iQQTV

Travel and Tourism Hold International Village Festival 2024

Travel and Tourism Level 3 students staged their International Village Festival 2024 at Hammersmith & Fulham College yesterday. The varied and diverse exhibition saw student teams create six interactive stands containing displays, artefacts, food, games, quizzes and brochures to represent continents, countries and regions across the globe. Many students dressed in traditional national garments and encouraged other students to visit their stands to sell goods, and tell them about trips they could enjoy in the countries they were promoting.

Stands were judged on a variety of criteria to recognise the work that had gone into them and students were presented with certificates. The ‘Middle East’ won the award for Best Overall Stand, ‘South America’ achieved second place, ‘Africa’ and ‘Southern Europe’ achieved third place, and ‘Asia’ achieved fourth place. iQQTV was delighted to host a group of French students at the International Village Festival, who are studying and working in hospitality at IFA Bourges, an institution in central France offering apprenticeships. The students offered free crepes at their stand and circulated throughout the Festival giving away syrup-flavoured drinks.

A notable annual event in the college’s calendar, the many lands represented at the festival included Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, South America and Southern Europe.

On the South America stand visitors could try foods, listen to music from South American countries and buy geodes –  balls of rock cracked open by the stall holders to reveal the coloured crystals inside.  

Alieu Morey explained: “Through our units we’ve learned about conferences and events and in this event that we are doing here we are  replicating here what we’ve seen in other industries such as the World Travel Market exhibition and how they’ve done things, and we’ve taken heavy inspiration from the brochures, booklets and pamphlets.”

On the Africa stand, Faith Thair-Al-Saidy said: “Events like the International Village are very active and allow us to become fully immersed in Travel and Tourism.”

Students on the Pacific Islands stand agreed that the International Village Event was the best thing they have done in their course so far. Aaliyah Kelly said: “This is highly interactive and part of our coursework which makes it enjoyable.” Her teammate Ruby said: “It teaches us how to prepare for an event and how stressful it can be too.”

On the Asia stand Karen Joy Sambilad said: “Events like this bring students to work together and collaborate, and basically have fun, which I do really enjoy about this course.”

Each stand was assessed by a panel of judges and visitors to the exhibition could vote for their favourites too. Feedback from students highlighted the educational value and enjoyment derived from participating in the event. They emphasised the interactive nature of the festival, which allowed them to apply coursework concepts in a practical setting and learn valuable event management skills.

Overall, the International Village Festival exemplified the spirit of collaboration, cultural exchange, and celebration of diversity, making it a memorable and enriching experience for all involved.

Peter Smith, Travel and Tourism Lecturer said: “The underpinning ethos of the International Village Festival is all about celebrating global diversity, which is especially well suited to iQQTV as our students are very diverse and come from, or are linked to, many countries around the world.”