Institute joins International Tourism project

The Institute of Transport and Tourism (ITT) has been invited to join an exciting collaborative research project.

Coordinated by the International Tourism Master Network, the project aims to provide comparative studies of 'Slow Tourism' destinations in a range of countries and regions across the world.

Susanne Hilland from Heilbronn University, Germany, visited ITT at UCLan's School of Sport, Tourism and The Outdoors to discuss the plan. She said: "The project follows on from a joint venture between seven European universities which ended in 2013.

"The International Tourism Master Network will feature around a dozen institutions from the UK, Germany Spain, France, Canada and others to create various knowledge transfer partnerships.

"The project will see a variety of research studies conducted, including slow tourism and food tourism. I'm pleased UCLan are joining the project and look forward to seeing where this takes us.

"My first involvement with ITT was around two years ago through Dr Jo Guiver. We set up an Erasmus student exchange programme between our two universities and the new Network will further develop this relationship."

Peter McGrath, who specialises in Slow Tourism research, said the Institute was delighted to receive the invitation.

"The findings could be instrumental in helping destinations develop their full potential for slow tourism initiatives, as well as providing best practice support for stakeholders in emerging slow tourism destinations.

"As there is relatively little empirical-based research into the actual workings of slow tourism in specific destinations, this is an excellent opportunity for us to be involved."

College students tour UCLan

Students and staff from Blackburn College visited UCLan to check out what we can offer on our Tourism programmes.

The 16 students, currently studying the BTEC National Diploma in Travel and Tourism at the College, met first and final year student ambassadors who spoke about 'A day in the life of a UCLan Tourism Management student'.

The group were shown the endless opportunities of studying on the UCLan Tourism programme and provided with a tour of our accommodation, fitness and library facilities.

The students are now looking forward to securing a place on the course.

Students use Bursary Scheme to boost career prospects

Two UCLan Tourism students used the University's Travel Bursary Scheme to enhance their learning in South America.

Management in Tourism (Top-up) students Karolina Gniewek (left) and Izabela Slowik (below) travelled to an Eco Tourism conference in Brazil and also undertook a number of related field visits.

The pair kindly provided some feedback from the trip: "Brazil is an outstanding country, and by its size and diversity it allows us to get a different outlook on the world, exotic wildlife and colourful culture with all its features.

"Our trip would not be possible without the help from UCLan Travel Bursary Scheme, and we greatly appreciate your efforts to enable students to travel to various places where they can learn by doing things and enjoying themselves. We would like to say thank you, but we'll say it in Portuguese, as that's the word we've used numerously for the last couple of days.

"We both say it twice to everyone involved with this trip, to everyone mentioned on the blog we created, to our supporting families and most of all to the UCLan Travel Bursary Scheme team - Obrigada!"

Karolina and Izabela are now returning to Poland to continue their studies before going into the industry.

Lecturer presents at showpiece cultural conference

UCLan Tourism's Dr David Jarratt was an invited speaker at the prestigious Cultural Offers at Seaside Towns (COaST) Conference 2014.

The event, staged at the new Turner Contemporary Art Gallery in Margate, brought together a range of key researchers and presenters for a stimulating discussion of the role of culture in coastal towns.

COaST is a research and knowledge exchange group based at Canterbury Christ Church University, bringing together a range of researchers and stakeholders who have a shared interest in the cultural dynamics of the seaside towns.

The group consider culture and creativity in the widest sense, including gentrification, architecture & design, heritage, tourism, the visual arts, literature, performance, festivals & events and food and drink.

Dr Jarratt looked at sense of place and built heritage using Morecambe as a case study. There are plans to publish a selection of papers from the conference, including Dr Jarratt's, as a book.

It is hoped the conference will further strengthen the increasing value placed upon seaside heritage and related tourism regeneration. The themes of Dr Jarratt's paper and the conference will be reflected in the ongoing research informed teaching at UCLan.