Excursion: Palma and the Mediterranean Sea - 2019/2020
Tourism Development Studies
This year, the TDS master course went on an excursion to Palma and the Mediterranean Sea with a AIDA cruise ship (ADIAsol).
When we arrived in Palma, Spain on the 27th of November, we directly took part in our first meeting of the excursion. Here, we had the great opportunity to visit the control tower of the airport and get an insight in how arrivals and departures are monitored, together with an incredible view from the top of the tower. After that, we have been to the Airport Management Centre and learned about the processes and challenges in this field.
On the next day we left Palma to go to Sóller with a traditional train. After a short sightseeing in the village, we arrived at one of the oldest family-owned oil mills of the islands named Can Det. Here we had the opportunity to learn more about the oil production and to taste the home-made oil and olives of the territory.
After having spent some hours at the Puerto de Sóller, we had the opportunity to talk with Viajes Kontiki, a local family-owned travel agency and a Spanish corporation partner of AIDA. The aim of the company is to offer good quality and customized services as well as to continuously adapt to the market working closely with clients and suppliers.
On the following day we went to the Congress Palace in Palma. Our guide showed us the Congress Palace with the two big main Auditoriums and the connected Hotel Melia which are both rented by Melia. After this, we took the bus to the Castell de Bellver which is located on top of a mountain to enjoy the breath-taking view over the harbour, the city and the whole island.
In our free time we explored the beautiful city of Palma and the beach in the sun and enjoyed the evenings with traditional Paella, Tapas, Sangria and Spanish rhythms. On Saturday we were finally embarking on the AIDAsol, experiencing the cruise flavour and exploring the ship. In the evening we could enjoy the christening of our neighbour vessel AIDAmira and the following firework until we sailed away from Palma.
On Sunday, our first sea day, we watched a presentation of the AIDAsol’s HR director and used the chance to ask various questions about the jobs on board. In the afternoon we had an appointment with AIDA directors and employees from different departments of the ship and enjoyed ‘speed dating’ with them. We had the chance to ask everyone questions about their work, their career, their life on board and everything else that was of interest for us.
Even though our planned excursion to Rome on Monday got cancelled due to safety reasons, we had the possibility to experience the authentic and beautiful cities near to Livorno on Monday and Tuesday. Some of us spend the day sightseeing in ancient Florence others went to Lucca or Pisa.
As happened to Rome, the stop in Marseille on Wednesday was also cancelled due to the bad weather conditions. However, we stopped in Ajaccio, a picturesque city in the northern part of Corsica. We discovered the city both by foot and by bus, arriving to the Îles Sanguinares, one of the most beautiful areas of the island.
On Thursday we had another sea day and we used our time to conduct surveys with the passengers about the interests and motivations of shore excursion customers, the customer satisfaction regarding the shore excursions and the booking behaviour and customer journey of shore excursions participants. These surveys were conducted beforehand after a kick-off meeting at AIDA in Rostock in October and with the help of our professors to get fundamental insights in the passengers’ opinions.
Our last destinations for Thursday night and Friday was Barcelona. We decided to explore the city on our own and visited the main attractions of the city such as the Sagrada Familia, the Parque Güell and La Rambla. All in all, we spent some amazing days in Palma and on the cruise on the Mediterranean Sea and got some valuable information that we could use for our case projects.
After the cruise, the surveys were analysed and evaluated with the help of SPSS. At the end of January 2020 the final presentation at AIDA Cruises in Rostock took place to present our results and to provide recommendations for possible improvement.
Ann-Christin and Henrick
1st semester master’s students TDS
Exkursionen sind ein fester Bestandteil unseres Master-Studiengangs Tourism Development Strategies. Die Philosophie dahinter ist eine stetige und nachhaltige Verzahnung von Theorie und Praxis. Aber nicht nur eine Verbesserung der Fachkompetenz und Angebote zur Förderung des Netzwerkes unserer Studierenden werden mit einer Studienreise angestrebt, ebenso ist es eine Erweiterung des eigenen Horizontes, da oftmals Begegnungen mit ganz anderen Kulturkreisen erlebt werden.
Die stetige Interaktion mit etwa 20 Studierenden über einen Zeitraum von 10 Tagen fördert die Teamfähigkeit aller Teilnehmer. Weiterhin werden kommunikative, soziale Kompetenzen und nicht zuletzt die eigene Persönlichkeit gestärkt.
Erfahren Sie hier mehr über den Master-Studiengang Tourism Development Strategies an der Hochschule Stralsund.