Tourism & Event Management: Sustaining the attraction of Australia. Pt. 1: Introduction

Transcription

1 Tourism & Event Management: Sustaining the attraction of Australia Pt. 1: Introduction

2 SYLLABUS Tourism & Event Management: Sustaining the Attraction of Australia The course is coordinated by the University of New South Wales s School of Marketing at the Australian School of Business. The course comprises lectures, industry case studies and presentations, field excursions, and travel throughout some of the most prominent and diverse tourist destinations in Australia. At these locations students come face-to-face with tourism and event management issues facing public and private organisations across the broad spectrum of sectors in the tourism industry. The combination of theory and real-life tourism and event management case studies provides students with a uniquely engaging and enriching way of learning how Australia is addressing the challenge of sustainability, within the context of tourism and event management. Through field trips to businesses and key attractions at the various geographic locations, students experience first-hand the behind-thescenes operations necessary for orchestrating the great tourist theme park which is Australia. Additionally, students will gain key insights into how the Australian tourism industry is preparing to sustain itself in an increasingly competitive world tourism market. The interdisciplinary approach utilised throughout the course, incorporating marketing, business and event management, sociology and psychology aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills that can be used in a range of industries and future careers. Today tourism is the world s largest industry and its biggest employer. The significance of tourism to the Asia Pacific region and in particular Australia is in line with this trend. From small beginnings a mere twenty years ago, tourism is now Australia s largest revenue earner and, according to independent research (Tourism NSW), is America s most desirable destination. Australia has been described as the world s greatest tourist playground offering the most exciting and diverse range of experiences imaginable. Students participating in this course visit many of its stunning natural, cultural and man-made attractions. In doing so, they will discover the marketing and management techniques that have been used to create such impressive tourism growth, whilst conserving the natural and built heritage environments credited with attracting tourists in the first place.

3 Event Plan for Kakadu 45% The Rocks - Field Trip Report 25% Final Exam 30% Assessment As this is a course of the University of New South Wales, assessments will be marked in accordance with the Australian marking scheme: Fail <50% Pass 50-64% Credit 65-74% Distinction 75-84% High Distinction % As with any other Australian university course, students who do not participate in essential activities (field trips, assessments and exam) will fail, as will those who do not perform at university standard. An overall mark of 50% or better is required to pass this course. TEXTBOOKs The following textbook will be provided to students on arrival in Australia and lent free of charge for the duration of the program. Allen, J. O Toole, W., Harris, R., McDonnell, I. (2011) Festival and Special Event Management Fifth Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Australia. (FSEM) Course Information Tourism and Event Management: Sustaining the Attraction of Australia is one of the three TEAN Summer Down Under courses transcripted through UNSW in Each program has approximately participants and all travel a similar itinerary within Australia. Generally, all groups will be staying at the same destination at approximately the same time, however, programs will break up into their individual groups for classes and field excursions.

4 LOCATION The program commences in Byron Bay where water, sand, and sun collide. Laidback Byron Bay provides a fantastic introduction to laidback Australia where you ll get familiar with your course material, instructors and fellow students. Mix in an included kayak trip with dolphins (and maybe whales) and optional activities like snorkelling or horseback riding and you ll be pinching yourself. While in Byron Bay, students will travel to the Gold Coast, the theme park capital of Australia, where excursions will complement studies in theme park management and resort development. Then off to Darwin, in the north of Australia. Here learning will focus on naturebased recreation and tourism impacts and visitor management strategies. Lectures, guest speakers and case studies will be complemented by visits to local attractions, including an unforgettable three-day camping expedition into Kakadu, Australia s largest World Heritage-listed National Park. Students will experience its spectacular scenery of vibrant wetlands, beautiful waterfalls, incredible bird life, reptiles and saltwater crocodiles. The area also boasts the longest continuous surviving human culture and rock art in the world, that of the traditional owners of the land - the Aboriginal people. From Darwin, students will journey to Melbourne, Australia s second largest city and the sporting and cultural capital of Australia. Here students will visit the recently developed tourist sites of Federation square and South Bank and develop an understanding of the attraction of Australian cities on which to base latter comparisons. At the end of week two, the program moves to Sydney where students will be based at UNSW. Described by the American Travel and Leisure Magazine as the best city in the world, Sydney has something exciting for everyone. Set around a magnificent harbour are such world-famous icons as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and an Opera House which has been awarded the building of the 20th century by the Guggenheim Institute. Classes will draw on Sydney s built attractions as references, such as the historical Rocks area, and field trips with access to senior management will complement these studies and ensure that your behind-the-scenes experience is continued. A visit to Olympic Park will focus on the event-management capabilities responsible for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the legacy of infrastructure that remains today. From the Sydney, Cairns will be the last stop of the program. Here studies will move from man-made to the natural attractions of tropical North Queensland, which include the superb Daintree rainforest and the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. The facilities there will be used to reference the examination of nature-based and activities based recreation and sustainable tourism.

5 Byron Bay Gold Coast 3. Darwin 4. Kakadu National Park 5. Melbourne 6. Sydney 7. Cairns 5 6 Program Length The course consists of 75 hours of class contact time over five weeks comprising field trips, lectures and presentations. The program is valued at 6 units of credit at UNSW; international equivalent of 4-8 units of credit each, subject to home institution policy.

6 Staff Dr. Tracey Firth Dr. Tracey Firth is currently a lecturer in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Southern Cross University (Lismore, NSW) and a former lecturer in the School of Marketing at the University of New South Wales. Her research examines tourism impacts, sustainable tourism, cultural-heritage tourism, destination marketing and tourist behavior. Tracey once owned a café in Sydney and worked in hotel management for the Sydney Renaissance Hotel, but now lives on a 5-acre hobby farm near Byron Bay (with koalas in her backyard!). She loves channeling her creativity into projects including upcycling found items, painting, gardening, and cooking with homegrown produce. When not involved in teaching or researching, you may find Tracey experiencing Tourism and Hospitality firsthand through her personal travels in Australia and abroad (with a particular fondness for Italy). BIll O'Toole William (Bill) O Toole is an international events development specialist who has found his himself in over 40 countries including Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, France and the United States. Bill assists councils, cities, regions, countries and companies with growing event portfolios and writing event strategies. He also trains and assists the United Nations event organizers and is founding director of the Event Management Body of Knowledge (EMBOK) and a key advisor to the Event Management International Competency Standard (EMICS). A true storyteller, make sure to ask Bill about his favorite event (a live concert broadcast from an Australian wetlands) and worst event (two people and a dog in attendance). When not writing textbooks (he has three, one of which you will use for the course), Bill can be found swimming in the ocean, studying history and mathematics, and, unexpectedly, playing the penny whistle. TEAN PROGRAM coordinators Rachel dorsey, senior program manager [email protected] Shannon Diegel, Assistant program manager [email protected] Kate Hilby, program manager [email protected] The Education Abroad Network 505 N. LaSalle, STE 200 Chicago, IL