MA students from Sant Pol de Mar’s University School of Hospitality Management (EUHTStPol) visited IGCAT’s offices on 7 May 2015. The students, from the Event Planning and Management course led by Diane Dodd, were given presentations by IGCAT’s staff, including Annika Rösch and Francesca Orlandini on their research on ‘Living-It Tourism’, particularly on the role of events in food tourism.
The students were first asked to brainstorm on their perception of ‘Living It’ food tourism, then were given a brief explanation of the concept, which looks at how there is a new type of ‘resident /visitor’, who lives in a destination for an extended period of time. The presentation looked at the implication of this new tourist, in terms of accommodation offers, such as AirBnb, as well as economical and societal impacts on the local population. More specifically, the presentation focused on the type of events that these visitors/tourists take part in, such as culinary classes and creative experiences.
Annika Rösch and Francesca Orlandini have been developing the idea of ‘Living It’ tourism with Diane Dodd over the past few months, which will be the topic of a future IGCAT publication.