Questions for the industrialist panel at the Bournemouth University Student Conference at the Kensington Hilton Hotel London | Pictured left to right: Elizabeth Cave (Talent and Development Manager, D&D), David Bailey (Deputy Managing Director, TRI Hospitality Consulting), Philippa Hudson (Chairperson), Charles Kidd (Head of Learning and Training Delivery Inter-Continental Hotels), Alison Gilbert (Director, CH&Co), Robert Zajko (Director of Talent Acquisition, Hilton Worldwide) answer questions from the student audience in the conference ‘Question Time’ debate. — Photo by Bournemouth University

Bournemouth University recently held its first Hospitality Student Conference in London with over 150 of its final year undergraduate and Master"s postgraduate students in attendance. The event was held at the Kensington Hilton Hotel and received generous supported from Hilton Hotels Worldwide.

Presentations were given by eight leading hospitality companies and there was a real buzz during coffee breaks as delegates and students took advantage of the chance to network and discuss ideas.

In his keynote speech Bournemouth University graduate James Glover, Vice President of Food and Beverage for Hilton Worldwide, emphasised the need for companies to broaden the traditional role of the "chef" to become far more multifaceted and proactive. His presentation also touched on the variety of new business models being adopted by hotel groups to ensure that hotel restaurants are versatile, respond to customer demands and maintain their financially viability in an increasingly competitive environment.

Robin Rossman, Assistant Director, Travel, Hospitality & Leisure from the accounting and consultancy firm Deloitte LLP, presented, discussed and developed some of the conclusions of the recently released "Hospitality 2015: Game Changers or Spectators?" report. He identified that, as a consequence of the combination of global economic uncertainty and the resultant impact on the consumer, action is needed to respond to the new hospitality world order. More than ever before, consumers will be value-conscious irrespective of segment and will be highly "sustainability aware" with dramatically higher expectations of the companies they use.

The theme of sustainability and the environment also dominated the "Question Time" presentation in which a panel of five senior members from industry were asked a range of questions by the student delegates in the audience. Charles Kidd (Head of Learning and Training Delivery Inter-Continental Hotels) gave a spirited and pragmatic response to searching questions regarding the environmental credentials and activities of Inter-Continental Hotels whilst David Bailey, Deputy Managing Director of TRI Hospitality Consulting (also a Bournemouth University graduate) provided some sound and direct responses to questions about the issues of finding employment in the current environment.

The Conference concluded with a number of presentations from companies such as Blue Arrow and CH&Co, including a dialogue between the attending student delegate audience and Rob Zajko, Talent Acquisition Director from Hilton Hotels Worldwide, about how the industry should embrace the opportunity to work with their future students employees.

Commenting at the conclusion of the event, Charles Kidd (Head of Learning and Training Delivery Inter-Continental Hotels) said he was keen to continue working with Bournemouth University graduates and identified that "… the students are really passionate and bring a really great foundation of learning. Once you bring them into the working place they really have a great understanding of business."

UT HOSPITALITY EDUCATION AT BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY

Bournemouth University has been running programmes in Hospitality Management for

over 30 years. Our focus is to equip students with knowledge and professional and transferable skills to be in a position to take up managerial positions within the Hospitality Sector.

We are internationally recognised as a leading provider of courses in events, hospitality,

leisure, retail, sport and tourism and our courses are rated as 'excellent' by the Quality Assurance Agency, our research was assessed as being of national and international excellence in Research Assessment Exercise and we have been awarded the UNWTO- TedQual accreditation for tourism provision.

A specific strength of the Hospitality course is the exceptionally high level of

engagement our students have with all aspects of our industry. This is undertaken through live industry projects, visiting speakers, industrial placements and the inclusion of a live consultancy project in the final year. Previous clients have included a wide range of regional, national and international organisations including Hilton Hotels Worldwide, Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons, Sodexo, Skiology and CH&Co. It is our close relationship with our industrial partners which helps us maintain our position at the leading edge of strategic thinking within the 'experience economy' and the Hospitality sector.

Andrew Boer
Associate Dean Hospitality and Retail Management
+44 (0) 1202 965235
Bournemouth University