Summer 2011 - Faculty of Business and Law - Victoria University

SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSWelcome to the latestedition of DegreesIn this edition, I’m sure you will be once again impressed with the qualityand diversity of the activities of our staff, graduates and students. On page 5,for example, you’ll gain some insights into the accolades our staff, students anddegrees have recently received. One of the highlights in 2010 was our successin the accreditation of a suite of hospitality and tourism undergraduate degreesfrom the European Foundation for Management Development A great credit toall involved; further information can be gained about this achievement on page7. Sally Curtis’ Third Degree story (page 8) is a neat snippet of how successfulshe has been since graduating in 1998. It’s particularly nice to read about ournew Adjunct Professor, Roger James, on page 6 and to see a snapshot of him asthe proud father with his daughter on her wedding day. We are looking forwardto working with Roger in his new role with the School as Adjunct Professor. Thestory on Tourism Week (starts below) highlights our continuous collaborationwith industry and shows that studying doesn’t have to be all work without play!2010 was a very busy year. Dr Pandora Kay left us after 13 years with theUniversity; we wish her all the best in her new role. We embarked on a majorrecruitment drive and appointed a number of new academic staff across events,marketing and hospitality. Our new colleagues have already commenced andwe would like to welcome Dr Maxwell Winchester, Dr Torgeir Watne, Mr ColinDrake, Mr Robb Mason, Dr Thuy-Huong Truong and Ms Elizabeth Porublevto the University and the School. In 2010, the Faculty of Business and Lawalso embarked on a re-alignment of its resources. One of the outcomes of thatre-alignment was that staff and our programs in the School of Hospitality,Tourism and Marketing are now situated in a newly formed School: the Schoolof International Business. The change provides us with an opportunity to workmore closely with colleagues in retail, music industry and international trade,who until last year were situated in the School of Economics and Finance. Welook forward to the exciting opportunities that this provides us to leverage thepotential that working and learning at Victoria University offers our staff andstudents. Watch this space!Once again thanks to the many staff who assist in making each editionof Degrees interesting, particularly Olga Junek, Romana Garma and AustinNorman. I hope you enjoy reading this issue.RegardsAnne-Marie HedeActing Head of SchoolDegrees is produced byRecollections by Nina on behalfof the Publisher: School ofInternational Business, FootscrayPark Campus, Victoria University,PO Box 14428, Melbourne,Victoria 8001, AustraliaEditors:Olga Junek Ph: (03) 9919 5019Email: olga.junek@vu.edu.auFax: (03) 9919 4931Anne-Marie HedePh: (03) 9919 4715Email: anne-marie.hede@vu.edu.auCopy, design andproduction:Recollections by NinaPh: 0421 882 514Email: nina.petrie@gmail.comCover picture (story p2)Tourism Expo representativeLaura Blackie from Mt AvocaWines www.mountavoca.comDegrees PaperThe paper used to print Degrees is20% recycled, FSC certified(Forest Stewardship Council)TCF (totally chlorine free) and thepulp is sourced from responsibleforestry practices.Have you got some news?If you’d like to share informationon a graduate, a student, or thefields of hospitality, tourism, eventsor marketing, please contact theeditors or Nina on 0421 882 514or nina.petrie@gmail.comA week dedicated totourism and the business of funThe first Victoria Tourism Week washeld in September 2010 and waslaunched at Victoria University’s CityFlinders Campus. Visiting Victoriais now big business with tourismemploying 185,000 Victorians andcontributing $15.8 billion to thegross state economy each year.The week was aimed at encouragingVictorians to explore Victoria and to improvetheir visitor experience. It also brought peoplein the industry together and identified careerpaths in tourism.Victoria Tourism Week was launched atVictoria University’s City Flinders Campusby Victoria University graduate, Todd Blake(Bachelor of Business – Catering andHotel Management 1994). Todd is CEOof the Victoria Tourism Industry Council andGeneral Manager of Tourism and Eventsat the Victorian Employers Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (VECCI). By hostingthe launch, VU affirmed its longstanding role indeveloping Victoria’s tourism industry.After the launch, the university hosted apanel discussion, Tourism - The People andCulture Industry. Speakers included GeetaHeffernan, VECCI’s International BusinessDevelopment Manager and Phil Webley, theManaging Director of Sino Access. The panelmembers spoke about the needs and culturalcharacteristics of the growing Indian andChinese markets.Melbourne’s cultural life– you’re standing in itWhen you eat tapas at a lanewaybar, go silly at the footy or buy Stiltoncheese at Victoria Market you are notonly pleasing yourself. Argues ToddBlake, you are also contributing toMelbourne’s rich cultural life.Since Easter, Todd has been the GeneralManager of Tourism and Events Services at theVictorian Employers Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (VECCI). He says what makes Melbournespecial is how deeply engaged its residents arein the activities that set the city apart.“It’s more complicated to market Victoria thanother places where you can say ‘I took the photo,bought the T-shirt and then went home,’‘’ he says.“People come here to see how we live. When youget 70,000 people turning up to a footy game,that’s what makes it a spectacular event ... Therestaurant industry in Melbourne exists because ofthose Melbourne and regionally-based diners whodine out regularly and sustain it.’’At VECCI, Todd leads peak industry bodiessuch as the Victoria Tourism Industry Council, theVictoria Events Industry Council, Tourism AllianceVictoria and the Backpacker Operators Allianceof Victoria. He has plans to bring 900 smallVictorian tourism and events businesses under theumbrella of six larger organisations to increasetheir clout and marketing reach.continued from page 2The same day, VU’s City Flinders Campus washost to the 17th Annual Hospitality, Tourismand Events Careers Expo. More than 100industry representatives across the three sectorsattended the event, from businesses as diverseas Crown, the Melbourne Convention andExhibition Centre and Sofitel Melbourne aswell as RACV, Museums Victoria and VU’s ownmarketing and events department.A record 242 students also attended the event.The event was a success with every exhibitor.Communication and interpersonal skills arehighly valued in the tourism industry, so it wasgratifying that many employers at the expowere favourably impressed with the students.While VU student Claire said: “It was sucha great opportunity for me to discover whereI want to go next year. I have done a lot ofthinking since the expo and am sure a greatposition will work out for me.’’I thought the Expo was excellent. There wasa high calibre of students in attendance,’’ saidLisa Burke, Reservations Manager, Outbound,Abercrombie and Kent.During Tourism Week, VU also hostedan industry seminar on corporate socialresponsibility and environmental practices inOne of his challenges, he says, is to encouragemore people to visit the regions, particularly inthe more remote parts of the state, such as EastGippsland, where tourism can fade away oncethe summer ends. Todd says Victoria has oneadvantage over other states. “We are morecompact and have a very diverse geography.Travel three hours from Melbourne and you canexperience rainforest, desert, alpine regions andsurf beaches.’’Seventeen years ago, Todd graduated fromthe former Victoria University of Technology’sHospitality School and attended its first classin Event Management. “It was an experimentalsubject and it served me well,” he says.Since then, Todd has worked in London andmanaged food and hospitality trade shows inBeijing and Shanghai. For four years he wasthe Chief Executive Officer of Restaurant andCatering Victoria and he is also a member ofboards and industry advisory groups includingthe Victorian Food & Wine Tourism Counciland the Tourism Victoria Regional Action PlanReference Group.“Our view is that as the Victorian economyevolves over the next 20 years, its direction willbecome an even more service-based economy,’’he says. An unknown element will be the impacttourism and event organisations. The seminarwas organised by Colin Drake, Lecturer inEvent Management.The week ended with the Tourism IndustryAmazing Race. The race took place onFriday September 10 in Melbourne’slaneways and other special places. Threeteams from VU participated in a challengethat was more about strategic planning thanfast footwork. The event provided participantswith a chance to meet some new friends inthe event.Simon Kraft, the team leader of VU teamone, described the race as: “A childhooddream that came true. Spending a wholeday in a big city in your pyjama pants (andVU T-shirt) doing crazy tasks like cocktailmixing at Radisson and abseiling at theUrban Central, along with a lot of runningduring the three hours from Williams Streetto Flinders Street and then to Etihad, backto Bourke Street, Federation Square andEureka Tower’’.Proud of his team having completed many ofthe tasks – Simon said the race itself was abig winner in the fun department.SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSVU graduate Todd Blakeof climate change. It is possible, for instance,that a warmer, drier climate could lead to alonger swimming season along the southernocean beaches and less snow in the highcountry but more bushwalking and trail-riding.Each major piece of tourism infrastructurerequires a “20 to 30 year vision,’’ Toddsays, predicting that by 2030 Melbournewill support a second international airportand a very fast train to Sydney.The Amazing Race Team 1, from left: Mario Romangonzalez,Simon Kraft and Ali Ebrahimpourjafarinejad.2 VICTORIA UNIVERSITY VICTORIA UNIVERSITY3