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Beyond the desire to provide professional and innovative programs, the School has a dedicated sense of social responsibility and is quickly establishing itself as a beacon of best practice in the industry. Demonstrating a commitment to excellence throughout the sector, in 2005 the School awarded developmental scholarships to both the WTO and the Australian Hotels Association.
Research Programs and Innovation
As one of Australia's oldest tourism and hospitality research institutions with accomplished research staff hailing from across five continents, the School has positioned itself as an international leader in research and development. The School has a unique and varied portfolio of research accomplishments since the early 1970s, extending from a national assessment of Safari Hunting of Australian Exotic Wild Game; to the current research project into the development of environmental learning methods for children, supported by the Australian Research Centre(ARC).
The School's four principal research areas are Behaviour and Visitor Experiences; Sustainable Tourism Destinations; Tourism Workforce Development; and Sustainable Events and Leisure Lifestyles. Sustainable Tourism Destinations is a key area of interest for the School, some areas of research currently being undertaken is the Surfers Paradise Image Management research project. This project is the first of its kind for the region, and aims to address issues surrounding the image of Surfers Paradise through the analysis of the local movements and perceptions of incoming visitors; Visitor Learning in eco- and wildlife tourism experience with whale watching companies at the Mon Repos Conservation Park and Giant Panda Breeding at the Chengdu Research Base in China.
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