MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2020

Experiential Learning

MTA students in TSTD6260 Tourism Economics class in the spring semester had a unique experiential learning opportunity to provide tourism investment recommendations for Salt Cay, Turks and Caicos. This study was requested by Mr, Ken Chaletzky, member of GWSB Board of Advisors and owner of Salt Cay Divers and facilitated by GWSB Global and Experiential Education Office. The research team, including Caecilia He, Dinete Kullanur, Rebecca Morris, Kate Van Horn, and Jaclyn Yost under the guidance of Professor Linda Ambrosie, analyzed three investment options: a cruise dock, a luxury resort, and glamping. Using Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA), the team recommended a luxury resort as the best option. The final report, titled Salt Cay: The Island that Time and Tourism Forgot, was highly appreciated by the client

GW International Institute of Tourism Studies has partnered with the Adventure Travel and Tourism Association and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and published two studies: (1) 2020 Adventure Tourism Destination Index (ATDI) which assesses country competitiveness in adventure tourism in the world and (2) GSTC Global Destination Sustainability Report (GDSR) that ranks 24 destinations using GSTC sustainable destination criteria and indicators.

MTA Alumni News

Cat Carter (MTA ’02), Director of Sales and Marketing at the InterContinental Washington, D.C. – The Wharf, was recently interviewed by Hotel News Now to discuss an innovative marketing practice by her team to provide lodging services to the weary work-from-home workers who like to have a change of the work environment. Services can be booked for both day-use and overnight stay. This is an innovative way of generating new demand and room revenues during the pandemic.

Congratulations to Marlene Blas, MTA ’07 CMP, Global Meeting Planner and Event Producer for being recognized as one of the Outstanding Volunteers this year by MPI San Diego Chapter. She was recognized for her leadership in organizing and planning EdCon last year. Congrats, Marlene!

Congratulations to Edwyn Mitchell, current MTA student, for being selected as the new Institutional Advancement Coordinator for meetings, logistics and events by Community Change, a D.C.-based national organization that advocates the empowerment of minority communities for a more inclusive future. Edwyn shared the good news with the GWSB community and commented: “I am so grateful for this opportunity to apply my passion for both advocacy and event. This is such a humbling opportunity”. Congrats, Edwyn!

Upcoming Virtual Events

Join us for the third part of the GW MTA Student Webinar Series focusing on event risk management and virtual event planning.

On June 30, 3:00 AM - 4:00 PM EDT, the Organization of American States and the George Washington University International Institute of Tourism Studies in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs invite you to attend our second conversational webinar on the particular challenges that COVID-19 is bringing to Indigenous communities and tourism in Latin America. Our featured speakers will be Congresswoman Petita Ayarza from Panama, Inocente Cutzan-President of Senderos de Alto from Guatemala, and Juan Marambio, Executive Director of Travolution (Latin America).

This webinar will be held in Spanish.

Getting to know your Colleague – Jessica Wilson

Jessica Wilson is an MTA student from Sydney, Australia, completing her first year at GW. Jessica started the course after spending a couple of years working with the International Finance Corporation on tourism projects in the Pacific region. After recognising the positive effects tourism could have on local communities, she chose to study her Masters in Sustainable Destination Management, and hopes to continue contributing positively to communities through tourism as she builds her career in the industry.

How are you coping with doing your summer courses from Australia?

I think like most students, I’m really missing the face to face lectures and interactions with class mates. It was a lot easier to feel connected and to become a part of GW’s student life when we were taking classes on campus. In terms of working from Australia, the time zones can make things a little difficult! Especially trying to set up meetings with the summer consulting team, and our client in Grenada, but with a few early mornings each week things are working out ok, and it’s great still being able to do the courses from a distance

As soon as Australia opens its borders, where will you travel?

I’m certainly hoping to get back to the US in time for commencement on the national mall next May. If Australia opens its borders before then, I’d love to explore some of Central America, and of course I hope to visit Grenada after spending the summer consulting courses working with them.

What is your dream job?

This is a tough question! There are so many interesting areas within the tourism industry that I’d love to get some experience in, such as adventure tourism, community-based tourism, cultural heritage tourism, destination management, product development and market research. I’d love to spend a couple of years consulting and getting to know the different areas before I decide on where I’d like to specialise, but ultimately, I hope to end up working in an area that is ensuring local communities are really seeing the benefits of a booming tourism industry.

Professor Seleni Matus, led a team at the GWSB IITS to collaborate with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) in examining how destination management organizations in CTO member countries are managing through the crisis and planning for recovery. Professor Matus shared the main findings of the research on the CTO's podcast: https://bit.ly/2BlwWzf.

GWSB MTA alumni Sheryl Hargrove, Eli Gorin, Kannan Sankaran and travel industry colleague Mikey Sadowsk, North America Marketing Director of Intrepid Travel spoke at the second part of the GWMTA Student Webinar Series in May. The panelists, representing travel operations, DMO, event management and hotel investment, shared their experience in navigating their businesses during the pandemic and their insights on tourism new normal post Covid-19. This webinar was moderated by Danielle Lewis-Jones, MTA student and Research Assistant at the International Institute of Tourism Studies. You can access the on-demand presentation and additional resources referenced in the webinar here.

UNWTO Launched Global Guidelines to Reopen Tourism. The global guidelines provide measures for the different sectors of the tourism industry.

UNWTO E-Library holds a large volume of tourism related books, technical reports, regional development, and sustainable development cases.

Professor Larry Yu was recently quoted in the Washington Post Travel section on the pay-what-you-can promotions by independent hotel and travel operators in Maine to generate local demand for travel vacation this summer. You can read the article here.

Professor Larry Yu was interviewed by the Associated Press on hotels’ initiatives for enhancing safety and cleanliness protocols and standards in their preparation for reopening. You can read the article here.

CONNECT WITH US!

2201 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.

2201 G Street, NW
Washington, DC | 20052 United States

This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.