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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences University of Florida

Year 1: (2009)

  • Initiated project activities
  • Conducted curriculum needs assessment of current and proposed new program areas
  • Conducted strategic planning with TUT faculty and administration
  • Consulted multiple stakeholders (about 50 individuals) from the government, private, and non-governmental sectors with respect to input for curriculum development
  • Built new relationships and partnerships for TUT and the tourism industry for student internships, employment, and research initiatives
  • Delivered new bachelor’s degree curriculum in casino management, airport and aviation management and event management
  • Conducted needs assessment of current and proposed new areas for executive and vocational training programs in tourism
  • Explored opportunities for involvement and engagement with TUT campus in Nelspruit for increased partnership and implementation of newly developed curriculum
  • Conducted initial research with respect to recruitment strategies for underrepresented populations
  • Visited a semi-rural high school in the greater Nelspruit region to assess current content delivery of tourism curriculum
  • Held meetings with governmental education leaders and policy makers for Nelspruit and Mpumalanga Province with respect to tourism education

Year 2: (2010)

  • Conducted a visioning workshop for the development of Center for Tourism and Sustainability. Attendees consisted of stakeholders from the public, private and non-governmental sectors
  • Center’s mission will be largely to serve tourism destinations and industries through research, training and outreach within the community, province and other regions in southern Africa
  • Delivered workshop materials and concept document for the proposed Center at TUT
  • Compiled vocational and short learning courses in tourism offered by South African universities
  • Compiled and conducted SWOT analysis of Academic Research Centers in South Africa that focus on tourism, conservation and natural resources management
  • Generated funding for TUT-UF 2010 FIFA World Cup research (Residents and Visitors) which has been funded by TUT-Office of Research and Innovation and the City of Tshwane-2010 Host City Office; while other host cities are also pending. This is a spin-off and value added component to the current project
  • Generated funding for TUT-UF visitor survey and lodging accommodations survey for the City of Tshwane. This is also a spin-off and value added component to the current project
  • Continued to enhance networks within the Ministry (Tourism), Provincial (Gauteng) and City (Tshwane) Tourism Bureaus
  • Presented and interacted with TUT team at the international summit in Johannesburg, South Africa: Tourism, Sport and Mega Events.
  • Conducted an interactive session with Tshwane Tourism members with respect to research and a proposed new Convention Center for the city
  • Active recruitment of two TUT lecturers faculty to obtain a Ph.D. degree at UF
  • Strategic plan and concept document in preparation to target and enroll disadvantaged populations and other high school students to the Department of Tourism Management at TUT
  • Developed relationships to integrate TUT within the UF-HED-USAID Transforming Community Based Natural Resources Management Education Project
  • TUT is hosting an international conference on Global Sustainable Tourism in Nelspruit in mid November 2010. Project members are active in organizing the conference

Year 3: (2011)

  • Faculty development with regards to enhancing capacity as well as collaborative initiatives in tourism research with the project team and select UF faculty
  • Develop a mini-workshop on tourism research methods to be conducted at TUT
  • Explore opportunities for collaborative research partnerships between UF and TUT to sustain post-completion of the project
  • Engage TUT faculty in speaking engagements at UF: Center for Tourism Research and Development, and Center for African Studies
  • TUT faculty will attend lectures to explore teaching content and techniques of UF faculty
  • Engage TUT faculty with site visits to tourism-related organizations in the State of Florida
  • Maintain relationships and cultivate networks with industry and policy makers in South Africa
  • Team assessment of new curriculum and project-related programs in the following implementation -Identification of success and area of continued need
  • External evaluation of overall project