IUBH PROJECT #RETHINKING TOURISM WINS GERMAN TOURISM AWARD

Erfurt, 14 December 2020 - IUBH International University's project “#Rethinking Tourism ” has achieved 3rd place at the German Tourism Award. More than 200 IU students and professors convinced the jury with their approach to use the COVID crisis as an opportunity to present creative and fresh project ideas by means of their own blog and promote networking within the tourism industry. The winners among the 158 participants in the competition were honoured on Monday at the digital award ceremony of the German Tourism Association.

Under the tagline "#Rethinking Tourism", dual students and educators at the university worked together with practice partners to develop new approaches to solutions for tourism businesses during the COVID crisis. The blog that has emerged since spring made an impression on tourism experts and journalists.

"The jury was impressed by the new approach to tourism education. With #Rethinking Tourism, young tourism professionals take the helm. The results are practical, innovative and inspiring for many different areas," DTV Managing Director Norbert Kunz explains the decision.

"I am very pleased that with IUBH, for the first time ever, a university has received an award at the German Tourism Award," says Prof. Dr. Peter Thuy, Rector of IUBH. "The award for the IUBH project confirms that this is an innovative offer with which professors as well as students make an active contribution to issues relevant to the tourism industry."

This year, the focus of the competition is on projects, products and measures to ensure the future of German tourism in times of the COVID crisis. "The tourism industry is looking for new approaches to emerge stronger from the difficult year of 2020. Receiving the German Tourism Award is equivalent to a knighthood, since it confirms our path of showing new models for the tourism industry and the next generation," the two project leaders Prof. Dr. Peter Neumann and Prof. Dr. Felix Wölfle are proud to say.

#Rethinking Tourism enables discussing solutions out of the COVID Crisis

Networking is very important in the #Rethinking Tourism project. Thus, with the help of the large number of individual projects, the project covers the entire range of the tourism industry. Texts and multimedia blog contributions inspire the desire for creativity and innovation in tourism. Tourism professionals from all sectors and of all company sizes are invited to follow suit. The students' ideas and solutions will be presented to tourism professionals on the public blog www.umdenken-im-tourismus.de  as well as on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify. Last but not least, the project also serves a practice-oriented tourism education by teaching young professionals to act courageously and creatively in times of crisis.

Project management and information:

Prof. Dr. Peter Neumann (p.neumann@iubh-dualesstudium.de)
Prof. Dr. Felix Wölfle (f.woelfle@iubh-dualesstudium.de)
www.umdenken-im-tourismus.de/