Master students in tourism presents at the Council of Europe
Four students from the master's programme in tourism will present a report at the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes Academic Workshop on December 7.
The students Marie Lerho, Irene Burdisso, Yim Ping Chan and Sameera Prasanna Rodrigo are in their second year of the Master's programme in Tourism. Now they have gotten the opportunity to spread their knowledge beyond Mid Sweden University and present their work at the Cultural Routes Academic Workshop – a workshop that will bring together scholars, researchers, students and other participants from Europe and beyond to exchange and share their research outcomes in the field of Cultural Routes studies.
– We are really looking forward to presenting our report. We are the only master's students, so it feels nervous as there will be many people there who are more experienced than us. At the same time, we feel very proud to talk about our work in this context and it will be a memory for life, says the students.
Their report "Strategic destination development plan for the route of St. Olavsleden" is part of a field studies course that they did in their first year of the master’s program, where they made suggestions for improvements in real environments linked to tourism development and management. The group chose to study St:Olavsleden - a pilgrimage route that runs through Sweden and Norway.
– Three themes were identified: spirituality, peace and human rights and gastronomy. So when we did the actual study, we stopped at selected places along St:Olavsleden that were related to those areas, says Irene Burdisso.
One of the teachers who followed the students during their work is Jack Shepherd, teacher on the Master's Programme in Tourism. He both organised and accompanied them on the trip.
– The students did a great job on this project and it's great that it's getting attention at European level, says Jack Shepherd.
And the students feel proud that they can contribute with their knowledge.
– This fall we worked as volunteers at the 31st Nordic Symposium on Tourism and Hospitality Research, an international tourism conference that was held here on campus. Then we were in the background, and now we are presenting. It feels great to be able to contribute with something academic, says Yim Ping Chan.
Marie Lerho agrees.
– It's great that the work we've done gets the chance to be disseminated outside the course itself. It's not just another school project, but it feels meaningful that it might be of real use, says Marie Lerho.
The students are grateful for the support from their teachers and Sameera Rodrigo adds.
– Big thanks to Jack Shepherd and Dimitri Ioannides for their amazing support and guidance throughout this St:Olavsleden project. We learned a lot about working as a team and we're really proud to represent our university and excited to share our experience with everyone at Europe's Cultural Routes Academic Workshop.