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By Mink Sasiwan, on January 31st, 2012
 Sasiwan "Mink" Kludkesa Born in a small town of Thailand and bound with the belief that girls should not study much, I was never confident of myself. After completing a Bachelor degree in Economics in Thailand, I realized that I wanted to work in the field of tourism. After one year, I moved to Bhutan, a small landlocked kingdom between India and China with pristine nature and unique culture. Coming from a business-oriented family combining with my interest in tourism, I saw an opportunity to bridge Thailand and Bhutan. I opened the first travel agent that organized tours to Bhutan specifically for Thai tourists and it became a big success. A few years later I started the first Thai restaurant and it has been recommended in the Lonely Planet Book of Bhutan. The keys to success were combinations of right timing, hard work and good luck.
However, I knew that something was lacking, the real knowledge. As a result, I decided to further my study in this field and here I am in the Netherlands pursuing a Master in Tourism Destination Management at NHTV. The main reason that I chose this particular program was its practicality with three-month field trip in three different destinations. This program is specially designed for an international classroom with students from all over the world and from different backgrounds. The class dynamic allows the students to learn from each other’s experience and build the networks.
The NHTV’s teaching method differs greatly from the Thai way. In Thailand interaction with teachers during class were not encouraged and asking questions was regarded as a sign of weakness. This special teaching method helps me to break through and speak up without any fear of embarrassment. I have also learnt not to believe everything I hear or see but to question and analyze it first. As a result, my critical thinking has been developed. Furthermore, the program has changed my perspectives as it abolished my belief that Westerners were superior and I start to feel confident and competent. This program has undoubtedly helped me discover my full potential and I know that after completing my Master degree, the sky is my limit!
By Laura van Meer, on January 19th, 2012
 Laura van Meer My name is Laura van Meer and I finished TDM by the end of 2010. I have been working for over a year now and would not have thought to enjoy it so much after some great student years. I always wondered where this master would take me professionally and what extra value it would bring. Now that I have found a job, I know that this master was the experience I needed to get there. My job is titled as ‘destination specialist’, which means that I advise clients on specific destinations they would like to travel to. All Over Tours, the tour operator where I’m employed, specializes in exclusive, tailor made travels to East and South Africa and the Pacific, which also include destinations I visited during the field research of TDM. It’s a small company, which means I get big responsibilities and therefore build great experience. The best part about the job is to get to know the destinations, study them, create routes and most of all of course; visit them! I’m going to South Africa in two weeks to experience the accommodations and environment that clients would be in on their travels, in order to sell the destinations more successfully (no need to disagree!). Next to this I learned and practiced many skills, such as being helpful to people (top priority), commercial thinking (financial aspect), advising clients face to face in their itinerary, thinking ‘out of the box’ and creatively organizing travels, etcetera. Subjects during TDM are very relevant in my day to day work, such as marketing, finance, management, but also sustainable tourism. We work with many lodges that pay attention to this matter and think of tourism in the long run, also we only work with small scale accommodations and private game reserves that limit damage to the environment and pay back to the community. The thing that attracts me the most in my job is the variety, not one day is the same as all travels are tailor made and I handle the process from beginning to end, from the itinerary request and the correspondence with agents up until the invoices and preparing the clients’ travel documents in detail. My bachelor would not have been sufficient to apply for this job and I am grateful that I chose to follow this master, as it has opened doors to great opportunities.
Next to my job I am also active in the city marketing area, as I wrote my thesis on this subject and it still interests me very much. I got a request from my thesis coach to present at the International Place Branding conference, and my answer was of course “yes!”. I have written an academic article that summarizes my thesis and am about to present this coming Saturday at the conference, all very exciting! Especially as many people from the city marketing field will be present. The articles for the blog written during TDM have definitely added to my experience in taking on this great opportunity.
Tourism is a great sector to work in and I wish you all the best of luck in finding your passion!
By Frank Murangwa, on January 12th, 2012
Frank Murangwa is a NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management alumnus and in this blogpost he shares what the program has contributed to his career.
It had always been my dream to advance my career in the tourism field. Having completed my bachelors in tourism management in 2006 and having worked in the tourism industry in Rwanda for four years my mind was pushing me to move forward in the tourism field.
The idea of joining NHTV was then born in 2009 when I was browsing through the internet searching for a master’s course in tourism management. It was in October 2009 when I landed on the course “Masters in Tourism Destination Management (TDM) at NHTV Breda”. My first impression on the course was a great one. I envisioned that, TDM course entailed what I needed as a person who wanted to advance my career in the tourism field but also suited what my government of Rwanda required as a country that is building its Tourism Industry and eventually this visualization became true!
Subsequent, I enrolled for the Masters courseTourism Destination Management at NHTV-Breda in 2010-2011 and the voyage of the course was a memorable one!! Firstly, here we were 31 students from 16 countries across the globe- it was indeed an international course! Different cultures and different backgrounds making it the best place to meet and experience other people’s culture.
The TDM course experience is still vivid in my mind from the theory part conducted at NHTV, Breda by the skillful lectures to the unforgettable journey of the second phase of the program that takes you to three destinations in South Asia Pacific, Australia- Melbourne to Cambodia, and Bali in Indonesia for the field research- the practical exposure! Indeed the combination of both theory part and the field research equips the students with the technical knowhow which is vital for today’s competitive market and finally the third phase which involves thesis writing is a rewarding one.
Although the course was a bit challenging especially in the second phase due to different reasons, I honestly find the course very beneficial. Having settled back home in Rwanda and currently working as a Senior Officer in charge of Accommodation and Catering in the Tourism Department at Rwanda Development Board. After a 15 Months of TDM experience, I feel I have gained a wealth of knowledge and skills which will contribute to the development of the tourism sector in my country and I would therefore recommend all those people aspiring to advance their career in the tourism field to undertake the course at NHTV Breda!
Folks, TDM is the way to go, you will not regret it and you will never forget the experience!!
 TDM 2010-2011 at Four Seasons in Bali
By Bernd-Niklas Bierbaum, on December 22nd, 2011
 Literature review This literature review is written by Bernd-Niklas Bierbaum as part of his NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.
In their paper, Hesket et al. (1994) introduce the concept of the service profit chain. “The S-PC postulates that operations contribute to the profits of a service firm via the following chain of logical deduction (Yee et al. 2009, p.617):”
- Profitability and growth are primarily stimulated by customer loyalty.
- Loyalty is influenced by customer satisfaction.
- Satisfaction is influenced by the service values provided.
- Value is created by loyal productive and satisfied employees.
- Employee satisfaction results from support services and policies that enable employees to deliver high quality services. (Heskett et al. 1994)
This paper will focus on the question whether it is enough for a company to simply „satisfy“ their customers in order to achieve loyalty and finally profitability. In the following, the question will be raised and discussed whether there might be more to the concept of profitability than simply being able to satisfy a customer. Therefore, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, the relationship between loyalty and profitability and finally the importance of the “moment of truth” and the service encounter will be evaluated and highlighted from different standpoints.
Continue reading Customer satisfaction – a big step towards company profitability?
By Giancarlo L.S. Fedeli, on November 28th, 2011
 Giancarlo Fedeli The plan was set up from the beginning: after the field trip to the three destinations, Melbourne, Cambodia and Bali, I would have headed back down under to delve into this country that fascinated me since childhood. My intention was combining the duty and challenge of undertaking my own research thesis, with the delight and excitement to be able to live in Australia, a land as distant as hankered by many. Thus, I packed my stuff once more, invigorated by an extended stay in Bali yet after strenuously weathering the tempting decoying of the small Indonesian gem’s character.. I eventually made it!
“There is nothing like Australia” the slogan launched by Tourism Australia claims and to be frank … I have to admit that nothing is more appropriate than this motto! The lure of Australia lies in the stunning assortment of natural attractions of this country; iconic spots such as the hallowed Aboriginal monolith rock Uluru in the red central Outback of Australia, the Great barrier reef and its coral beach islands, the northern rain forests, the wine regions of NSW and Victoria, the one of a kind wildlife make the country a unique miscellany of attractions, along with the ancient 60.000 year-old native settlements and the more recent European ones, nowadays grown into the so called Big Smokes (Aussie lingo for cities as Sydney and Melbourne). What more I was struck with, has been the meticulous organization and tidiness of the places I visited during the first month of my stay; the attention to detail, the quality of services and infrastructures is flawless and the support provide to visitors are noteworthy. Even the placid koalas seem to be trained for tourists, kangaroos and wallabies created by a deity of tourism who knew how to contribute to the exceptionality of the country. Australia’s structured and functional tourism structure that includes a variety of state, territorial and regional organizations, along with associations, councils and tourism research centers, all under control of the government agency, is the clear sign of an important sector for the country’s economy.
Thus, after a short appearance back in the chilly Melbourne, as a migratory bird or the most skilled backpacker, I flew to Brisbane to meet with some of my Banana benders friends (an extravagant term to call a person from Queensland – as far as I know, not offensive), and got over the pleasant resorts of Surfers’ Paradise, Byron Bay, Noosa and the Sunshine Coast to eventually end up in Sydney and literally be infatuated with it. It must be the cosmopolitan, lively and cultural personality of this hectic business city combined with the outdoorsy character of it, due a mild climate for the most part of the year… stunning beaches just 20 minutes away from the city, a vivacious night life and events running all year round are a motive to keep habitants entertained and attract visitors 365 days a year; in fact a progression of sport multicultural, art and lifestyle events show how dynamic and active the city management operates. This fervent tourism buzz certainly attracts travelers and provide them with a wide range of options and pull factors, stimulating them to visit Sydney and the rest of Australia.
In the last decades the relationship between China and Australia has grown stronger, due to economic reasons. China has experienced the fastest and most astonishing economy growth along with the outbound wave of tourists who are increasingly travelling outside the country, with higher income at their disposal. From destinations’ point of view, China has become an important source market for Australia, replacing markets like Japan as primary inbound markets. Estimates are bright for the tourism industry and see China exponentially growing in the next 20-25 years – warding off any sort of crisis. The actuality of the subject along with the tourism potential that the Chinese outbound market represents caught my attention; thus, the focus of my thesis research looks at the segment of Mainland Chinese leisure tourists who, specifically are characterized by an affluent travelling behavior in Sydney, as a destination.
Although language and cultural barriers may represent an obstacle to the research, my interest and motivation have gone beyond those; a smile to break the ice among the approached tourists’ distrust and doubt, and gadget as mark of gratitude have resulted to be a winning strategy. Last but not least, I must mention Ri, my Chinese friend, and his precious support during the interview sessions. Ri (whose Chinese meaning is very intelligent) just warned me: “Mate, I will give you a hand only if when you are asked by someone about noodles…you tell them that you Italians stole them from us!”. I had no choice, caught in the middle, with deep regret, I had to take him up on that. I could experience on my skin, the great power of China.
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