Alice Xuan Ji, a Swansea University School of Management student from Xiamen in China, has been nominated Best Young Tourism Ambassador in the 2019 Swansea Bay Tourism Awards.
Alice had experience in the tourism industry in China and was keen to take the Managing and Marketing Tourism Experiences module whilst studying the MSc Strategic Marketing degree at Swansea. As part of a module assignment, Alice worked closely with local Swansea tourism business, "The Dylan Thomas Birthplace”, which led to a placement position with them over the summer semester. During this period, Alice worked as a digital marketing researcher to improve the organisation's digital presence and overall marketing strategy to increase visitor numbers. This included reviewing and enhancing the product range and, based on her hard work and success, the owner, Geoff Haden, then offered Alice employment beyond her placement requirement.
When Swansea Bay Tourism opened a call for nominations, lecturer Dr Maggie Miller nominated Alice for the "Best Young Tourism Ambassadors" category, saying,
‘I am so proud of the work Alice has carried out. She has an incredible work ethic and was always eager to engage the local history and culture of the Dylan Thomas Birthplace, with hopes of improving visitor numbers and creating real impact for a local company.’
Alice was selected as a finalist, and invited to the awards ceremony on 14th November at the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea. Tourism lecturers Dr Jenny Cave, Professor Sarah Nicholls and Dr Maggie Miller will accompany Alice to the event.
Tourism at the School of Management
As one of the largest and most rapidly growing industries in the world, Swansea University’s School of Management offers the following programme in tourism management:
BSc International Tourism Management
The department has strong industry links both locally and globally, giving students the opportunity to experience tourist enterprises of all sizes within the private, public and voluntary sectors across the world. Students will develop key critical thinking with transferable skills in preparation for a career in a variety of tourism contexts.
For further information on the courses visit the website, email study@swansea.ac.uk or call 01792 295111.