Alan Machin: Tourism As Education

New page added - see below

Something to Shout About - see the page to the left for pictures from the event.


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Click here to visit Plimoth Plantation

A family visit to the USA in March gave the chance of seeing several destinations and attractions. Plimoth Plantation, near Boston, recalls the life of the 'Mayflower' settlers in the years following their landing in 1620. An open air museum has reconstructions of their fortified village and of another belonging to the Wampanoag people who were native to the area. The museum is a leader in visitor interpretation through an exhibition and demonstration area, guide books, on-site panels and actors. Near the entrance to the native peoples' village is the very sensitive message panel shown above which speaks volumes about some of the cultural positions involved. A new page will be added in due course about Plimoth Plantation.
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< See the International Centre for Responsible Tourism page on the left for details of an important event at the World Travel Market on 12 November '08.
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Clarine Kalogeraki graduated from Leeds Met in 2000. She and Dimitris were married at the end of June in an open-air wedding in front of a tiny Greek Orthodox church in Varkiza, south of Athens. Guests from the USA and the UK joined their families and friends for dinner after the ceremony, followed by Cretan dancing and less traditional stepping out in disco style.

Many of our alumni have married and now have families. News of ex-students is on the highly-popular Alumni Page (scroll down the list on the left). It would be nice to add more wedding photos, family pictures and individual portraits: email or post them in!

Wedding tourism is an identifiable industry in its own right as well as a precious event for the families involved. Its also a great way to get to know other people, absorb other cultures and break down barriers, as well as being full of joy and fun. This event was a good example. People of different backgrounds shared experiences. Customs and cultures were discussed. The religious service was familiar in some ways but different in others, highlighting points of interest. With family connections with the island the Cretan music and dancing celebrated their history and it was noticeable to those of us Brits who were there that the younger generation still joined in the dances. Yet overall, perhaps the most important cultural point was that there was not the slightest difference between any of the races and nationalities present in the human warmth and welcome shared by everyone. Mind you, the Greek tradition of 'philoxenia' - love of strangers, the offering of hospitality, is quite something to behold.

A beautifully-kept open air museum at Enkhuizen recalls the history and culture of villages around the former Zuider Zee. What was once an inland arm of the North Sea was closed off in 1932 to form the IJselmeer. Enkhuizen was one of the villages on the edge of the IJselmeer which had to readjust to the loss of salt-water fishing. The Zuider Zee Museum was begun, and the village entered the tourism industry.

Read more in "Going Dutch" ....

Click here to read "Going Dutch"

Click here for the latest news from the International Centre for Responsible Tourism

New record!

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 over a million hits and almost 100,000 individual visitors.

Click here for the End of Course photos 12 May 2008

Click here for a report on the Future Careers Networking Day

Barcelona is a new - and very popular - destination on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. As an industrial city it's a long way away from the kind of beach holiday exemplified by the other Costas. One attraction that shows that to perfection is the new Museum of Catalonia - not 'of Spain' but of the province, which has its own identity including its language, and its own history. And it considers itself to be quite separate from the rest of the country in the sense that Scotland is a separate component of the UK.

Coming shortly - a photo-essay page about the city and its 'new tourism'.

Showcases: Towards a Theory of Attractions

New Page - The Environment As Data: Building New Theory For Tourism

Timelines: The Growth of Tourism as Education

Click here for Alumni News

Below: a posting from a recent Idealog. These blog-style pages are packed with ideas, notes and comments around the subject of tourism as education.

At the moment no new Idealog pages are being added.

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This is a personal web site on tourism as education by Alan Machin, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK

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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.

Alumni offering services:

Sue Hyams (nee Bannister, graduated 1996) runs a successful wedding stationery business. Getting married? Need to organise invites, place cards and more? Use the link below.

Click here to contact Sue Hyams

Elena Tooulia-Efstathiou is marketing manager for the Kefalos Beach Tourist Village and Damon Hotel in Paphos, Cyprus. She invites you to view the accommodation on their joint web site - click on the link below:

Elena's company web site for holidays in Cyrpus

Paul McCann runs a ski and snow boarding agency. To contact him - and book a holiday if you care to -

Click here to visit Paul's web site or send him a message

Mike Moss runs a business providing discounts for services in the Leeds area: click here

If you are a Leeds met Tourism Management alumnus and want to promote a charity project, a personal research project, or even to publicise your company or organisation's work, send me a message with details of what you want to do, with your phone number and address. The only condition is that you also send an entry about yourself for the Alumni News page. This offer will be as an experiment and reviewed in due course. The message will appear on this page, the alumni page or any other of your choice. There is no charge but you must be an alumnus/alumna of a Leeds Met Tourism Management course.

If you are a LeedsMet graduate and want to advertise your organisation's activities, click here to send me an email to discuss ideas

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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

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