Top 3 Course Insights

The More You Know

Over the period of about a month, I was able to cram more information than I ever knew possible in that time period into my brain. The first thing I learned about was my passion for sustainable tourism and its impact on local communities. I have always tried my best to be a conscientious tourist. However, I have never really considered the impact that tourism makes on both the environment and local communities. This was first emphasized throughout certain parts of Bruce Poon Tip's Looptail book when discussing Planeterra. But the best part of doing field work is seeing textbook concepts and learning things in a hands on way. The more time I spent observing other people's travelling habits, the more I realized how important it was to me that tourists make only a positive impact on the places they visit. Whether this means not picking flowers in a national park, to not feeding wild animals, to staying in family-owned local hotels, the tourism industry has such a large effect on a large population. 

My second important takeaway is about the customer experience. I had never considered the numerous elements that can so easily make or break the customer experience, or the methods used to evaluate them. I had touched upon some of this in my intro to tourism class. Specifically, customer journey mapping or participant observation. However, this course took me one step further and I learned not only about what these methods were, but also how to appropriately utilize them to substantiate a hypothesis. I learned about the importance of quantifying and supporting claims with data collected in the field. Before this class, I had not put much thought into the intense, higher world of tourism academia. Most importantly, I learned about credibility and how to gain it when evaluating a seemingly completely objective experience.

The last insight I will discuss is in regards to group dynamic. It is important to manage your own expectations or perceptions of people, and embrace the value that a diverse group brings to the table. We had the opportunity to travel and work alongside a fairly diverse group. Most of the people being graduate students, some majoring in accounting or tourism, and a difference in ethnicity. We had a very eclectic mix of students. Initially, I was a bit nervous to go on this trip not knowing anyone prior to the first class. However, as I spent time with my new classmates I learned to appreciate differences in an unexpected way. For example, I thought I would not be able to befriend or relate people so much older than me (no offense Jill, EJ, or Sharon!). But I ended up receiving a load of valuable life and relationship advice from these new classmates. It is always a great experience when you get a non-academic takeaway in addition to classroom material. Overall, it was a fun trip and I was able to make some new friends, cooking coaches, or even stand-in older sisters/moms. Cultivating new relationships is one of the most valuable things you can get out of a class like this.