News

Senior lecturers Heli Tooman (PhD) and Melanie Smith (PhD) of the University of Tartu Pärnu College attended an international ATLAS conference Tourism, Travel and Leisure – Sources of Wellbeing, Happiness and Quality of Life in Budapest 22 –25 October 2014. Heli Tooman and Melanie Smith made a presentation „Towards a Baltic Health Tourism Cluster.“

Senior lecturers Heli Tooman (PhD) and Melanie Smith (PhD) of the University of Tartu Pärnu College attended an international ATLAS conference Tourism, Travel and Leisure – Sources of Wellbeing, Happiness and Quality of Life in Budapest 22 –25 October 2014. Heli Tooman and Melanie Smith made a presentation „Towards a Baltic Health Tourism Cluster.“

Garage48 is a series of international startup-bootcamp events where the hosts in Pärnu are looking for various skill-sets and roles:

Journalists from Egypt visited the University of Tartu Pärnu College on September 26, 2014, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Baltic Film and Media School. The aim of the visit was to explore the partnerships between Pärnu College and Egyptian institutions, and the contribution of Pärnu College when developing Estonia as a tourism destination.

Last week of August the Department of Tourism Studies of the University of Tartu Pärnu College hosted the representatives of the Tourism department of Laurea University of Applied Sciences, the representative of Vidzeme Planning Region, and the manager and project manager of East-Finland University Centre of Tourism Studies. The meetings focused on common tourism projects with regional partners, including Pärnu City Government and Foundation Pärnumaa Turism.

From June 8th-12th, 2014, the research symposium IRSSM5 was held at the University of Tartu, Pärnu College. This was the first IRSSM conference held in Europe. IRSSM (International Research Symposium on Service Management) is the event initiated by Professor Jay Kandampully (Ohio State University) with the intention to popularize the domain of service management.

From June 8th-12th, 2014, the research symposium IRSSM5 was held at the University of Tartu, Pärnu College. This was the first IRSSM conference held in Europe. IRSSM (International Research Symposium on Service Management) is the event initiated by Professor Jay Kandampully (Ohio State University) with the intention to popularize the domain of service management.

The graduation ceremony of UT Pärnu College is held at 16:00, June 20, in Pärnu Concert Hall. There are 130 graduates, with the 2000th graduate among them. 9 students finish their studies cum laude. The diploma of applied higher education will be awarded to 101 and the Bachelor's degree to 8 students. The Master's degree will be awarded in Service Design and Management to 6 and Wellness and Spa Service Design and Management to 15 students.

From May 11 – 15th Pärnu College hosted a group of 45 students from Lund University, our long-standing Erasmus partner. This study visit focused on the subject „Tourism and Destination Marketing“ introducing to the students the history of Pärnu, and discussing marketing and development issues of Pärnu. As school assignments the students had to carry out case studies which included visits to Tervis Medical Spa Hotel and Spa Hotel Viiking; and interviews with the tourism entrepreneurs and the specialists from the Foundation Pärnumaa Tourism and Pärnu City Government.

On April 22nd, 2014 Pärnu College hosted a mindfulness workshop led by Douglas Andrew Tooth http://www.douglasandrewmindfulness.com/About.php, who has been practicing meditation for 17 years and teaching for 8 years in various settings, including corporate environments as a Business Communications Consultant. His business Douglas Andrew Mindfulness brings mindfulness practice into the workplace. Originally from the US, his roots are from New Jersey though he has been living in Helsinki for 7 years.

From May 5th-14th, 2014, the international program "EMSWA - Employees on a Move, Social Work in Action" was held at the University of Tartu, Pärnu College. The crash program hosted students and lecturers from eight universities to discuss current migration issues in Europe such as emigration.

The Tourism Department is participating in the international two-year project (CUBITUS) which aims to develop the skills of academic staff to offer consultations to enterprises in the tourism and senior-tourism sectors. The project involves participants from the universities, business enterprises and consultation firms from eight countries (Germany, Austria, Italy, Estonia, Portugal, Romania, Turkey and the UK).

From May 11-24th Pärnu College will host the international Nord+ crash course „Invisible citizens and the future of recreational peripheries” 5117336 Local Mobilization and Community Development in Rural-Urban Context (6 ECTS).

From May 11-24th Pärnu College will host the international Nord+ crash course „Invisible citizens and the future of recreational peripheries” 5117336 Local Mobilization and Community Development in Rural-Urban Context (6 ECTS).

From 31 March to 4 April Pärnu College hosted international BA students of the Hospitality, Tourism and Experience Management programme from Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki.

Dr Arvi Kuura, Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Project Management of UT Pärnu College visited Pskov State University from 12th to 15th March, 2014. He conducted seminars for students and teaching staff on academic publishing and delivered a lecture on social enterprise.

The project meeting of CLICK-L (Clever Links Increase Competence and Knowledge) took place at the University of Tartu Pärnu College from February 13-15th. It is a European project financed by Leonardo sub-program of Archimedes and encompasses the representatives of different adult education institutions in Lithuania, Poland, Germany, the UK, Italy and Estonia. CLICK-L is focusing on promoting the possibilities of blended language learning to immigrants and dropouts. The aim of the project is to improve learning opportunities of the target groups in the labour market.

Students of the Wellness and Spa Service Design and Management Master’s programme of Pärnu College, presented outcomes of research commissioned by the Estonian Tourist Board of Enterprise Estonia. The research was supervised by Dr László Puczkó, Associate Professor of Tourism Marketing. The research examined the necessity for, and the readiness of Estonian spas to apply for the international quality certificates initiated by the European Spas Association. There are two categories of EuropeSpa quality certificate – EuropeSpa med and EuropeSpa wellness.

We are more than happy to welcome Monir El Shazly, a photographer, trainer and life coach from Egypt this week. Monir is giving lectures to our International students and we were lucky enough he found some time to educate us all on some topics.

17.-22.09 representatives of Taurida University (Ukraine), Caucasus University (Georgia) and tourism industry from Ukraine and Georgia will be visiting Pärnu to learn about tourism development in Estonia. The goal is to introduce good practices in tourism through service desing and marketing, networking and international entrepreneurship in Pärnu region. During their visit our guests will also share their experiences through the presentations about their countries’ tourism development and potential.