Two students from CONEL College went to Nice, France on 4 December for the annual Global Travel & Tourism Partnership (GTTP) Conference and Awards Dinner.
The students, Richard McErlean and Roberto Sariego, were the UK’s winning team from a global competition on sustainable adventure tourism. They were tasked with investigating whether adventure tourism has a strong attraction for visitors to the UK and what further sustainability actions should be adopted by the market. They were at the conference with 20 other student winners from ten other countries - Canada, Brazil, Jamaica, Kenya, South Africa, China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia and Hungary. There, they gave a presentation and “enjoyed meeting students from all over the world”.
Deborah Abrey, the students’ tutor who accompanied them at the conference said “The trip was an extremely valuable experience for the students and myself…Meeting industry experts also gave the students an insight into the industry. There were so many opportunities where we had the chance to meet so many people from all around the world, each with its own uniqueness and culture. It was an enjoyable experience for everyone who was there.”
Richard and Roberto wrote the following as part of their thank you letter to the GTTP: “If we were to describe the GTTP conference in a few words it would be an “unforgettable experience”.
Claire Steiner, the UK Director of GTTP said “The Global Travel & Tourism Partnership annual student research competition highlights the innovative thinking and talent of the next generation of young tourism professionals. This year’s winners, Richard and Roberto, from CONEL were fantastic examples of this and were amazing ambassadors not just for their college, but for the United Kingdom. I am confident that a bright and successful future in travel and tourism awaits them and look forward to watching their progress in the coming years.”
We run a range of travel and tourism courses at CONEL College from level 1 through to level 3. We also run a Travel and Hospitality Career Academy – find out more.