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GVSU Hospitality and Tourism Management


Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management

B-3-226 Mackinac Hall
1 Campus Drive
Allendale, MI 49401
616.331.3118 (Phone)
616.331.3115 (Fax)
www.gvsu.edu/htm
 


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Hospitality Heralds

Issue #12 - Spring 2013

Notes From the Chair

Welcome to the latest edition of Hospitality Heralds (HH), the newsletter designed to keep students, alumni and industry stakeholders in touch with all things HTM at GVSU. 

As we draw a close to another academic year, this latest edition of HH really showcases the great work of our dedicated faculty and students as they each contribute to the ongoing mission of our department and the university.

While all the projects and achievements highlighted within are outstanding, I'm particularly excited about HTM's partnership in the Michigan Cares for Tourism initiative.  Last month a team of faculty and students attended the 2013 Governor's Conference on Tourism and competed for a $5,000 Jump Start grant through the Start Garden program. Our goal was to pitch an idea to mobilize tourism professionals to annually help 'clean up' a tourism treasure here in Michigan through a coordinated volunteer program. 

Needless to say, our team won the competition and Dr. Patty Janes is leading this project to fruition commencing with our first event in October.   For more information, please see her article posted in HH and I really hope you will join us at Waterloo Recreation Area this fall, to help restore the cabins at Mill Lake to their former glory and help tourism flourish again in that area.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a "Pure Michigan" summer and I hope to see you at one of our upcoming events.

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HTM/KCLA Golf Outing Set for Wednesday, June 26!

Join the HTM Department and the Kent County Lodging Association (KCLA) at their Annual Scholarship Golf Outing! Proceeds from the event help to fund scholarships for GVSU and other Hospitality and Tourism Management students within Michigan.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013
StoneWater Country Club
9:00 am Shotgun Start

Not a golfer?  Not a problem!  There are various sponsorship opportunities available, or, you can join us for lunch after the event!

Click here for 2013 HTM/KCLA Golf Outing brochure.

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HTM Second Annual Spring Gala

On April 26, 2013, the GVSU HTM Department partnered with the HTM Alumni Advisory Board to host the Second Annual Spring Gala in downtown Grand Rapids at the CityFlatsHotel Ballroom.

The event proved to be a time of camaraderie bringing together hospitality professionals, faculty, alumni and students to recognize outstanding achievements and celebrate 36 years of Hospitality Education at GVSUClick here to continue reading and to see pictures from this year's event.

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Michigan Cares for Tourism

There are limited opportunities for tourism professionals to volunteer their time, talent, and resources to “give back” to the industry.  GVSU, in partnership with Travel Michigan (Pure Michigan), the Michigan Department of Natural Resources/ Parks and Recreation Division (DNR), and Tourism Cares, has created a unified, state-wide effort to engage the industry in an annual clean-up effort to restore a Michigan tourism treasure.  Click here to continue reading.

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HTM Alumni Advisory Board Member Profile: Courtney Geurink

Why did you enter the hospitality field?
Now looking back I can see that my talents and passions point to this career field: loving to travel, working with details, planning and being super organized…it all adds up.  Yet, in high school I had no idea where I would focus my college education.  My senior year, I threw a Christmas party and my mom actually mentioned focusing my career on that – hospitality and event planning.  I didn’t even know that was a career option!  After doing a lot of research and exploring to find the right degree, I landed at GVSU knowing my major would be Hospitality and Tourism Management and my career in the hospitality field.  It is a perfect fit. 

What was your emphasis area at GVSU?
It was officially declared as Meeting and Event Planning, but due to a strong passion for Travel and Tourism, I completed all the credits for that emphasis as well.

Click here for Courtney's full interview.

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Students Work Annual Policy Conference in Washington D.C.

Many senior college students plan their last spring break in Mexico or Panama City Beach.  But for a group of 20 GVSU HTM students, a less typical destination was chosen.  These students decided to fly to Washington D.C. on their vacation to work a conference for over 10,000 attendees.  The group committed to work alongside a prestigious event company, Precision Meeting and Events, without knowing what conference was taking place. A few weeks prior to the event, the students were informed that they would be working with American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) at their annual Policy ConferenceClick here to continue reading.

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$2,396 Raised for Make-A-Wish Michigan

Wednesday night on the second floor of The B.O.B. is typically a canyon where little activity fills the halls. On this Wednesday night in April, that was not the case as five bands, hundreds of students and community members filled the second floor with lively entertainment and passionate participation as everyone volunteered their time and talents to raise $1,011 for Make-A-Wish Michigan.  The Rock for Wishes event was one of five events designed and delivered by GVSU students.  Four other student-led events added an additional $1,285 to raise enough to grant half of a local child’s wish who is facing a life threatening illness.  Click here to continue reading.

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HTM Student Wins Alliance Francaise Scholarship

Jennifer Parks, a Hospitality and Tourism Management major at GVSU with minors in French and Business, is this year’s recipient of the Grand Rapids Alliance Française Scholarship. The award in the amount of $1,200 is made annually to a student studying French at a Grand Rapids area college or university and must be used to further the recipient’s studies of French. Applicants are judged on their academic background and achievements, professor recommendations and an essay relating the pertinence of their language studies to their future careers.

After studying in France this summer to obtain credits toward her minor in French, Jennifer will complete her final year at GVSU. Jennifer plans to someday work for an agency that promotes sustainable tourism in French-speaking regions around the world (including areas of Europe, Africa and the Caribbean) that will have a positive impact on the economy, environment, society and culture of those areas. In this way, she hopes to use her degree along with her fluency in the French language to be part of an exchange between people and cultures.

Congratulations to Jennifer!

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GVSU MPI Students Work the NCAA Final Four

On April 2, the GVSU chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) began their 12 hour trip to Atlanta, GA for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four. There were 16 Hospitality and Tourism Management students ranging from freshmen to seniors and all official members of the newly formed MPI GVSU student organization. The reason for this trip was to volunteer for a large scale event where HTM students could gain experience that may not be witnessed in class.  Click here to continue reading.

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A Ticket to Tomorrow - Hospitality Summit 2013

After a couple year hiatus, Hospitality Summit returned to DeVos Place on April 12, 2013.  Gail Zemmol's Introduction to Meeting and Event Management class took up the reins for the one day hospitality conference.  The conference was attended by 250 GVSU students, and featured speakers from many different aspects of the hospitality industry.

The Keynote speaker was Dave Lorenz from Pure Michigan.  He spoke about the Pure Michigan brand, marketing campaign and how it has impacted Michigan tourism.  The rest of the day was filled with break-out sessions ranging from "Culinary Tourism" to "Entrepreneurship In Hospitality." A student from Prof. Zemmol's class created a website for the event.  Check out the site here, and view the whole line-up of speakers from that day.

Students attending summit this year also had the opportunity to participate in an "Interview Fair" with employers from across the state, as well as have professional headshots taken for their LinkedIn profiles.

The event was a great learning experience for those involved in the planning of it, and was professionally beneficial to those who attended.  We look forward to Hospitality Summit becoming an annual event.

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