Innovative approaches to event management education in career development: a study of student experiences

As the tourism industry matures, so too do career opportunities in its various sectors. This paper reports on a study of graduands preparing for tourism and event management careers. A two-stage sequential research design, using survey and focus group methods respectively, explored the perceptions of a final-year professional development class at an Australian university regarding the meeting of course objectives and these objectives’ adaptability to a particular tourism sector – event management. This paper contributes to an understanding of how higher education may better prepare its students for some of the complexities and idiosyncrasies of event management careers