The 2018-2019 participants of the International Master in Tourism & Hospitality have been to Greece as part of their programme’s international business trip. They spent five days learning about the tourism and hotel sector in Greece, which is the eighth most visited country in Europe with 27 million tourists a year.
Ester Tueros is one of this year’s participants and she rates her international trip as “unforgettable”. “We had the opportunity to visit different companies in the tourism sector and I really enjoyed working alongside my coparticipants and the programme director, James Haigh”, she says.
Analysing the changes and successes of the international tourism industry has given the participants a wider perspective and a deeper understanding of the sector
During the first two days of the trip, the participants attended classes in marketing management, people management, sustainability and trends in Greek tourism at the Alba Graduate Business School, which is a Greek business school associated with EADA.
Our participants also had the chance to meet and work with students from Alba. According to James Haigh, director of the EADA Master in Tourism & Hospitality Management, “being able to meet and learn from each other was an enriching experience for the participants of both programmes.”
He adds that, “analysing the changes and successes of the international tourism industry has given the participants a wider perspective and a deeper understanding of the sector at a global level.”
Following this visit, the participants went to Athens where they visited two companies from the maritime tourism sector. Their first visit took them to the headquarters of the well-known cruise company, Celestyal Cruises, which is the only cruise company to have its port based in Greece. Their second visit was to the Astir Yacht Marina, which is a luxury port located in the exclusive area of Vouliagmeni, where the port director took the participants on a tour of its facilities.
Costa Navarino was a fantastic opportunity for our participants to learn in a practical way about the daily challenges of running a luxury resort
From Athens the participants went on to spend three days at the five-star Costa Navarino Westin Resort which is a leader in sustainable tourism. It was a practical experience which gave the EADA students a global vision of how to offer a quality service in a luxury resort.
James Haigh explains that, “the visit to Costa Navarino was a fantastic opportunity for our participants to learn in a practical way about the daily challenges of running a luxury resort and being able to offer clients a first rate experience.”
During their stay, the participants were divided into small groups which were rotated around the different departments of the resort such as F&B Operations, Human Resources, Rooms & Housekeeping and F.O Operations. In each department, the students took part in practical exercises related to daily situations faced by each department.
