Thursday 6 June 2013

UCLan and Merlin Entertainments deliver ‘Tourism in Action’

First year Tourism Management students are breaking away from the norms of theoretical essays and written reports to gain some real industry exposure with one of the largest visitor attraction operators in the world, Merlin Entertainments.

Europe's leading name in location based, family entertainment has recently partnered with UCLan to deliver a brand new Tourism in Action module which has been designed specifically to engage students directly with industry at a very early stage in their course.

As part of the new module, the 2012/13 cohort had the opportunity to meet with Sarah Lundy, the Marketing Manager of the Merlin Group, who provided the students with insight into the company and her current job role as well as her personal experience of breaking into tourism management.

Following Sarah's visit, the first year students embarked on a day trip to the Blackpool resort where they received an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at five major Merlin attractions including Sealife, Tower Dungeon, Madame Tussauds, Tower Ballroom and the Blackpool Tower 4D experience.

International Tourism Management student Beth Higson said: "I found the trip to Blackpool to be very inspiring and it has only further motivated me to pursue a career in tourism. Meeting the Marketing Manager Sarah Lundy prior to the trip was particularly influential, as I understand how hard she works to promote Blackpool, and I have seen the fantastic results for myself."

As this seamless partnership continues, Course Leader Carley Sutton is hoping to establish on-going placement opportunities within the Merlin Group for future cohorts. Linking up with Merlin could mean huge gains for UCLan Tourism students who could potentially progress straight onto the company’s 18 month fast track graduate programme, training to be one of the future leaders of a global business.

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