Students play their part in boosting regional tourism

UQ tourism students have applied their knowledge to assist regional tourism enterprises fine-tune their operations.

The annual Tourism Regional Immersion Project (TRIP) enabled tourism enterprises in the regional councils of Toowoomba, Somerset, Moreton and the Lockyer Valley to work with 17 students who undertook placements in October.

The students completed different tasks in accordance with the needs of each region, including creating online business profiles, conducting surveys and analysing data, and developing day trip trails.

They also shared fresh perspectives on marketing and development opportunities which may help to attract more visitors to the regions.

After hosting TRIP students in 2010 and again in 2011, Lyn Cooley from Moreton Bay Regional Council said she was extremely impressed with their contributions.

“I thank TRIP for the opportunity to host these students and find it invaluable to view the state of the industry through their eyes,” Ms Cooley said.

As part of their projects, students documented their experiences on dedicated Facebook sites, enabling their peers to gain insight into the practical learning opportunity.

Since beginning as a fledgling pilot project in Roma in 2006, TRIP is now a fixture of the work integrated learning strand of the tourism professional development course.

"This initiative is a fantastic example of how collaborative efforts between the higher education sector, tourism operators and regional tourism authorities can in turn benefit the community," Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business, The Hon. Jan Jarratt MP said.

TRIP is also supported by Brisbane Marketing and Queensland’s peak tourism bodies including Tourism Queensland and the Queensland Tourism Industry Council.

Find out more at www.tourism.uq.edu.au/tourism-regional-immersion-project

Media: Claire Shuter (07 3346 9259, c.shuter@uq.edu.au)