Assessing the Learning Outcomes of Food-related Educational Tourism Events for University Students: The Case of the International Student Competition of Fermo, Italy

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1641-4233.24.07

Keywords:

educational tourism, food tourism, experiential learning, soft skills, knowledge, employability

Abstract

This paper examines the International Student Competition on Place Brand­ing and Mediterranean Diet held in Fermo, Italy, in the context of the devel­opment of rural areas. This one-week food-related educational programme was organised by the University of Macerata’s Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism in collaboration with The Piceno Laboratory on the Mediterranean Diet, a local network of public and private stakehold­ers committed to the promotion of Fermo area as a touristic destination based on traditional gastronomy. The aim of this study was to understand how and to what extent such food-related educational events may con­tribute to providing students with the knowledge, expertise and soft skills needed for careers in the food tourism sector. Of interest also was how such events may benefit the development of rural areas. The ISC was founded in 2016 and continued in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In order to assess students’ perceptions about the experience, specifically regarding what they felt they had learned about food tourism, and which soft skills they had acquired or honed, 13 students who participated in the 2017 event were interviewed for a qualitative study. Moreover, the authors drew upon information gleaned from interactions with students and teachers, as well as with several important actors of the local food and tourism sector, in­cluding tourism and hospitality entrepreneurs and representatives of gov­ernment agencies, with whom they collaborated in the context of planning, running and evaluating the events. The findings show that the ISC can provide students with a good general understanding of the territory and practical knowledge about place branding and food tourism. In terms of career preparation, the combination of fieldwork activities with traditional lectures and group activities was particularly fruitful in promoting soft skills such as communication, efficient use of social media, teamwork, problem-solving and decision making.

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Author Biographies

Sabrina Tomasi, Università di Macerata, Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism

Sabrina Tomasi – Doctoral candidate in Human Sciences at the Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism at the University of Macerata (Italy). Her main fields of interest and research are: Educational Tourism, Ecotourism, Health Tourism and Experiential Tourism. She is involved in EU research projects (The Wine Lab and FoodBiz) about the role of higher education institutions in promoting bottom-up approaches and stakeholder engagement to facilitate innovation and co-creation in rural areas.

Alessio Cavicchi, Università di Macerata, Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism

Alessio Cavicchi – Associate Professor at the Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism at University of Macerata (Italy). His main fields of interest and research are consumer food choice, economics of food quality and safety, sustainable tourism and innovation in the agro-food sector. He has experience as coordinator of several EU funded projects, and as an invited expert for several programmes and DGs of the European Commission in the food sector (DG Agri, DG Research, DG Regio-Urbact, Joint Research Center, European Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation).

Gigliola Paviotti, Università di Macerata, Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism

Gigliola Paviotti – Doctoral candidate in Education at the University of Macerata. Her research interests include employability, transitions from education to work, and engagement of universities for regional development. She is currently involved in research projects related to pedagogy for employability and co-creation approaches for employment and entrepreneurship purposes.

Giovanna Bertella, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, School of Business and Economics

Giovanna Bertella – Associate Professor at the School of Business and Economics, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø. Her research interests include: 1)Tourism and leisure studies; 2) Food & beverages studies (food consumption/production from an animal ethics perspective, rural entrepreneurship); 3) Futures studies. The theoretical perspectives adopted in her studies are: Management (knowledge and collaboration), Marketing (experiential marketing, consumer culture theory), Entrepreneurship/Innovation (practice-based and institutional theory).

Cristina Santini, Università Telematica San Raffaele

Cristina Santini – Associate Professor at Università Telematica San Raffaele, Rome (Italy). Her research interests include: food and wine business; entrepreneurship and ecopreneurship and strategic management. She is interested in research methodology and more specifically in case study, participatory approaches and action research.

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Published

2019-12-30

How to Cite

Tomasi, S., Cavicchi, A., Paviotti, G., Bertella, G., & Santini, C. (2019). Assessing the Learning Outcomes of Food-related Educational Tourism Events for University Students: The Case of the International Student Competition of Fermo, Italy. International Studies. Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal, 24(2), 95–125. https://doi.org/10.18778/1641-4233.24.07

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 2 (2019): Stakeholder Engagement, Partnership and Collaboration in Public Policies

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Articles

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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