International Tourism Management Graduate Lauren is Discovering Texas!

Lauren, a 2016 graduate who achieved a upper 2:1 BA Hons in International Tourism Management updates us on her amazing career in Texas since graduating and details how her UCLan experience got her to where she is now.

She stated her decision to study at UCLan was because the International Tourism Management course really appealed to her as it offered a four year academic learning experience with the opportunity to undertake a 48 week industry experience placement.  

I'm currently enrolled on a graduate scheme at the JWMarriott in Austin, Texas holding a supervisor position which is a huge privilege for me. I'm working within the Front Office department, with recently completing a four month rotation within the Rooms Control department. This was a strategic role, involving me controlling all 1,012 guest rooms within the hotel and setting up the day for the Front Office. My second and current rotation is working the Front Desk, this is a customer facing role as i'm the first face guests will see when they walk through the door. The hotel leads with 'YES'! This means all guests needs are catered for, and no request is to big. Every day is different and I have a new learning experience each day, which allows me to grasp a better understanding of how to do deal with a variety of situations.

This opportunity came to me from UCLan themselves. Whilst getting ready for University one morning a received a text message from UCLan, stating that there were two HR managers from Marriott International coming into UCLan to discuss career opportunities they had on offer and to arrange interviews with students who were interested. My lecturer allowed me to leave my seminar early so I would be able to attend the talk and sign up for an interview. I was accepted for the interview process and was offered a position within their graduate scheme on the spot, and was asked which area of America I would like to work in; I decided to go with Austin, Texas as I heard about the lifestyle over there. Within four months I was put in contact with a sponsor agency who helped me with my transition to America, and start the next journey in my life.

The travel opportunities within UCLan will leave a lasting memory in my mind. Especially during my second year, I received the opportunity to carry out my studies in Malta, which was an unforgettable opportunity. I was able to meet and make life long friends with those from across the world.

My third year as an UCLan student was spent gaining work experience within the front desk department of a hotel in Lanzarote, The Canary Islands. The hotel I worked at was an adults only hotel with a relaxed atmosphere, there were a few things to adjust to such as the front desk computers being programmed in Spanish or the island being more on the relaxed side however it was a nice learning experience. The course also involved an study trips to Barcelona to enjoy numerous cultural activities and another study trip to Poland to co operate with the Dark Tourism module I studied in my final year. 

The course has too many opportunities not to miss, apply for e study abroad programmes, apply for the work placement and make the most of the vast opportunities available. If there is something that I could say to future graduates who want to experience something similar it would be..."Go for it! The chance to be independent living and working abroad is a huge accomplishment!" 

Former Prison is Fitting Setting to Explore Death and Disaster

We encounter and commemorate death in many ways in contemporary society and the conference allowed us a critical insight of how ‘dark tourism’ can mediate life and living through the significant dead

The ‘A Wing’ of a former Lancaster prison provided the ideal backdrop this week for dark tourism experts from around the world to examine society’s interest in sites of death and disaster.

Organised by the University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) Institute for Dark Tourism Research, together with project partners from the Universities of Manchester Metropolitan, Bath, Durham, Hull, and York, the ‘Packaging up Death and the Dead for the Contemporary Visitor Economy’ conference invited speakers from the UK and USA to look at what makes people want to visit sites of death, disaster or the seemingly macabre; how appropriate this may be and if visiting some sites of so called dark or disaster tourism is insensitive and exploits those affected by them.

The event was aptly held at what is considered to be one of Lancashire’s most iconic site of dark tourism, the former ‘A Wing’ of HM Lancaster Prison at Lancaster Castle.

The Executive Director of the UCLan Institute for Dark Tourism Research, Dr Philip Stone, organised the booked-up conference. He said: “Over the past twenty years or so there has been an increasing academic and media focus on ‘dark tourism’, which has the capacity to expand boundaries of the imagination and to provide the modern visitor with potentially life-changing points of shock.

“Dark tourism and cultural heritage overlap when considering themes of war, disaster, tragedy or social conflict, and memory and identity are in question. Of course the interpretations of these themes are understandably prone to concerns about inclusion, exploitation, sensitivity and appropriateness. I would argue that developing touristic opportunities at particular difficult heritage sites is an increasing, and perhaps inevitable, feature of creating what is known as contemporary traumascapes; sites which bear the physical and psychological scars of suffering.”

We encounter and commemorate death in many ways in contemporary society and the conference allowed us a critical insight of how 'dark tourism' can mediate life and living through the significant dead

Another UCLan speaker, Associate Lecturer in Tourism Management Dr Daniel Wright, shared his provocative research which paints a sombre scenario for the future of tourism in 2200 in which hunting humans could become a form of tourism entertainment.

He said: “What the future of tourism will look like is open to debate. Hunting humans: A future for tourism in 2200, is a research paper that explores past and current societal trends. What I’ve presented is a provocative dystopian future scenario where entertainment, violence and human assassination are seen to be a normalised tourist activity.”

Other topics examined Lancaster’s own slave heritage and the ways that contemporary artists and academics ensure that history is not forgotten, the spectacle of punishment and prisons, and the appropriateness of children visiting sites of death and disaster.

Dr Stone added: “This conference was a huge success in the sense it brought local, national and international scholars, students, and industry people together from a broad array of subject areas. We encounter and commemorate death in many ways in contemporary society and the conference allowed us a critical insight of how ‘dark tourism’ can mediate life and living through the significant dead.”

‘Packaging up Death and the Dead’ for the Contemporary Visitor Economy: A Dark Tourism and Heritage Perspective, is part of the ‘Encountering Corpses’ project led by Professor Craig Young from Manchester Metropolitan University, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Seminar Series 2014 – 2017. Other speakers were Professor Mary Margaret Kerr from the University of Pittsburgh, Professor Alan Rice from UCLan, Dr Paul Fallon from Sheffield Hallam University and Dr Sarah Hodgkinson from University of Leicester.

For more information about the ‘Encountering Corpses’ project visit https://encounteringcorpses.wordpress.com/ To view photos from the event view the UCLan Flickr gallery.

Meeting of International Tourism Masters Network in Manchester

Fourteen delegates from eight European countries gathered at Manchester Metropolitan University last week for the Network’s first convention.

As well as the Network’s business, the participants heard the following presentations:

• Professor Richard Sharpley of UCLan about Dark Tourism, its attractions and the ethical issues surrounding it.
• Dr Dario tom-Dieck of MMU about the use of augmented reality, through devices for enhancing tourism experiences.
• Prof Harold Goodwin of MMU about the challenges of creating responsible tourism.
• Jane Randall of Head of Visitor Economy, Marketing Manchester who explained the growth and strategy for the future for tourism in Manchester.
• Kieran Bussoopun, Senior Events Manager, Manchester Pride and Event Tourism, who described how the Gay Pride events had evolved since 1989 and how they are currently organised.

Tourist Attractions in Manchester

The participants were also taken to a number of Manchester’s tourist attractions including Manchester United Stadium, Castlefield Wharfe, The Town Hall, Canal Street, Rylands Library and the Hilton Sky Bar!

Thursday was for students and we were joined by five UCLan Masters’ students. The session was chaired by Jo Guiver of UCLan. Three MMU students explained the topics they hoped to research for their dissertations and advice was offered by the academics present. Next, three French students from Université de Savoie Mont Blanc impressed us with their presentations about their completed dissertations. They too generated a lot of discussion, particularly the one by Jérémy Vallot about how videos are used to choose and research tourist destinations, a new phenomenon for many of the academics. Two students from Sweden (Dalarna University) completed the session by talking about their dissertation plans.
Most of the Network’s business was completed on the Friday and an interim board was elected with Paul Constable (Savoie Mont Blanc) as President, Lorenzo Bagnoli (Milano Biccota) and Jo Guiver (UCLan) Vice Presidents responsible for Pedagogy and Research respectively, Albina Pashkevich (Dalarna) secretary and Susanne Hilland (Heilbronn) treasurer.

Each university reported on their Masters’ courses, recruitment and student exchanges with other universities. Florence Besson-Reynaud (Savoie Mont Blanc) said five university tourism Masters’ groups were joining the Tourism Business Game this year. The game is run by Anne Queffelec and paid for by Savoie Mont Blanc. It involves each group making business decisions about a tourism destination. Feedback is given for each of the six stages. Kate Torkington (Algarve) and Jo Guiver reported on the special edition of the academic journal DosAlgarves which they and Pete McGrath
(previously at UCLan) are editing about Slow Travel.

The next meeting is planned for November in Faro, Portugal.

On Saturday, the Italian and French delegations, including three French students, visited Lancaster, where Jo Guiver and Ruth Jenkins showed them a few of the tourist attractions: the Castle (with immense Dark Tourism potential), the Customs House, now the Maritime Museum, and Atkinson’s coffee shop, where the owner explained how some of the canisters, they still use date back to Georgian times. We escaped the persistent rain to sample Lancaster beers and English food in The Sun Hotel before a visit to the market. The French delegation then took the train directly to Manchester Airport and the Italians savoured another night in Manchester before heading back to Milan.