The Tourism Management honours and postgraduate diploma students of the Department of Marketing Management at the University of Pretoria showed their nerves of steel, when they presented their final exam assignments to an esteemed panel of tourism industry leaders on 23 June 2022. This special opportunity was arranged by Prof Anneli Douglas, lecturer of the Travel Management module.

 

Students presented research on various topics related to eTourism and business travel to the industry panel. Some of the topics included:

The exam panel consisted of eight leaders from both the private and public sector, namely Anneline Booyse-Mofokeng, Group Operations Director of Arcfyre; Nandipha David from Unisa; Morne du Preez, CEO of Tourvest Travel Services; Prof Gijsbert Hoogendoorn from the University of Johannesburg; Bernie Meyer from the  Department of Tourism; Dr Liandi Slabbert from SANParks; Ignatius Steyn from Expedia; Dr Kholadi Tlabela, Director of Research at the Department of Tourism; and Martin Wiest, CEO of Tourvest Destination Management. Five of the eight panel members are alumni of the Department of Marketing Management.

 

The exam panel commented that the topics presented by the students were very relevant to the industry. Students received insightful feedback from the panel and a unique learning opportunity was created. Prof Douglas said, "Panel members were impressed by the students’ enthusiasm and said that they look forward to welcoming the students to the tourism industry in the near future." She adds that the panel also mentioned that the energy displayed by the students is especially necessary as the tourism industry is trying to recover from the devastating effects of COVID-19. Morne du Preez, CEO of Tourvest Travel Services, used this opportunity to congratulate the students on a job well done.

 

 

It was indeed an honour for the Department of Marketing Management at UP to host such an esteemed panel of industry experts. We know that our students were inspired by the presence of industry at the exam session, and we know that the students will benefit for many years to come from the experienced gained during this project.