Exhibition provides an interactive showcase for hospitality students' ideas
Published 14 February 2013
Visitors to the annual student exhibition, which forms part of the final assessment of the International Hospitality Management BA (Hons) course, saw a wide variety of hospitality issues tackled in innovative, yet practical, ways.
The exhibition, which is organised by the Hospitality Research Group, has become a permanent fixture on the calendar, and in January, university staff were invited to see the work produced by students taking the Contemporary Issues in Hospitality module. Students had freedom to choose their own projects around this topic, for example, highlighting social issues, investigating a specific problem within the industry or introducing a new product.
This year, several hundred visitors went along to the Eastbourne to see outstanding displays exhibited by 14 teams of final year students. The diverse topics in the exhibition ranged from a hotel concept for recently divorced people to tackling alcoholism in the hospitality industry. Other ideas included a bar that emulated solar rays, a virtual restaurant menu with touch and taste, sustainable hemp products, social media and cooking alternatives, events at heritage sites, and a mobile hotel.
Many of the exhibits were interactive, with visitors encouraged to participate in games, competitions and virtual reality experiences. These engagement tools enabled students to get their messages over simply yet effectively, and feedback from visitors to the exhibition showed this was a popular format.
The students themselves also found the exhibition a positive and exciting experience. Final year student Lucy Richardson was a member of a team which drew up tailor-made packages at a hotel catering for women who have undergone relationship break-ups. The packages helped rebuild self- esteem through activities and provided counsellors known as ‘swivellers’, who helped the women ‘turn their life around’.
Speaking about the exhibition and the work leading up to it, Lucy said: “It was a most enjoyable and informative experience. I really enjoyed experiencing some of my colleagues’ products and ideas, but most importantly, I loved working with my colleagues to create a unique concept that I feel would really work in the industry.”
Module leader Dr Ioannis Pantelidis was delighted to see so many visitors to the exhibition and he praised the students’ efforts. He said: “This has been an amazing exhibition that allowed our students to showcase their talents. I think this is only one small example of how we ensure that our courses remain relevant to contemporary issues in industry and our students gain valuable hands-on experience that allows them to apply theory into practice.”
