Alan Machin: Tourism As Education

Scenes From A Course
The May blog page celebrates in photographs and text the Leeds Met Tourism Management courses since 1992.
The June 2009 page reflects on the same period in short essays which make some challenges about the teaching of Tourism.
See the pages listed to the left.

Below: Our History, Our Heritage - one of a series of postings in my April blog on the subject of heritage and tourism.

Click here to read the story

Leaders In The Field: Pioneers in discovering the world through travel - see the January Blog in the list to the left.

I retire on 15 July, the day of this year's Awards Ceremony. I have been asked whether the Alumni page will continue after then. The answer is yes - at least for now - but of course without being part of the University I might not be able to add news in the same way.

This web site will not only continue but will be revised with the opportunity to develop new and (yeah, its a cliche) exciting ideas. There are lots of things I will be free to write about.

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Click here for news of the Leeds Met Tourism Management alumni

Tourist Photography

Way back in the days pre-printing and pre-photography, people who made journeys to some place to work, be a pilgrim of some sort or to perform some necessary duty might have returned home with a stone, a flower or some kind of curiosity as a keepsake of where they had been. In a way it might have served the purpose of keeping them connected to somewhere distant by giving them a vicarious sense of owning a part of it. Better off people would later buy a work of art or better, have one made, often showing themselves in a portrait painted with a background representing where they had been....

To read more on Tourist Photography, click the link below:

Click here to read more on Tourist Photography

Leeds has been changing at an ever-increasing rate for the last ten years and more. It might slow down a bit with the credit crunch but there are plenty of projects making their mark. Down by the train station if you turn out of the side entrance towards the car park it looks as though you're in a different world - or at least a different city. The river and the road next to it make a broad open space behind which are a whole new collection of tall buildings. There aren't any photos of them above, yet, but included in this batch are - the Rose Bowl of the new Leeds Business School; new student accommodation buildings; the development behind the old BBC premises that will be the Arts and Culture School; the new Leeds City Museum; City Square with the former Post Office Building (now a restaurant) and part of Millennium Square in front of the Civic Hall. No wonder the artist wants to sketch the changing townscape of Calverley St.

Highest number of hits on these pages on one day: 3,613 on 14 April 2008. Previous highest: 3,081 on 1 October 2007. Number of individual visitors on 15 April 2008: 226.

Since being launched on 7 January 2005 there have been an estimated 2+ million hits.

Timelines: The Growth of Tourism as Education

Click here for Alumni News

The Alumni News page (see the left-hand panel) contains photos and news from many Leeds Met Tourism Management alumni - including Simon, Paula, Chloe and Adonis above. THESE PHOTOS supplied by, and copyright of, the individuals shown.

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This web site was launched in January 2005 and has been heavily used by Leeds Met tourism alumni and others. The ALUMNI NEWS page is adding entries as they arrive.

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Photos by the author unless otherwise stated.

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This is a personal web site to complement my work lecturing at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom, where I have taught since 1992. Past and present students, or other interested persons, may want to access photos, graphics and associated text. If you want to comment on any of the writing, do send me an email - the pages are not just for Leeds Met alumni but anyone with an interest in the subjects. You can find information about who I am on the "About the Author" page at the end of the page list.

Pictures below: see "A Positive Role: Tourism As Education" and "The Educational Origins of Tourism" in the sidebar list to the left

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You might like to visit the Leeds Metropolitan University web site for information on its work, courses (including those for tourism, hospitality and events) and alumni activities. The University is set in an extremely popular city and region and has a vigorous expansion programme. Strong international links enable students at all levels to participate in a wide range of opportunities and staff are engaged in research and consultancy that furthers progress in its subject areas and supports their teaching.

Click here to be transferred to the Leeds Metropolitan University web site

Hits = all requests to any pages from a distant computer
Visits = a single user looking at any number of pages and not returning for at least 30 minutes