Study Tour - part I - New York

MCI Tourism has been organising the "International Study Program" as part of the Master's program "Entrepreneurship & Tourism" since 2009. The International Study Program - usually also called Study Tour - is a 2-week study trip with the aim of combining theory with practice and discussing and reflecting on tourism development in the framework of academic issues. This year's Study Tour lead 24 third semester students to the United States of America and Canada. Following the motto "we make the world our classroom", the students were able to get to know four North American tourism destinations better and to experience and learn about tourism directly on site.

The first stop of the study trip was New York City. The "Big Apple" is considered one of the most famous travel destinations in the world and fascinates over 50 million visitors every year. To understand this fascination more closely, the beginning of the trip was all about sightseeing: with a "Best of New York" boat trip around Manhattan. This gave the students a first comprehensive picture of the city's tourist offerings. A visit to the classic sights such as the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, and the American Museum of Natural History was on the programme as well as a tour of new hotspots such as the Hudson Yards Edge Platform, High Line Park and Little Island. This impressively illustrated how cities and destinations can develop further through innovative and sustainable product development.

A special highlight was the visit to the renowned New York University and the "Tisch Center of Hospitality". After a welcome by Dean Nicolas Graf, Dr. Jukka Laitamakki and Dr. Vanja Bogicecvic spoke about trends and challenges in the New York tourism and hotel industry. During the campus tour afterwards, the students were able to exchange ideas with NYU students and make new contacts. During their stay in New York, the students also had the pleasure of meeting representatives of the Austrian National Tourist Office. Michael Gigl and Helen Bitschnau shared their expertise on the American travel market with the students at a "Central Park Talk" and gave valuable insights into the market development of Österreich Werbung in the North American region.

Next stop: Canada!