have certainly made many new pathways that others with similar programmes haven’t explored. It’s also been a huge pleasure also to work with the students and share my golf business experiences, ideas and contacts with them.”

Other special guest speakers were Josh Light, Learning and Development Manager at national corporate and commercial caterers CH&Co, and BU graduate Kris Gumbrell, who is now Chief Executive of chain Convivial London Pubs PLC. Mr Gumbrell is a keen champion of BU, having provided numerous work placement opportunities to BU students, as well as employing a number of graduates. Mr Gumbrell also discussed the benefits of the consultancy projects he and his team have undertaken with experts in the School of Tourism.

Hospitality student Rebecca Cupitt was also invited to speak to guests at the event, talking about the management and leadership skills she developed during her work placement with CH&Co. This year Rebecca was one of only five students in the UK to be crowned Young Guns winner – a national prize which recognises hospitality students across the country who have excelled in their work placements.

In closing the day’s events, Professor Alan Fyall, Deputy Dean Research & Enterprise, School of Tourism, thanked all delegates for attending and stressed that this initiative represented a step-change in the School’s commitment to its future engagement with employers. Professor Fyall commented: “In bringing together the School’s student placement, graduate employment, alumni and enterprise activity, it is hoped that the ‘BU Talent’ initiative will not only deliver benefits to employers but will enhance the student experience for all students in the School.”

More than 600 students in the School of Tourism complete a 40-week industry placement every year, of which 100 are overseas, across a range of sectors spanning retail, hospitality, tourism, leisure, sport and events. The next BU Talent day, sponsored by CH&Co, will be held in London on Thursday 24 November. For more information please contact Business Development Manager Claire Main via email at: cmain@bournemouth.ac.uk or by calling: 01202 961481.

Crispin Farbrother, Hospitality Programmes Leader, in the School of Tourism, has had another successful trip as a visiting faculty member at the Emirates Academy of Hotel Management in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Crispin and an ex-BU colleague Lyn Randall have been teaching a Facilities Management and Design unit to students on the Hospitality Management degree programme at the Academy since 2007.

His trip this year to UAE involved taking the students on a tour of the famous 7* Burj al Arab hotel.  He also visited the Armani hotel at the base of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, where a quick trip in the lift up to the observation deck on the 124th floor travelled at 10m per second.

Hospitality management students have had internships in Dubai with Jumeria and Kempinski hotel companies. Dubai continues to attract leading businesses and the School of Tourism continues to explore opportunities in the UAE.

Professor Adam Blake, Ufi Ibrahim and Dr Keith Wilkes

The UK isn’t doing nearly enough to ensure we are one of the world’s top tourist destinations. That was the message from Ufi Ibrahim, Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association (BHA), at the third conference of the International Association for Tourism Ec

onomics, hosted by Bournemouth University this month.

During her keynote speech ‘UK Tourism: Barriers to Growth’, Ms Ibrahim said the hospitality industry poses a serious opportunity that is not being leveraged at the moment.

“As international competition increases we have to be better than world class to get a strong market share. In 2009 the UK ranked 6th on the list of the World’s international arrivals, with 29.9 million visitors in comparison to France, which has 74.2 million.”

Ms Ibrahim said we need to address the factors that affect tourism and those that may prevent tourists from choosing the UK. For example the UK ranks poorly for fuel price levels in comparison to other countries across the world, and for ticket taxes and airport charges we are almost bottom of the world league alongside Mali, Senegal and Timor-Leste.

And after the recent Royal Wedding reportedly giving the UK economy a £2billion boost, now is the perfect time to capitalise on the global events ahead – the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Queen’s Jubilee to name a few – and the opportunities they present.

“VisitBritain says 4.7 billion viewers (70 per cent of the World’s population) saw at least some of the coverage of the Beijing Olympics. And 2012 is estimated to provide an additional 1.6 billion Games-related positive media coverage for Britain. But in order to maximise this potential we absolutely must have Government support,” says Ms Ibrahim.

“Hospitality is the fifth largest industry in the UK, contributing 2.6 million jobs. But given the right Government framework, the UK hospitality industry can create a further 236,000 new jobs by 2015.”

Ms Ibrahim called on the Government to take action. “The BHA wants Prime Minister David Cameron to genuinely embrace and champion the tourism and hospitality economy, and look at the barriers to growth and really tackle them. He needs to help us to help UK plc.”

Among these challenges are the unfavourable VAT rates for hotels and restaurants, public sector cutbacks to tourism budgets and agencies such as VisitLondon, and an immigration policy that prevents the recruitment of international chefs from outside the EU.

The BHA is taking steps to try and improve the outlook, such as jointly working with the Treasury to look at the impacts of VAT rates, raising the visibility of the Visit agencies, and promoting the Olympics Legacy beyond 2012 and London.

But Ms Ibrahim said a lot of work still needs to be done. More Government lobbying and a strong desire to invest is needed to keep domestic tourism alive and ensure the UK is a top tourist destination.

BU’s Academy of Performance Coaching, which is based in the School of Tourism, has formed a training partnership with David Whiddon and Lloyd Figgins – two men who will row across the Atlantic to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

With the skills, training and expertise within the Academy, BU are helping the pair – who have not rowed before – to complete the biggest challenge of their lives when they depart from Agadir, Morocco to English Harbour in Antigua in December. Their epic mission has even attracted support from the legendary Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who has branded their challenge ‘remarkable’. (more…)