OTC’s Diploma Project Advisors
— guiding their charges towards
well-deserved ITM diplomas. RIGHT: Adham, Issa, Zaman and Sarah
By
Conrad Prabhu
A GROUP of Omani
diploma students as young as 19, are setting a precedent by learning
what it takes to put together research-driven project assignments
normally the domain of postgraduate study programmes. In all, 24 Second
Year students of the International Tourism Management (ITM) Diploma
programme at Oman Tourism College (OTC) are presently busy at work
putting the final touches to their diploma projects ahead of an April
deadline for submission. The quality of their diploma projects will be a
deciding factor in whether or not they will be awarded the much coveted
ITM Diploma, an internationally recognised tourism industry
certification.
Since its launch four years ago, the two-year
ITM Diploma programme has produced a high percentage of passes, with the
vast majority of those enrolled receiving their prized diplomas. But,
according to their guides, the real ‘icing on the cake’ is the
experience and learning garnered by the students during their yearlong
project work. “At the end of the two-year diploma programme, it’s not
only the highly valued ITM Diploma which the students take home, but
something far more indispensable.
In the course of their diploma work, the
students also develop a wide spectrum of skills that cannot be learned
solely within a classroom. They learn to interact, rationalise, discern,
analyse, prioritise, negotiate, and persevere in their quest to come up
with a project worthy of an ITM Diploma,” said Jayshree Krishnamurthy,
one of the teachers.
For their project work, the second-year
students are invited to choose their own topic as the primary focus of
the assignment, which must encompass a secondary subject selected from
one of the following broad themes: tourism and hospitality management;
travel and tour agencies; destination marketing; event management; MICE
business; tourism economics; and so on.
“It is a learning process from start to
finish,” says Narender Bijlani, who teaches Accounting and Economics.
“They learn the techniques of collecting and collating data through
interviews, questionnaires, and field surveys. They learn skills such as
how to identify strengths and weaknesses in their respective areas of
focus; and how to study related trends and phenomena. OTC provides them
with the necessary in-house learning resources, as well as facilitating
any necessary visits and field trips.”
According to fellow instructor Mohammed Gamil
who teaches Hotel & Marketing Studies, each diploma project is evaluated
by a panel which includes OTC faculty as well as a representative from
ITM Austria. Students must also make a short PowerPoint presentation of
their work before the panel. While a maximum of 70 marks is earmarked
for the written work, a good presentation can fetch another 30 marks,
Gamil adds.
YO samples some of the project work being done
by OTC’s current batch of ITM-2 students:
(i) ‘Education Tourism in Pune and its Economic
Effects’ by Adham al Balushi
In this roughly 6,000-word assignment, Adham delves into the
special affinity that Omani students have for the west Indian city of
Pune, which in recent years has emerged a key hub for overseas study.
Comparatively modest fees, low cost of living, similar cultures and
longstanding ties between Oman and India are at the heart of an ongoing
alliance in education related travel to Pune, says Adham. The paper also
looks at the economic benefits accruing to Pune as a result.
(ii) ‘The
Conservation Cooperation Africa (CCA) Initiative in Kenya’, by Zaman al
Rasbi
The assignment seeks to gauge the extent of awareness in Oman
of this pioneering Kenyan company that is credited with promoting safari
tourism in a sustainable way. Besides interviewing two women associated
with the company, as well as travel representatives in Oman specialising
in outbound travel to Kenya, Zaman’s work will explore the potential for
replicating that success in tourism related ventures in Oman.
(iii) ‘Chocolate
Tourism with emphasis on Hershey of Pennsylvania’ by Sarah al Majeni
Having witnessed the success of ‘chocolate tourism’ first
hand in the Pennsylvanian city of Hershey, after which the famous
chocolate brand takes its name, Sarah seeks to assess the depth of
awareness and interest in ‘chocolate tourism’ centring around the
Hershey name.
(iv) ‘Comparative
Study of Sports Tourism in Qatar and the UAE’, by Issa al Amri
In this assignment, Issa looks at how Qatar and UAE have
emerged as frontrunner hosts of international class sporting events in
the Gulf. The study examines the particular advantages enjoyed by either
country in hosting major events, and how these impact on hotel tariffs,
services, and so on.