Courses join forces for field trips

Students from the school’s Sport Journalism, International Event Management, International Tourism Management, International Travel Management and Sport Management courses were united last week for two field trips:

Wimbledon

At The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon  students enjoyed an in-depth tour of the grounds and were also taken behind the scenes in the media centre. They learnt about future development plans as well as how the club works with the local community to manage the annual event. The visit also fed into debates about how Wimbledon helps to preserve an English identity.

Jurate Gutamanaite, International Tourism Management student, said: “The Wimbledon tour was really interesting and engaging, whether you are interested in tennis or not at all.

“We had a chance to see the backstage of Wimbledon, to hear the history, and other very interesting details of what is hidden behind the Wimbledon image that makes this tennis court so special and famous. A great day out!” This was echoed by Sport Journalism student Dan Gibbs: “It was great to see behind the scenes of Wimbledon, especially the places you often see at home on TV that I can now say I’ve been there. It got me really excited for this year’s tournament and I’m now counting down the days until it starts!”

Thorpe Park

Students also visited Thorpe Park with tutors Dr Clare Weeden and Dr Nigel Jarvis as part of the Management in Action module .

The module entails students running a simulated theme park and the visit to Thorpe Park helped put their theory into practice. Whilst at the park, students participated in an educational seminar on how the park operates its marketing, one of the most important management aspects of the very competitive attraction sector in the UK.

Emma Davies, international Tourism Management student said: “I liked visiting the theme park because it allowed us to be critical of the way Thorpe Park runs.

“We were noticing things that we might not have thought twice about if we were not doing the module such as the little boy that got hurt on the bumper cars and the girl that was sick after a ride. It was good to see how the staff dealt with those issues.

“It was nice that our class spent time together outside the classroom and that we got to also mix groups which was good for all of us.”