6 May 2004 Lincoln Tourism Students 'Make a Difference'

Study tourism at Lincoln University and make a difference! That's the word from Tourism Lecturer Dr David Fisher.

"Not only will a tourism qualification from Lincoln University change your life as far as career openings are concerned, but along the way in the course of your study you will have 'live' opportunities to make genuine contributions to current issues connected with tourism," says Dr Fisher.

An example is the submission made to the New Zealand Climate Change Office by students in Lincoln's 200-level Global Tourism Environments class, for which Dr Fisher is the examiner.

This subject, a compulsory one for Lincoln University's 24-paper Bachelor of Tourism Management degree, looks at major issues and trends in world tourism and principles of tourism management.

An assignment topic just completed by this year's class examined "How Tourism Impacts On Climate Change". Air travel, for example, contributes more than three percent to Greenhouse Gas Emissions worldwide, and tourism accounts for a large part of this. Also, once on the ground, tourists are big users of vehicular transport, which also contributes to carbon dioxide emissions.

As part of their assignment the Lincoln students had to consider actions that tourists and the industry in general could take to reduce the impact of tourism on climate change. Their essays and recommendations were then sent to the Ministry for the Environment's Climate Change Office which has acknowledged the usefulness of their work. In particular the office was interested in the students' comments on including a specific section for tourists on its climate change campaign website with suggestions on how they could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Dr Susanne Becken, a Lincoln graduate now with Landcare Research, taught this particular class and topic," says Dr Fisher, "and it's a good illustration of how our students can make constructive contributions even as undergraduates."

There are several paths to tourism qualifications at Lincoln University – the Bachelor of Tourism Management programme, graduate and postgraduate certificates and diplomas in tourism management, and masters and doctoral level study. The University's Bachelor of Commerce (Hotel & Institutional Management) can also lead you into the industry.

Course durations range from one year in the case of certificates and diplomas through to three or more years for degrees depending on whether you advance to honours or postgraduate level.

Dr Fisher is the Course Advisor for tourism studies at Lincoln University and he may be contacted on (03) 3252811 ext. 8149 or at fisherd@ lincoln.ac.nz . Further information is also available on the Lincoln University website www.lincoln.ac.nz .

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand