We’re thrilled to announce that one of our students has been recognised among the best Tourism students in the UK after winning an award for her learning and input while on placement at the city’s zoo.
In a competitive year of extremely high-quality entries, Annabelle Whitaker has been chosen to receive a Tourism Management Institute (TMI) Student Award.
Annabelle, who 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 Institute is the national professional organisation for people studying and working in tourism destination management.
The 21-year-old, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, based her application on her successful Work Based Learning placement with Chester Zoo this spring. The judging panel was particularly impressed with how Annabelle used this experience to consolidate her academic learning.
They outlined how 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 are an important way for the TMI to recognise the achievements of both undergraduate and postgraduate students on recognised TMI degree programmes, who have undertaken a relevant work placement or research project as part of their degree. The Awards highlight how they have successfully applied their academic knowledge by actively working with a destination management or tourism organisation in the UK or overseas.
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, the opportunity to write a blog for the TMI website on their placement or project, as well as one year’s associate membership of the TMI.
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.
Annabelle Whitaker
She added that she decided to study at the University of Chester due to the wide variety of opportunities such as the Work Based Learning placement and becoming a student ambassador, as well as the beauty and heritage of the city.
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.
Colin Potts, Programme Leader for International Tourism Management at the University
The TMI described the winners as “very worthy” and praised them for “delivering such high quality projects which have proved to be so valuable to the respective destinations”.