Afbeelding
Contact with the professional field from year 1
"In addition to my role as lecturer, I am also semester coordinator of the Innovations & Marketing in Tourism semester. This is a semester in the first year. We introduce you directly to the professional field and supervise intensively in the professional contact between student and entrepreneur. This can take many forms, from helping to write a project plan for good cooperation between project members to good communication towards the entrepreneur. We find that our approach works extremely well for both parties: on the one hand, as a student, you learn a lot in practice very quickly. And on the other hand, the entrepreneurs benefit from the students' refreshing view and ideas, which often really help them."
Exciting, but safe
"Of course, for many students it is quite exciting, coming straight from high school into ‘real’ life like this. That is why there is a lot of time and attention to good guidance from us. It also demands something of the entrepreneurs we work with. They have to realise that they are sitting around the table with students, so sometimes things can go differently than expected. Such a semester project is intensive in terms of contact, but that way students and entrepreneurs really learn from each other! For instance, we visit the entrepreneur twice, the entrepreneur comes to us twice and we regularly see each other online. In practice, fortunately, we also see that our exciting but safe environment works well!"
A goldmine
"In terms of involving entrepreneurs in training, Friesland really is a goldmine. Tourism is already an important source of income for the province anyway, and so there are also an awful lot of tourism businesses that want to cooperate. Just last week, we sailed through a wetland with students, where we were introduced to several tourism companies. Now the students are researching the business, its trends and development, to then be able to give advice on what opportunities there are for such a business. And that's where the really nice things often come out! Furthermore, we naturally look beyond our own provincial and national borders, and we also go on trips together to Slovenia, for example. In years 1 and 2, the emphasis is really on creating a safe environment, so that you as a student have a good basis from there to explore the world more independently in years 3 and 4."
Can you see yourself on the Tourism Management course? Take a quick look at the programme page of Tourism Management.