Students, faculty to mark Travel-Tourism Week

May 03, 2012

Students, faculty to mark Travel-Tourism Week

by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- It’s almost National Travel and Tourism Week, and students studying at Southern Illinois University Carbondale to work in this growing industry are ready to play good hosts during the event.

Nicole Davis, instructor and coordinating counselor in the Hospitality and Tourism Administration program in the College of Agricultural Sciences, said students and faculty have a variety of events on tap for next week, beginning with a kick-off banquet at 6 p.m., Sunday, May 6 at the Student Center Old Main Dining Room.

The banquet will include a presentation by Trish Steckenrider, general manager of the Paducah Hampton Inn, who will talk about how hotels fit into the overall destination management concept, Davis said. 

Tickets for the event are $10 for students, $15 for adults, payable to the SIU Carbondale Hospitality and Tourism Administration.

The Hospitality and Tourism Administration program also will staff an information table on National Travel Rally Day, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, in the Student Center.  Davis said members would have information about the industry and job opportunities. The group also will provide a chance for prizes for those who stop by, “Like” the group on Facebook, have a picture taken and uploaded to Facebook and tagged to the group’s page.  The program’s page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/southerntourism.

“This is the first time our students and the industry have come together to celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week,” Davis said.  The catalyst was the U.S. Travel Association’s Vote Travel campaign and the Vote Travel bus tour that launched last month.  That yearlong effort seeks to raise the travel industry’s profile across the nation by promoting good policy by government, generating media attention and showcasing the importance of meetings and conventions by establishing a presence at both the Democratic and Republican conventions later this year, among other things.