Team Turistica Competes Alongside Europe’s Top Tourism Schools

In November, our team of undergraduate and postgraduate students participated in the prestigious 2024 STR & ICHRIE EMEA Student Market Study Competition. They impressed with their mature and professional analysis of historical and current trends in the world-renowned tourist destination of Venice.

The team consisted of Matic Gale, Maša Bogojević, Nika Jerković, Fiona Colugnati, and team leader Jakob Mlakar. They were mentored by Dr. Metod Šuligoj and Mag. Miha Bratec. Preparation for the competition lasted nearly five months and included regular Zoom meetings, often held from different parts of Europe. Our second-year student, Anja Janežič, also participated in the preparation process, monitoring the team’s work and preparing for her future participation in the competition. In this way, we continue the successful story we have been writing at international competitions.

During the process, our students mastered skills comparable to the analytical standards of international consulting firms and destination development agencies. They gained valuable competencies increasingly sought after in the tourism industry. Their work involved in-depth analysis of extensive data on occupancy rates, pricing, revenues, statistics of comparable destinations, and other indicators. The competition’s outcome was a presentation of strategic directions and proposals for potential investors in the hotel sector. As the only competing team, they used artificial intelligence tools to forecast three different scenarios for the development of Venice’s accommodation sector over the next five years, significantly enhancing the value of their solutions.

With their excellent performance, our students confidently stood alongside major European universities offering tourism education programs, such as Lausanne’s EHL, CETT from Barcelona, and Manchester Metropolitan University. Additionally, they gained valuable insight into the intricacies of hotel and destination analytics, providing them with practical experience that will benefit their further studies and career paths.

After securing third place in the Eastern European version of the same competition two years ago, we participated this year for the first time in a competition uniting teams from across Europe and the Middle East. With projects like these, we at Turistica prove that we can be international creators of knowledge and talent when stepping out of our comfort zone.