My paper will report on the invaluable management skills gained by students participating in the 1999 Tourism Student Business Initiative. Other issues covered include the learning gained by students who participated, how they gained skills they might not have by participating, how participating facilitated Flexible Learning Delivery and the Benefits to the Hospitality industry.

To put this into context I am employed by Box Hill Institute in the Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Studies. My students come from both Tourism and Hospitality in Certificate IV and Diploma levels.

Some of the challenges we face are how to provide real life experiences for our TAFE students when they are developing their Marketing Plans, introducing Flexible Learning to our students and trying to offer alternative ways to undertake assessments .

This year this was achieved with the 1999 Tourism Student Business Initiative. This required students to create a business idea for the Tourism sector, which would employ at least 1 person. The business plan had to comprise of the Organisational Profile, Financial Information, Marketing Plan, Employment Opportunities – all under 20 pages.

The competition was sponsored by Employment Victoria, the State Government of Victoria, Tourism Victoria, Tourism Training Victoria, Tourism Council of Australia and Country Victoria Tourism Council Inc.

First prize was an $8000 Overseas Study Tour. Second Prize was made up of Two nights accommodation and dinner plus entry to attractions at Echuca, one nights accommodation with breakfast at the Grand Hyatt and two weeks Work Experience in a leading Melbourne based tourism organisation. Other prizes included one night’s accommodation, breakfast and carparking at the Savoy Park Plaza, one night’s accommodation with breakfast at the Gateway Suites Melbourne, a yearly subscription to Travel Week and Membership to the Victorian Tourist Operators Association and their events.

Our students were competing against other TAFE providers around the state and universities. Fortunately Employment Victoria amended the guidelines of the competition to fit three of our modules. They were Develop and Manage Marketing Strategies, Prepare and Monitor Budgets and Develop and Implement a Business Plan. This also made entry to the competition highly attractive to other TAFE providers which increased the number of entrants.

While we had the advantage of a couple of weeks head start there were a few disadvantages. It was felt the universities probably had less modules and more time to devote to this and that generally their students were inclined to do more researched based assignments.

A colleague, Raul Estevez, who was teaching Prepare and Monitor Budgets and Develop and Implement a Business Plan worked with me to prepare the students.

As a result of participating in this competition students got to see "the bigger picture" of business, the consequences of their management decisions, develop their research and project management skills, develop salesmanship and build their self confidence. They were on their own more as each student was tackling an individual idea so some developed self reliance. I believe that they gained a better and more thorough understanding of the theoretical concepts being taught by doing this competition, far more than if they had undertaken stand alone assessments. They became more aware about the need to "get competitive" - vital for success.

One of the benefits to Box Hill Institute was that students used the Flexible Delivery component to undertake their research. They could book in for appointment times if they required direction. Of the benefits to the industry the major one is graduates have a greater appreciation for the effort that goes into setting up a business.

As a result of undertaking to encourage students to participate in the 1999 Student Tourism Business Initiative I have made a number of observations. Students appreciated the one big assignment instead of 3 separate ones, duplication of teaching material was eliminated by team teaching with Raul. Students voiced their approval at being able to "go home to work" and the prizes were not always seen as an added incentive. Two students had brilliant ideas but failed to hand in anything at all! Several expressed the view that they found the creative element difficult and would have preferred more structured assignments. Overwhelmingly the feedback was that they had learnt so much, it was worth repeating the following semester, and they would keep their large assignment as a reference.

On a personal level I enjoyed the chance to collaborate with someone I respected and found inspiring. I felt able to "demand" quality as the competition did cover three units and I enjoyed the opportunities to demonstrate that "I still knew my stuff". The one-on-one discussions with individual students was rewarding and it was mentally stimulating to work on so many different ideas at once. Also I learnt to "let go" in terms of accepting that learning can take place outside my classroom without me!

To the delight of several students I discovered that the same idea and business plan could be amended to meet the criteria for the Nescafe Short Break and the Shell Operation Livewire Competitions. The students who were too old to enter the Nescafe Short Break Competition did however, enter the Operation Livewire Competition. They and won third place and $2000 for their idea "Coffee To Go". Naturally these were unexpected and delightful spin offs that were motivating for the whole of the Hospitality and Tourism centre.

In terms of timelines the students commenced their studies with Box Hill Institute in early February. Classes for Semester One were completed by mid June. The challenge was that the actual competition was not formally announced until late March with a closing date of October.

Out of the 20 class assignments that were suitable to submit only 10 were entered. It is believed that the 1999 Tourism Student Business Initiative attracted 80 – 90 entries.

Judging takes place tomorrow!