The new Hospitality and Tourism Management degree, launched in October 2009, has been forging new partnerships with the global hospitality and tourism industry to provide more strategic and development opportunities for students to achieve learning outcomes in a commercial setting.
As part of this, since October, lectures have been given by a number of key industry speakers, including Arthur de Haast, Global CEO of Jones Lang and La Salle Hotels; Oli Norman, founder and managing director of marketing agency DADA; and Calvin Kayes, marketing director of the Supreme Group, the largest festivals events caterers in the country which holds the contracts for T in the Park, Tall Ships and Rugby's Six Nations amongst others.
Another important aspect of the degree is working with industry in the field and a number of visits took place in April. A visit to Glengoyne Distillery, situated north of Glasgow, focused on employment and augmenting products through tourism. The distillery employs nine people in its primary function of whisky production, but approximately 50 more in the tourism side of the business, including marketing, tours, events and retail.
Students also visited the Falkirk Wheel and Stirling Castle. The visit to the Falkirk Wheel focused on creating demand for products and services and the use of tourism to support the local economy. After a trip on the wheel, students were given a talk by Alasdair Smart, general manager of the Falkirk Wheel, exploring both the original funding model and the management issues of increasing visitor numbers and spend around what is essentially a piece of transport infrastructure. "People go to see the Wheel as a piece of truly original engineering, but what will make them go back? The challenge for attractions like this is to create events and opportunities to ensure visitors keep returning," said marketing lecturer Matthew Alexander who accompanied the class.
Stirling Castle was next on the field visit with the focus on the preservation of cultural heritage and how improvements to the facilities are strategically made to increase visitor numbers. Lectures and tours were provided by the education officer Kirsten Wood who focused on the £12 million archaeological conservation project to restore the Palace Complex of King James V to its original 15th century state.
The day finished with a visit to Sloan's Bar in Glasgow which is owned by the DADA Group - they provided their ballroom for a presentation about working in events and putting together an effective CV. Lynda Forrest, director of events for DADA, gave a talk about her role. Andrew MacLaren, Department of Management, added, "We will continue to develop our relationship with the DADA Group. There is the opportunity of internships and DADA will also recruit students for events throughout the year."