G'day all, hope you are having a fine day wherever you are. Here on the Gold Coast the weather has been atrocious enough to remind me of the winter in Geneva - minus the heating and the warm fireplaces!

Geneva, yes, in the French part of Switzerland. Switzerland, a country renowned for its hospitality and tourism, and of course hospitality schools! I did not mention tourism schools as there are not many. Or, there WERE not many a few years back. I actually came to Australia to do my Masters in Tourism Management here on the Gold Coast at Griffith University as such a postgraduate degree was not on offer in my home country. The closest thing was a diploma in travel and tourism. Thank god this seems to now have changed!

"Great course by the way, trust me, I researched before I made up my mind. If you want to check out the Griffith University department of tourism, Leisure, Hotel and Sport management it is here. Not only has this degree given me a thorough knowledge of tourism marketing but the relationships I developed with the academics also landed me a job at Gold Coast Tourism, free PR and a seat on many committees..."

Anyway, I just wanted to write a post to remind us all that universities are great resources that often get forgotten about or put in the box of "they are just academics - we don't need theory!). Here on the Gold Coast we have 2 universities that offer an extensive curriculum in tourism and hospitality management. Brisbane universities also offer fabulous tourism curriculums.

"I am also currently working with the University of Queensland, Victoria University and the University of South Australian on developing a toolkit to help Small and Medium Tourism Businesses understand and implement Information and Communication Technologies into their business. So keep posted for the updates on this!"

Universities do not only educate students but also conduct research, and let me tell you that in the case of Tourism, this research is extremely relevant. What is lacking is a bridge between the great findings of academics (that get published in "journals" that are destined to other academics and not the general public) and how they can be implemented in your business. What is the solution? A simple contact! Trust me, academics love to speak to us in the corporate world, and are delighted to use us as guinea pigs for their research. Is your tourism region in need of a tourism spend study? Why don't you just pick up the phone and contact the tourism school at your closest university?