An undergraduate from Chester has been recognised among the best tourism students in the UK.
Annabelle Whitaker, who is studying at the University of Chester, won the David Hughes Memorial Award for her learning and input while on placement at Chester Zoo.
Whitaker has recently completed the second year of her BA (Hons) International Tourism Management (with Spanish) degree, is the winner of the 2022 David Hughes Memorial Award for undergraduates.
The 21-year-old, originally from Halifax, based her application on her successful work-based learning placement this spring.
The judging panel was particularly impressed with how Annabelle used this experience to consolidate her academic learning.
They said Annabelle demonstrated a very mature understanding of the visitor journey, the challenges and complexities of visitor management, as well as the key role this leading visitor attraction has within the wider destination.
The annual awards, run by the Tourism Management Institute (TMI), are an important of recognising the achievements of both undergraduate and postgraduate students on recognised TMI degree programmes.
They highlight how students have applied their academic knowledge by working within a tourism organisation.
Award winners receive a one-to-one professional mentoring session with a senior member of the TMI as well as a complimentary place at the TMI Annual Convention in October.
They also have the opportunity to write a blog post for the TMI website about their placement or project, as well as one year’s associate membership of the TMI.
Annabelle, who is now embarking on a year abroad in Alicante, said: “I enjoyed all of my placement, however I especially enjoyed working with the ‘travel trade’ where I learnt how larger groups are organised and looked after in the zoo.
“I feel so blessed to win this award and I look forward to meeting with my mentor and attending the TMI conference next month.”
Colin Potts, programme leader for International Tourism Management at the University of Chester, said: “Annabelle is a thoughtful, hard-working student who makes the most of every opportunity that comes her way.
“This has included working in Chester’s Visitor Information Centre (VIC), doing her second year work placement at Chester Zoo and spending her third year at a university in Spain.
“Her application for the TMI Award was outstanding. It not only explained what she had learnt but it connected this back to her studies and looked forward to how it could help her in her future career.
“She made interesting links between her work at the VIC and at the zoo, and made recommendations to help improve the zoo’s customer service.
“It is no surprise that they wanted to keep her after her placement.”
The TMI described the winners as very worthy and praised them for delivering high quality projects that have proved valuable to their respective destinations.
