Jennifer, Tourism & Event Management (BA)

Congratulations on the successful completion of your Bachelor’s thesis. Please tell us briefly what your thesis was about and why you chose this topic.

The topic of my Bachelor’s thesis was ‘From Wine Product to Event Experience – Measuring the Quality of Experience at Saxon Wine Tourism Events Using the KANO Model’. I investigated which experience factors at wine events are crucial for guest satisfaction and which factors are required to increase satisfaction or generate particular enthusiasm.
I chose this topic because I’d already had various encounters with the subject of wine tourism during my degree. As I found the field very fascinating, I wanted to explore it in greater depth as part of my Bachelor’s thesis and delve further into the subject.

What are your career plans after graduation? Which aspect of your future job excites you the most?

At the moment, I don’t have any concrete plans yet for what comes next after my studies. However, I’m currently looking for a job quite intensively and already have one or two interesting opportunities on the horizon. I’m focusing my search mainly on Hamburg, as I’d like to move a bit closer to home again.
Professionally, I definitely want to stay in event management and can particularly well imagine working in the field of business events and trade fairs. What I love most about event management is the variety. No two projects or events are the same, and you get to deal with a wide range of people and tasks. I particularly like the combination of organisation and creativity, and I enjoy working as part of a team to put something together that actually takes place and comes to life.

In fact, this is pretty much exactly what I had in mind when I started my degree. I realised quite early on that I’d like to work in the trade fair and business events sector later on, and it was with this aspiration in mind that I embarked on my degree. Through the various modules and insights I gained during my degree, but above all through my work placement, this aspiration was reaffirmed for me. It gave me a much better idea of what working in this sector actually involves, and I realised that this is exactly what I can envisage for my long-term career.

What were your expectations of the degree programme, and were they met?

Above all, I hoped that my degree would provide me with a solid technical foundation for my future career whilst also giving me as much practical insight as possible. It was important to me not only to acquire theoretical knowledge, but also to understand how this would actually be applied in day-to-day working life.
I therefore found the strong practical focus during my degree particularly valuable. Through various projects, field trips and the lecturers’ real-world experience, we were able to gain many realistic insights and link what we’d learnt directly to concrete examples. As a result, I feel that I’ve gained a solid foundation – both academically and practically – for starting my career.

In your opinion, what qualities should someone have to study this subject?

I think that, above all, you should be open-minded, enjoy communicating with others and have a talent for organisation if you’re going to study tourism and event management. You work a lot with other people and develop ideas and projects together, which is why the ability to work in a team definitely plays an important role. At the same time, you should enjoy thinking creatively, planning things and, from time to time, taking the initiative yourself.

What was the most valuable experience from your time as a student?

For me, the most valuable experience during my studies was undoubtedly my semester abroad in Buenos Aires. Living and studying in another country for several months, getting to know a new culture and meeting people from all sorts of different countries was an incredible experience. Personally, in particular, I gained a great deal from that time. Being on my own in a completely new environment, establishing a daily routine there and constantly being confronted with new situations made me more independent and open-minded. At the same time, I had many special experiences, made lasting memories and formed lasting friendships during this time. That’s why my semester abroad is definitely an experience I’ll always associate with my studies and one I wouldn’t have wanted to miss.

What did you enjoy most – which moments have stayed with you?

What I enjoyed most during my studies were, above all, the many different excursions and practical projects . I particularly remember the excursion to Radebeul with Ms Laatsch. There, amongst other things, we explored the topics of wine and wine tourism. The topic stayed with me afterwards and ultimately played a part in my decision to explore wine tourism in more depth in my Bachelor’s thesis.
But the club tour of Dresden with Anika also left a lasting impression on me. Not only was it great fun, but it also gave us the chance to discover different venues and gain a behind-the-scenes insight. It was precisely these kinds of practical experiences that made my degree course particularly varied and are definitely among the things I look back on with fondness.