The annual Bournemouth University Tourism and Hospitality Conference brought together more than 250 undergraduate and postgraduate students, BU rising star graduates, and a range of tourism and hospitality industry leaders. As part of the conference, there was a careers and networking event, that included 30 of the most reputable Hospitality and Tourism employers in the UK.
The conference discussed the theme of ‘Sustainability and Resilience in a Permacrisis’, and industry speakers shared insight on building resilience into a strategy whilst embracing the opportunities and challenges of environmental and sustainability agendas.
Robert RichardsonAs part of the keynote presentation, Robert Richardson, CEO of the Institute of Hospitality said: "Taking this role in the middle of lockdown made me realise that sometimes it takes courage to think outside the box to capture talent and give them the ability to flourish with minimal boundaries, whilst trying to survive in the middle of a crisis".
The conference programme for the day featured six industry speakers, including Carol Rose, Senior Sustainability Manager at ABTA and Danny Pecorelli, Managing Director at Exclusive Collection Hotels. Plus, two panels, one for tourism, and another for hospitality covering the topics, female leaders’ resilience and thriving in chaos.
Dr. Charalampos (Babis) Giousmpasoglou, Principal Academic in HRM at the BU Business School said: “The BU Tourism & Hospitality Conference is the best example of a successful industry and higher education collaboration. Our long-term relationship with local, national, and international industry partners provides great benefits for our students and their future careers. I would like to congratulate everyone who worked hard to make this great event happen.”
BU graduate Danielle Myers said: "It was a pleasure to be invited back to Bournemouth University to talk to the current students and recent graduates, about careers in the travel industry. It was also an honour to be on the panel discussing how resilient our industry is, following both COVID-19 and the current cost of living crisis, and how much we all love the work that we do.”
She added: “For me, being a BU graduate, it really felt like a full circle moment to show the success I've achieved following an education at BU, as well as feeling nostalgic for some of the best years of my life. I hope to keep working with BU on their future tourism & hospitality events, flying the flag for business travel.”
As part of the conference there was an area for students to network with tourism and hospitality employers, such as, ABTA, Miramar Hotels and The Ritz. This unique networking opportunity gave students the chance to build relationships with potential future employers, and gain insight into different career paths, whilst providing a mutual benefit to businesses to scout new talent.
