News Article - 16/03/2010
Students Evaluate the Impact of London 2012 on UK Tourism industry
Students' research provides Podium Skills London and Visit Britain with insight into Londoners' views on the Olympic Games
Students from Sir George Monoux College seized the opportunity to get firsthand experience of tourism marketing by investigating the potential effects of the 2012 Olympic Games at a Podium Skills event on 23rd February 2010. As part of the Tourism and Future Media Skills project, twenty Travel and Tourism and Media students completed an assignment to establish how Londoners and tourists view the approaching Olympics and the part they will play in the UK’s tourism industry.
Putting their tourism, marketing and media skills into action, the students recorded public opinion in a series of interviews at the capital’s biggest tourist attractions and presented their findings in a collection of short documentaries. These films, produced and presented by the students will now be published on the Podium Skills London website as well as youtube to ensure that the UK tourism industry can use the Olympic Games to its full potential. To gain an insight into the role the media plays in travel and tourism, the students also interviewed Josephine Adams, Director of Digital at Visit Britain.
[Sir George Monoux College students learn how to set up the camera to record public interviews at the capital’s biggest tourist attractions as part of the Podium Skills Tourism Project. Photo by: Sam Mellish Photography ]
Kim Clifford, Principal of Sir George Monoux College said, “Projects like the Podium Skills Programme allow our students to develop skills that they can apply in the workplace as well as the classroom. Our students are very committed to community projects and only recently some of our students joined with Olympians Tessa Sanderson and Dervis Konarulp to launch the UK’s first Legacy Champions.”
Speaking about the event, Programme Manager for Podium Skills London, Uhuru Tyrie-Socha, said, “This event highlighted to students the importance of the skills they are currently developing and learning within tourism, and more importantly how these skills will be in great demand when the Games come to town in 2012”
BTEC Travel and Tourism student, Alisha Sooba, who attended the event said, “There are lots of developments happening in East London for the Olympics which are improving the area and encouraging more people to visit London. The event today demonstrated how important marketing is for the UK tourism industry and brought to life some of theories we’ve been studying in class.”
[Sir George Monoux College students line up the perfect shot to film their interviews for the Podium Skills project. Photo by: Sam Mellish Photography ]
