Miroslava Dimitrova Ph.D

Stanislav Ivanov Ph.D

International University College, Bulgaria

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Content Project management as a part of students’ curriculum

Trans Tour Net

Enterprise project – a good example

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Project management as a part of students’ curriculum

Compulsory subject for all students

2 ECTS credits

Part of Entrepreneurship module

Linkages with Enterprise project

Opportunities for students to participate in EU

projects in rural tourism and regional development

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Trans Tour Net

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Trans-border destination as a concept

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Dobrudzha as a trans-border tourist destination

ca. 23000 sq. km

Divided between Bulgaria and Romania

Bordering Danube river and Black sea

4 administrative regions – Dobrich and Silistra (in Bulgaria), Constanta and Tulcea (in Romania)

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Development of five tourist routes around 50 most attractive sites

Cultural/historical route

Traditional crafts route

Culinary route

Eco route

Festival route

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Students involved in Trans Tour Net 70 third year students from two streams:

Students from Marketing and Management of Hospitality and Tourism

Students from Marketing and Management

Date of involvement: 06.12.10 – 20.01.11

Type of involvement: Coursework in Marketing and Management of Tourist Destination (MMTD)

Group assignment: 7 groups of 8-11 students

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Description of the assignment in MMTD

Development of three themed package tours for each of the following special interest types of tourism: cultural, eco, festival, culinary, traditional crafts

Assessment and selection of most important tourist sites

Recommendations for improvement

Lecturers in MMTD: Miroslava Dimitrova, Ph.D and Stanislav Ivanov, Ph.D

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Main objectives of the assignment To carry out a research of the most important tourist sites in Bulgarian

and Rumanian parts of Dobrudzha (total of 100 – 150 sites) To evaluate the sites according to previously elaborated assessment

model approved by the lecturers To select the 50 most attractive tourist sites To make site visits (if possible) To evaluate the existing infra- and super- structure (roads condition,

accessibility, accommodation etc) To prepare three alternative package tours for each of the five routes,

targeting various groups of tourists (including analysis of the marketing mix of the packages and calculations)

To give recommendations for improvement of the sites management and marketing

To prepare coursework: word file (10 000 words and photos of the sites) and Power Point Presentation (20-30 slides)

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Criteria for assessment of prospective sites

Site attractiveness, image and uniqueness

Site condition (maintenance)

Opportunity for sustainable tourism development

Site’s contribution to cross-border cooperation

Accessibility (roads condition, accommodation in the vicinity, tourist information centers etc)

Students determine the weights and values of each criterion

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Assignment Schedule № Task Deadline

1 Presentation of the assignment, explanation, discussion 06.12.10

2 Teams of students to be presented before the lecturers 07.12.10

3. Development of assessment criteria and model of evaluation for the

sites' attractiveness

10.12.10

4. Preliminary research and presentation of the selected sites (20-30 per

group)

13.12.10

5. Presentation of the selected sites and three alternative routes per

group (including Marketing Mix of the packages and calculation)

20.12.10

6. Sites visits, photos, visits of prospective accommodation sites, tourist

information sites etc

20.12.10-16.01.11

7. Development of coursework assignment in two formats: text file and

PPT presentation

20.12.10-16.01.11

8. Consultation on the Project 03-14.01.11

9. Submission of the assignment 17.01.11

9. Defense of the assignment before a jury of experts from Tourism and

Projects departments

20.01.11

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Assignment assessment

№ Element for assessment Type of

assessment

% of total

mark

date

1. Preliminary research of the

tourist sites

group 10 13.12.10

2. Presentation of the

preliminary selected tourist

routes

group 10 20.12.10

3. Coursework – text file group 50 20.01.11

4. PPT presentation group 10 20.01.11

5. Defense (oral presentation) individual 20 20.01.11

6. Total 100 13

Outcomes of students’ involvement in the project

Seven courseworks were presented

Three group site visits were conducted

More than 25 different routes were suggested and formed as package tours (some of the teams have elaborated more than three packages)

More than 120 sites were researched through site visits, interviews, secondary research of printed materials, web-sites, textbooks and articles

Marks varied from 3.50 – 5.50 out of 6.00

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Evaluation of the students' involvement

Survey was conducted in April 2011

67 students completed questionnaires (in Bulgarian)

Results show: The majority of students (78%) fully support the idea of

students’ involvement in real business projects

students find that their involvement in project was very useful (rating it 3.9 out of 5)

marking was fair and marking criteria was clear (rating it 3,5 out of 5)

MMTD course contributed to their overall proficiency (rating it 3,7 out of 5 with a standard deviation of 1,2)

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Evaluation of the students' involvement

Obstacles before the students during their involvement in the project (results from the survey):

not enough time for assignment completion (39 / 58%)

budget restrictions (33 / 49%)

unfavorable weather conditions (32 / 48%)

gaps in communication between students – lecturers – Projects department (23 / 34%)

language barrier (11 / 16%)

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Benefits for the students from their involvement:

better knowledge of Dobrudzha region and its tourist resources (57 / 85%)

team building (28 / 42%)

having fun (27 / 40%)

project management expertise (21 / 31%)

improvement of presentation skills (19 / 28%)

travel opportunity (12 / 18%)

Evaluation of the students' involvement

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The students’ perspective (recapitulation)

The Project Department’s perspective (based on interview with Project’s coordinator Gergana Dimitrova)

The lecturers’ perspective

Evaluation of the students' involvement

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Enterprise project – a good example Krasnodar Karakashev, Tatarski Khan, Onogur village

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Thank you for the attention!

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