SKEMA students from the MSc Strategic Event & Tourism Management and MSc International Hospitality Management programmes were invited to look behind the scenes at diverse event and tourism stakeholders on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th March.
The 60 students attended in-office presentations by Visit Britain, the national tourist board (DMO) for England, Scotland and Wales; Mascontour, a leading consultancy on sustainable tourism; Visit Berlin, the DMO for Germany's capital; and K.I.T., a large event management agency.
They heard about different campaigns run by the city and national DMOs and the importance for these bodies to prove the ROI of their marketing activities. At Mascontour they discussed the opportunities presented by sustainable tourism for developing countries and discovered case studies about international congress organisation and association management delivered by a team of K.I.T. experts. All presenters also gave a valuable insight into a typical "day in the life" of a manager in destination marketing, consulting or professional conference organisation.
"I am very grateful to these practitioners who agreed to my suggestion to open their offices to our students and to share their industry expertise and career tips with them", says Mady Keup, programme director for SKEMA's two MSc programmes in event, hospitality and tourism management.
After these visits, students attended the trade days at ITB, the world's largest tourism fair.