The group of Master students who completed a Destination Elective in South Africa at Stenden South Africa
Tourism students from NHL Stenden completed 5 weeks of their Destination Elective at Stenden South Africa, in Port Alfred. The students divided into three groups, each covering a different research objective.
A Tourism Masterplan was the focus of one of the groups (Camilla Sitti, Lars van Son, Lily Boya, Pia Dethlefs, and Siyana Izmireva). The team interacted with stakeholders and developed the plan for a collaborative tourism website for the entire Sunshine Coast region. Mentioning the way that varied stakeholders answered the survey in a similar way, Siyyana Izmireva summarized their group’s objective: “Common ideas come together and create something beautiful”. The group presented a unified branding suggestion, and showcased a prototype for the website. Incorporating an interactive map for tourists on the website would showcase each region as well as allow users to pick certain aspects to concentrate on – weather they are visiting with their children, or looking for an adventure, visitors would be able to find accommodation, restaurants and activities to suit their needs. An easily accessible survey for visitors to complete would create a centralised platform for the tourism of the region to pull reliable data from, allowing future tourism efforts to work with relevant statistics.
“Looking back on my time in South Africa, I had the most wonderful experience! Between the warmth of the Sunshine Coast locals, the great times with the girls in my elective, and all the amazing excursions, it was truly unforgettable. In an environment like that, it’s easy to forget you actually have schoolwork to do!” – Lars van Son
The group dealing with Diversity and Inclusion (Lisa Nijborg, Hoa Pham, Barbora Chudá, Petra Suutarinen) worked on an e-learning platform that they hope would be able to bridge the gap between the ideas of entrepreneurs within the disadvantaged community and the expectations of tourists. By creating a proposal for Named “Sunshine Path e-learning platform” – an online platform that offers free courses in tourism, entrepreneurship and compliance – the group showcased how understanding everyday skills can be turned into opportunities. During their final presentation, the group ran through the prototype of the platform, showing the different areas that could benefit the community members wishing to learn more to grow their ideas. If the stakeholders of Ndlambe could contribute educational content, the platform could provide education that is simple and flexible for users.
The third group (Camilla Bellini, Antonella Saligari, Vianne Leenders, Karin Kovacsova, Salome Bausch) conducted in-depth research and analysis around a potential Multifunctional Hub, housed within an old building centrally located in Port Alfred. The Old Market Place building was built in 1928, and the group presented a proposal to blend tourism, commerce and a historical element to this abandoned space. Showing how the space could be used by store-holders, tourism organisations and entrepreneurs, the group focused on aspects of sustainability, local initiatives and environmental aspects of a regeneration plan for the space. The project would entail a collaboration between local tourism stakeholders and the municipality, sharing governance and allowing training and upliftment to locals.
One group of Master students created a proposal to make this old building a hub for tourism in Port Alfred
“I really liked working on a project that has value for the town / community. It felt like I was actually able to contribute something for the development of tourism here in Port Alfred.” – Vianne Leenders
“The most rewarding part was the human connection: we spoke with so many different people, from local fruit and craft vendors to NGO leaders, gathering personal stories and insights that no textbook could ever provide.” – Antonella Saligari
All the students touched on the diverse and warm hospitality that the Sunshine Coast Region has to offer and marvelled that the area is an undiscovered gem.
The culmination of their efforts was showcased to a group of over 50 members of the Networking Evening of Sunshine Coast Tourism. This platform allowed the community to understand the potential of each proposal and get answers to practical questions and scenarios.
The students visited various tourist attractions in the area. Here they pose in front of The Big Pineapple