Sustainable tourism refers to tourism activities that takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities. The School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events (SHTE) organized a virtual Tourism Speaker Series for Tourism students on ‘Leisure and Destination Analysis Towards Sustainable Tourism’. This guest lecture session was conducted as part of the teaching and learning activity for students to explore how leisure and destination analysis supports sustainable tourism development.
Around 350 students from the Bachelor of International Tourism Management as well as students from other programmes joined this 2-hours session conducted by Prof. Dr. Sridar Ramachandran from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). His lecture session covered several vital components such as pillars of sustainability, marketing strategies and theories related to sustainability and future of tourism.
His research on Semporna Island has been used as an example throughout the session to ensure the students understand the concept clearly. His interactive teaching method continuously attracted the students and encouraged them to participate in the lecture session actively. Besides attending lectures and tutorials, the students were given an opportunity to explore the knowledge from the expertise. The lecture series was a very insightful session for the students.