Students
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Department of Tourism Management keeps momentum strong through student-focused initiatives
This has been a very busy semester for the Department of Tourism Management on the international front.
In April, 19 students and two academics visited Vienna for the annual study trip. The students learnt research techniques by collating tourism experience data at two visitor attractions in the city.
Also in April, seven students joined over twenty students from all across Europe at a Blended Intensive Programme hosted by the University of Split. Dr Noel Buttigieg and Prof. John Ebejer gave presentations at the BIP and had the opportunity to network with professors from SEA-EU universities. The BIP at Split was a follow-up to the successful University of Malta BIP that the Department hosted in February 2025.
In May, the Department hosted twenty-two academics from twelve different universities for a four-day study visit on religious tourism in Malta, under the Erasmus+ project SacredTravels4Growth. Apart from lectures and workshops, the delegates visited several sites of religious significance in Valletta, Birgu and other parts of Malta.
On internationalisation, the Department has kept up the momentum of recent years with different Department academics involved in an ever-increasing number of initiatives. These included:
- Research collaboration with a professor from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus (Malaysia)
- An Erasmus+ mobility visit to Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Erasmus+ mobility hosting of a professor from the same university
- Keynote speaker at a conference at the University of the Balearic Islands
- Member of the Scientific Committee of Forte Cultura, an international organisation dedicated to fortified heritage
- The signing of an Erasmus+ mobility agreement with Istanbul Beykent University
- Hosting of an audit PhD student from the University of Messina
- The organisation of a two-day hackathon in collaboration with UN Tourism.
On SEA-EU and Erasmus+ initiatives, the Department greatly appreciates the constant support of UM’s International Office. The Department’s international engagement is in line with the UM’s Strategic Plan principle to “Cultivate global citizenship through international partnerships and perspectives.”
Interestingly more than a third of our current tourism students come from various countries from across Europe and beyond, including six students from Japan. Over and above, there are several Erasmus+ and visiting students who attend the lectures that are offered at the Department.
[The photo is of the attendees at the SEA-EU Blended Intensive programme hosted by the University of Split in April, including seven students and two academics from the Department of Tourism Management of FEMA.]
Erasmus+ projects are funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the University of Malta. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
