Tourism Management Institute announces winners of the 2024 Student Awards

Tourism Management Institute announces winners of the 2024 Student Awards

The Tourism Management Institute is delighted to announce the winners of the 2024 TMI Student Awards.

The David Hughes Memorial Award for 2024 goes to: Ellie Morris – University of Chester.

Ellie, who is studying for her BA (Hons) Business Management and International Tourism Management degree, based her application on her successful 4 week placement with Birkenhead Park UNESCO World Heritage Project. Our judging panel was very impressed with the impact she made in the role in such a short time, managing the communication platforms and undertaking important visitor research. She demonstrated her success with a quantifiable increase in the Park’s social media engagement as well as delivering valuable visitor survey feedback as a result of the visitor research she undertook.

The Simon Curtis Postgraduate Prize winner for 2024 is: Valeria Verkhovska, Glasgow Caledonian University.

Valeria, as part of her MSc International Tourism & Event Management degree, successfully delivered a highly relevant research project focussing on ‘The impact of destination branding on visitors and non-visitor’ perceptions of a post conflict state: a case study of Colombia. Valeria conducted in-depth interviews which enabled her to deliver valuable insights on consumer motivations and perceptions and useful guidance for tourism professionals on effective post-conflict branding strategies for destinations.

TMI’s President Tom Pridmore commented:

‘I am delighted to congratulate Ellie and Valeria as very worthy winners of our 2024 TMI Awards. It is fantastic to see that they have succeeded in delivering such high quality projects which have proved to be so valuable to the respective destinations and to the wider tourism community. This work has given them valuable practical experience which will undoubtedly enhance their career prospects. We at TMI wish them all the very best for the future.’

We would also like to congratulate our two runners up. The quality of their submissions was very high, and they each stood out for their achievements. We are delighted to award them recognition in this way.

The David Hughes Memorial Award 2024: Our runner up:

· Arryann Duncan, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen

The Simon Curtis Postgraduate Prize 2024: Our runner up:

· Marzieh Ghafouri, Sheffield Hallam University

These annual awards are an important way for TMI to recognise the achievements of both undergraduate and postgraduate students on recognised TMI programmes who have undertaken a relevant work placement or

research project as part of their degree. The awards demonstrate how they have successfully applied their academic knowledge by actively working with a destination management/tourism organisation here in the UK or overseas.

TMI President Tom Pridmore continues:

‘We would like to thank all applicants for their submissions which were once again of high quality. TMI works closely with our university partners and our awards are an important way for us to support students in their development giving them an opportunity to share their achievements with a wide audience and promote continuing professional development’.

Both award winners will receive a one-to-one professional mentoring session with a senior member of TMI as well as a complimentary place at the TMI Annual Convention hosted this year by the University of Central Birmingham on 30/31 October. They also have the opportunity to write a blog to showcase their project and the professional skills and experience they have gained, as well as one year’s associate membership of TMI.

We would finally like to thank the relevant tourism organisations and professionals for their ongoing support of our students in offering meaningful placements and actively supporting research projects within their destinations.

Please see the Universities and Education pages of the website for a full list of the tourism and management degree programmes recognised by TMI. Further information about the awards and TMI recognition scheme, please contact; Joyce Cawthorpe, Project Manager, TMI Recognition Scheme E: cpd@tmi.org.uk; M: +44 7590 123299

The annual TMI David Hughes Memorial Award was launched in 2012 in honour of former TMI President David Hughes, who tragically died in December 2011.

The TMI Postgraduate Prize was launched in 2015 and renamed the Simon Curtis Postgraduate Prize in 2019 in honour of TMI past President Simon Curtis, following his death in January 2019.