Autumn 2012
Welcome to the autumn issue of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management e-newsletter.
The School was pleased to announce its collaboration with Le Cordon Bleu recently with the development of a Master of Gastronomic Tourism. This course will be delivered entirely online, catering for people who want to combine their passion for food with business.
It is also exciting to see former students employed in such vastly different fields. Linda Tillman is running her own marketing and events firm, while also acting as the boss of Riverina Regional Tourism. Emma Sweeney landed her dream job as a guide at the Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef Resort, while Julian Pereira is the exhibition co-ordinator for Sculptures By The Sea. Another student, Cherise Addinsall, has been involved with a unique initiative in Vanuatu.
Dr Erica Wilson
Acting Head of School of Tourism and Hospitality Management
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Vanuatu internship inspires clean-up message
The majestic natural beauty of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu's largest island, is little changed since European discovery in the 17th century. These days, though, the island is grappling with a modern phenomenon: litter.
"Vanuatu is still a developing country and its smaller island communities, like Espiritu Santo, are yet to establish waste management programs, despite a burgeoning tourism industry," said Bachelor of Environmental Tourism Management student, Cherise Addinsall, who helped organise the inaugural Lukaoetum Gud Santo music festival in November 2011.
Le Cordon Bleu to master food tourism with SCU
World famous culinary arts and hospitality school Le Cordon Bleu has launched an exciting new postgraduate degree for 'foodies' in conjunction with Southern Cross University.
Former student linked to royal love story
Sculpture by the Sea has been inextricably linked with the love story of the Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and a former Southern Cross University student has been able to view the Royal Couple first hand.
Giving tourism a sporting chance
The School of Tourism and Hospitality Management and the Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work were proud to host Dr Chris Bull, a sports tourism expert from the UK's Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), at the Lismore campus recently.
From little things big things grow for Tillman
Former Southern Cross University student Linda Tillman has taken on the challenging role of acting executive officer of Riverina Regional Tourism.
CAUTHE conference calls PhD candidates
Two Southern Cross University PhD candidates presented papers at the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education Conference in Melbourne, the biggest conference of its kind in Australia.
An office with whale sharks and turtles
Former Southern Cross University student Emma Sweeney has landed her dream job – as a guide at the exclusive Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef Resort in Western Australia.
Vanuatu internship inspires clean-up message
NO GARBAGE: Cherise Addinsall, right, handing out an eco-bag to one of the festival-goers.The majestic natural beauty of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu's largest island, is little changed since European discovery in the 17th century. These days, though, the island is grappling with a modern phenomenon: litter.
"Vanuatu is still a developing country and its smaller island communities, like Espiritu Santo, are yet to establish waste management programs, despite a burgeoning tourism industry," said Bachelor of Environmental Tourism Management student, Cherise Addinsall, who helped organise the inaugural Lukaoetum Gud Santo music festival in November 2011.
Lukaoetum Gud Santo means 'look after Santo, keep it clean' and Cherise said the three-day festival, which attracted 5000 people a day, was themed around recycling and waste management.
"We wanted to give people the knowledge and skills they needed to help clean up their island," she said.
"We hope to create social awakening through the festival and get the government to re-think its role, too."
The garbage problem first came to Cherise's attention in early 2011 while completing an internship through Southern Cross University's Research Centre for Tourism Leisure and Work (CTLW). Cherise spent six weeks on Espiritu Santo, developing a marketing strategy for the Village de Santo resort.
"On Espiritu Santo, tourism and development have happened very fast, centring on the island's main town Luganville," she said.
Cherise said people in Espiritu Santo's rural areas still lived a minimalist lifestyle and dealt with their waste in a traditional way, feeding food scraps to animals or using banana leaves to wrap food.
"However in Luganville townsfolk can't have farm animals and a lot of them work so they don't have time to do things traditionally. They're living more westernised lives with plastic bags, packaging and drink containers but the island doesn't have the waste management services to cope," Cherise said.
"There are no bins in the main street. Luganville is right on the canal and river system so the rubbish is going straight into the waterways and that impacts on tourism as well as the local people."
Cherise and CTLW joined forces with Village de Santo resort owner, Bev Anti, and a group of concerned locals to form the Lukaoetum Gud Santo committee, made up of about 20 people.
"Espiritu Santo has the potential for eco-tourism and locally-owned indigenous tourism so it can do things differently to the capital, Port Villa. But it's a matter of educating people about what they have, how important it is to look after what they've got, to stay strong, to promote local involvement and keep things beautiful," Cherise said.
Green teams wandered around the festival educating businesses, adults, families and children with environmentally-friendly messages. Guest speakers spoke about waste management and recycling. Stall owners had to meet waste-free guidelines to take part.
"Operators had to find creative ways to make their stalls out of compostable products, like plant materials, timber and leaves. And food could only be served on banana leaves or in coconut shells," Cherise said.
Recycling bins and compost bins were scattered around the festival grounds.
"Everything we did was about honing home the idea about keeping the environment clean and changing people's thinking. Instead of thinking it was okay to throw things out, we encouraged people to think about the minimising the waste stream: what could be re-used, composted, fed to animals or sent to rural areas. Simple actions, like using straw bags or eco bags instead of plastic when shopping," Cherise said.
"Locals already have a lot of knowledge. It's about them understanding the repercussions if the garbage problem isn't addressed."
Despite the serious message, there was time for some fun, too.
"We got local bands and musicians to play. It was the first music festival in Espiritu Santo," said Cherise.
"Linking culture and music with any form of education is very effective. We were able to communicate to thousands of people at once."
With funding grants from the Australian federal government's South Pacific Regional Environment Program and Arts NSW, the Lukaoetum Gud Santo committee was able to get East Journey, an East Arnhem Land band, and Byron Bay reggae band, Raz Bin Sam and the Lion Eye, on the bill. Both bands did workshops with the locals.
"East Journey was incredible. I went to their workshop. They talked about the role of culture in their identity. Strong cultures, healthy communities. It was good to see that cultural exchange," Cherise said.
Cherise finished her degree at the end of 2011 and is set to graduate in May 2012.
Now she is doing her honours year with the CRC for Remote Economic Participation, focusing on an Aboriginal-owned tourism business in the Kimberley.
She remains on the Lukaoetum Gud Santo committee and is helping organise the 2012 festival.
Le Cordon Bleu to master food tourism with SCU
TASTES GREAT: Dr Roger Haden, of Le Cordon Bleu, and Dr Erica Wilson, of Acting Head of School of SCU's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management.World famous culinary arts and hospitality school Le Cordon Bleu has launched an exciting new postgraduate degree for 'foodies' in conjunction with Southern Cross University.
The Le Cordon Bleu Master of Gastronomic Tourism was officially launched in January and Le Cordon Bleu Educational Leadership Manager, Dr Roger Haden believes the time is ripe for the new program.
"Sustainable production, provision and enjoyment of quality food and drink are revitalising local communities around the world, with obvious relevance for the tourism and hospitality experience," he said.
"This degree caters to those with a combined sense of gastronomic passion, business initiative and social conscience. It is an important and timely extension of our current culinary and hospitality management education portfolio.
"Gastronomic tourism is helping to revive rural ways of life and strengthen cultural traditions. It is a growing market sector fostering employment in hospitality and artisan food and wine production and a growing area of interest for study."
Already there has been significant interest by prospective students, according to Southern Cross University Acting Head of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Dr Erica Wilson.
"We have had a fantastic response from potential students who are keen to enrol, and learn more about the important place of food and gastronomy in managing a sustainable tourism experience," she said.
"The Le Cordon Bleu Master of Gastronomic Tourism is an exciting new degree to add to our suite of courses here in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management. We are delighted to be working with an institution as prestigious as Le Cordon Bleu.
"This Masters course is a first in a number of ways. It is a first for SCU in terms of a unique educational partnership with Le Cordon Bleu, one of the world's oldest and most renowned culinary institutions. The Master of Gastronomic Tourism is also one of only a handful of gastronomic tourism degrees available globally, and certainly, as far as we are aware, the only one that is offered fully online.
"This degree offers students a range of fascinating and contemporary areas of study, including gastronomic tourism, food writing, entrepreneurship, gastronomy and communication, and events planning."
Former student linked to royal love story
FUN BY THE SEA: Julian Pereira, right, with a colleague from Sculpture by the Sea.Sculpture by the Sea has been inextricably linked with the love story of the Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and a former Southern Cross University student has been able to view the Royal Couple first hand.
Julian Pereira, who graduated from SCU with a Bachelor of Business in Tourism Management in 2005, is now the exhibition co-ordinator with Sculpture by the Sea. He was on hand when the royal couple visited in November last year.
The Crown Prince and Princess had one of their first dates at Sculpture by the Sea around the time of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and have become so fond of the event that Denmark now host a bi-annual exhibition in the city of Aarhus.
"They had a whirlwind visit on the last day of the exhibition," Mr Pereira said.
"I saw them but didn't get to meet them. The crowd was quite large. But it's great that they are such fans of the exhibition and that they came on a date here back in 2000.
"A few other famous people attended this year like Val Kilmer and Leonardo Di Caprio, and there were others like Jimoein and Paul McDermott."
Mr Pereira admits the degree he completed at Southern Cross University may seem a strange fit for an art exhibition co-ordinator but he believes it actually helped in securing him the sought after job.
"I volunteered at the exhibition in 2009, which led to an internship and then on to a job," he said.
"Every time they advertise the job they get a heap of applicants so I was very lucky. While a business and tourism degree may not seem like a great fit it gave me event management and administration skills.
"You also have to remember that while Sculpture by the Sea is an art exhibition it is also a major tourist event. More than 500,000 people attended the exhibition last year at Bondi while about 215,000 attend the exhibition in Western Australia.
"I even spoke to one lady who flew all the way from New Zealand for the day just to see the exhibition."
Mr Pereira remembers his time at Southern Cross University fondly and said the combination of the degree and location helped convince him to move away from Sydney.
"I've surprised myself with the job I've got since leaving uni," the 28-year-old said.
"It's a great job, as part of it I get to go to Cottesloe for one month, and there are some great characters involved. One of the sculptures was involved in the Bondi show and then packed up his sculpture and drove across to Cottesloe to be involved there. He had this old ambulance and a trailer that carried his work and it made it across the Nullarbor."
Cottesloe will host Sculpture by the Sea from March 1 to 19, while Bondi will host the exhibition from October 18 to November 4. Denmark will host its third event in June 2013.
Giving tourism a sporting chance
A SPORTING CHANCE: Dr Chris Bull was a keynote speaker at a sports tourism seminar at the Lismore campus recently.The School of Tourism and Hospitality Management and the Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work hosted Dr Chris Bull, a sports tourism expert from the UK's Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), at the Lismore campus recently.
Dr Bull is head of CCCU's Sports Science, Tourism and Leisure Department and his presentation covered the work his staff and PhD students had undertaken across events such as the Tour de France and the Great South Run, from the perspectives of both participants and spectators, and the policy implications of major events, like the 2012 London Olympics.
Given the Australian leg of the World Rally Championship was held in the Coffs Harbour region in September 2011 and the Gold Coast is set to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018, there was much interest in CCCU's research when Dr Bull shared the findings at a public seminar on January 24.
Dr Bull said the intense lobbying needed to secure major sporting events reflected the significance of being awarded hosting rights.
"These events are relayed around the world. It puts you on the map," he said.
"If you put on an Olympic Games then you want to directly leverage tourism visits and secondly you want to leverage Olympic-related media."
Dr Bull said it was important for host towns and cities to develop leveraging opportunities before the event. London, for example, was promoting the health benefits of sport in the lead up to the Olympics.
"As soon as the events are finished the media circus moves on. You capture the benefits in the run-up to the Olympics and you've got to be careful you don't leave it too late because once the Olympics has happened everybody's focus moves on," he said.
CCCU researchers found British tourism policy had been strengthened since London was awarded the 2012 Games.
"We are currently planning to spend 9.3 billion British pounds on hosting the Olympics, 9.3 billion British pounds of public investment so there is an imperative to get something out of it," Dr Bull said.
"What London is hoping to achieve is to improve its tourism image. It's trying to market London as a vibrant place for tourists. But there is the sporting legacy as well, that hopefully will encourage more people to get involved in sport.
"The other big policy impact of the Games has been the regeneration of the East London area (a former docklands area) with new housing, new infrastructure, new transport facilities, as well as increasing the sustainability of the area by planting more trees and trying to landscape the area to make it more attractive."
Dr Bull said he expected the 2018 Commonwealth Games to deliver an overall tourism benefit to the Gold Coast.
"Some tourists will stay away because of the Games and there will be some locals who will leave because they don't want to be a part of it, and certainly there will be an inflation of accommodation costs that will put some people off. So it's not black and white in terms of 'yes, this is great'," he said.
"But on balance I think the net effect is positive, not least because of the advertising and leveraging. The marketing benefits are so difficult to quantify but the general consensus seems to be that they are significant."
While the Gold Coast was a popular holiday destination for Australians, Dr Bull said the coastal tourist strip was less well known overseas.
"I know about the Gold Coast because of the Indy car race and my work in sports tourism. But I just wonder how many people in Britain and other parts of the world would immediately know what the Gold Coast is," he said.
"The Commonwealth Games will ensure a lot more people do, so from a marketing perspective it's important."
Southern Cross University Postdoctoral Research Fellow Arianne Reis, who was commissioned to do an analysis on the economic benefit of the World Rally Championship to the Coffs Coast, shared her findings with Dr Bull.
"A lot of businesses experienced losses, but they still want the World Rally to come back," Dr Reis said.
"It seems that when large scale events, hosted by small towns, don't bring the economic benefit expected to the region, the locals remain supportive and want the events back. One possible reason to explain this is the sense of pride that these events create and of being put on the map."
Dr Bull replied: "We did a parallel study of businesses for the first leg of the 2007 Tour de France from London to Canterbury and it was quite interesting.
"Some of the businesses complained that they hadn't been planned for and that the local authorities should have done more to help them market their business," he said.
"There was also some criticism of the route and various roads that were closed that they felt affected their businesses."
Dr Bull was in Australia to present a keynote at the fifth Australian Cycle Tourism Conference and Rail Trail Symposium at the University of Canberra on February 2 and 3, entitled 'A systematic review of evidence for the local impacts of tourism and leisure cycling'. He was joined by Dr Matt Lamont from the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management who also presented a keynote, 'The overlooked cycle tourism segment: Active spectators'.
From little things big things grow for Tillman
IN CHARGE: Former student Linda Tillman is now the acting executive officer of Riverina Regional Tourism.Former Southern Cross University student Linda Tillman has taken on the challenging role of acting executive officer of Riverina Regional Tourism.
Ms Tillman, nee Smith, will balance the role of the Riverina tourism chief along with running her boutique events and tourism agency, Tilma Management, which she started five years ago.
"It's an honour to get the job and it coincides with my passion which is development tourism, using tourism as a tool to help grow a region," she said.
Ms Tillman's ascension to the top Riverina tourism job is one of pluck and perseverance. She graduated from a Bachelor of Business in Tourism degree in 2001 and then worked with Lismore City Council for six months in destination marketing.
However, she and her husband then sold everything, bought a caravan and a four wheel drive and embarked on an adventure working around Australia.
"We worked in abattoirs, did bar work and did a host of hospitality jobs and it was a great experience," Ms Tillman said.
"We ended up at Wagga Wagga because my husband is a farrier and it was good to settle in the country for him. But then I thought what can I do in tourism in Wagga?"
The 31-year-old eventually found some casual work with the Wagga City Council doing some events management with tourism officer and well-known actor Lex Marinos. However, when Marinos left the council Tillman decided to look for other opportunities as well and landed a job at Charles Sturt University as a community event manager.
Her position was eventually made redundant so Tillman toyed with the idea of setting up her own business and Tilma Management was born.
"I did six months public relations work with Riverina Regional Tourism and made some contacts and all of a sudden I was getting calls from all sorts of people," the mother-of-two said.
"I decided to take on the work full-time and the business just exploded from there. I had constant work and in the ensuing five years I now have four people working for me, including a recent graduate from Southern Cross University (Lisa Cameron) who is now our events director."
Ms Tillman will continue running her firm while in the acting executive officer role. She credits Southern Cross University for stimulating her passion for tourism.
"My favourite unit was rural tourism and the lecturer was so good," she said.
"I did a research assignment for that subject and studied what rural tourism can do for small rural areas to drive change. There was a case study on a small town called Nundle near Tamworth that had embraced tourism. Basically the town was dying and an entrepreneur developed some old shearing sheds in the town and organised buses to come out from nearby towns and all of a sudden all these shops opened up around the town.
"I still think about that case study and subject today and I think that was the moment I realised how much good tourism can do for small rural areas. It's what we're trying to do for the Riverina.
"There are lots of small rural areas down here that don't have the tourism resources of Byron Bay or the like, but they do have something to offer. What they don't have is people with a real understanding of tourism and what it can provide.
"So much of my job is educating people about the diversity of tourism and that it's not just about beaches or waterfalls."
Ms Tillman is hopeful her role as acting executive officer will be extended after her initial six month contract expires, however she acknowledges there is much change expected within NSW tourism bodies over the coming months.
"I couldn't be any happier with my career so far … I have been lucky," she said.
"I am doing what I love doing, I have a gorgeous family and I live in a great area and I'm able to juggle that to make it work."
CAUTHE conference calls PhD candidates
CENTRE STAGE: Ben Farr-Wharton who, along with Jessica Taplin, presented papers at the recent CAUTHE conference in Melbourne.Two Southern Cross University PhD candidates presented papers at the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education Conference in Melbourne, the biggest conference of its kind in Australia.
Jessica Taplin presented on 'Alternative perspectives on volunteer tourism' and Ben Farr-Wharton presented a paper on 'Using a resource-based perspective of cultural clusters to build capacity for regional development'.
Ms Taplin's research focuses on volunteer tourism and more specifically on volunteer tourism organisations, looking at how they engage in different partnerships with other organisations and host communities. Volunteer tourism is a rapidly growing form of niche tourism and volunteer tourism organisations are an important focus but are currently under-researched.
Ms Taplin is in the early stages of her research but she said the experience of presenting at CAUTHE was invaluable.
"It was a great experience and it was great to hear some ideas from people who have already researched areas of volunteer tourism and also to receive some positive feedback on my research to date," she said.
Also at CAUTHE, Ben Farr-Wharton presented some initial findings from the Research Centre for Tourism, Leisure and Work's ongoing 'Music Hub' project. Mr Farr-Wharton reported that the CAUTHE conference was a fantastic opportunity to network with other PhD students in the field of tourism and regional development.
"There has never been much research into how creative clusters emerge – our research paper presented at CAUTHE specifically reviewed this from a tourism studies perspective," he said.
More recently the Music Hub project launched its own 'connectivity website'. The Music Hub was initially launched in 2010 and has doubled its membership since then. Members include performers, venues and festivals. The Music Hub aims to support regional creative development and increase opportunities for local emerging musicians, local studios and designers, and hospitality firms.
Mr Farr-Wharton is the driving force behind the new easy to use website which shows how each member is connected using a series of evolving diagrams.
"At the same time, this technology has connectivity functions which have positive spillovers to product innovation. It can be applied to other types of clusters, in other industry areas, all around the world," he said.
"We originally started out with a small number of musicians and venues but that has grown now to include other artists, web developers and graphic designers.
"The theory is that it takes about 10 years for a cluster to become sustainable but cutting-edge network research suggests that this time can be reduced through increasing collaboration between cluster members. We are applyling and testing this network research through the Music Hub.
"Eventually, if the Music Hub is successful it would be a model that could be replicated into any region to develop a creative capacity there."
Indeed, already there has been some preliminary work in setting up a Music Hub in Vanuatu and in Slovenia.
An office with whale sharks and turtles
DREAM JOB: Emma Sweeney is now a kayak and hiking guide at the Sal Salis Reef Resort in Western Australia.Former Southern Cross University student Emma Sweeney has landed her dream job – as a guide at the exclusive Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef Resort in Western Australia.
Ms Sweeney, a graduate of the Bachelor of Environmental Tourism Management, will take up the job in February and will act as a kayak and hiking guide at the low impact resort which is situated within the Cape Range National Park that forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Area, the Ningaloo Coast.
Her new office will consist of chance encounters with migrating whale sharks, humpback whales and loggerhead turtles. A passionate kayaker, the 23-year-old describes the Sal Salis appointment as her dream job.
"I have been to Ningaloo Reef before when I was 12 and I said I would always go back," Ms Sweeney said.
"Sal Salis fits in not only with what I want to do for a job, but also with what I believe in as well, which is low impact tourism."
Working 10 days on and four days off, Ms Sweeney will be based at the Safari type camp without the creature comforts of television or phones. The nearest town, Exmouth, is 70km away. However, far from being daunted, Sweeney is looking forward to the experience.
Indeed, it will be the third time the Victorian will work as a kayak guide. She previously worked in Canada and Byron Bay.
"Actually, working in Canada saw me enrol at Southern Cross University," Ms Sweeney said.
"I was initially enrolled at a university in Melbourne but decided I wanted to have a year off paddling and working in Canada. I was going to study sports therapy but I then decided that working in tourism was what I wanted to do.
"So I did a google search for environmental tourism and found Southern Cross University. I hadn't even heard of Lismore but when I found it was only a short way from Byron Bay I was sold.
"However, when I returned to Australia I was still a bit unsettled and I was offered my job back in Canada so I rang someone in the tourism office at SCU and told them about the job and they said 'why don't you go and use it as your internship?' Because I was in first year I didn't think I could but SCU offered me the flexibility to do so, so I was studying, working and living in Canada. That's when I thought SCU is so cool."
After her stint in Canada, Ms Sweeney resumed her studies externally part-time in Denmark between side trips to watch the Tour de France. However, she wanted the buzz of a campus lifestyle to enhance her university experience so she resolved to finish her degree as an internal student before landing her dream job only weeks after completing her degree.
Updated: 23 July 2012