July 2002 - Faculty of Business and Law - Victoria University

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CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF MELBOURNE’S WEST Saying ‘Cheese’ at Melbourne’s 2002 Food and Wine Festival were School of HTM staff and guest presenters. A TASTE THAT WILL LINGER ON Cathy Velentzas and Fiona Kinniburgh – hoping tourism is set to go wild in Melbourne’s west. Two School of HTM graduates are set on turning Melbourne tourism’s eyes westward, towards an area bounded by Little River and east to the edge of Port Phillip Bay. To most people, that definition of Melbourne’s western boundaries is the first surprise presented by Wyndham Council’s Tourism Officer, Fiona Kinniburgh, and Tourism Synergy Proprietor, Cathy Velentzas. The second is their optimism for the city’s west as a tourism growth corridor, particularly for domestic tourists, many of whom perceive the west to be an industrial zone. According to Fiona, this is far from the truth:“It is a zone that boasts beautiful waterways, first-class accommodation and conferencing facilities and mega-attractions like the Werribee Open Range Zoo.” Cathy agrees, but points out that changing perceptions is a long-term process. “You cannot change image overnight. Initially, we will focus on promoting our strengths, Over time, it will click with people that the west of Melbourne is really an attractive place with a lot to offer,” she said. They said councils, like Wyndham, had an increasing and relevant role in the promotion of regional tourism, acting as facilitators and resource providers for local businesses, that may lack resources of their own to invest in broader destination marketing. This has required a substantial cultural change in many local authorities that need to make the transition from being providers of community infrastructure to drivers of regional development Fiona said forging relationships with accommodation providers, local attractions, events and visitor and promotional bureaus is a critical part of her council role. “Improving access to some of our natural attractions is one of our major challenges. Infrastructure has a big impact on tourism’s effectiveness.The completion of the Western Ring Road was an important factor in making Melbourne’s west more accessible and we have certainly benefited from that,” she said. Degrees is produced by Multimedia Creations Pty Ltd on behalf of the Publisher: School of Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing (F111), Footscray Park Campus,Victoria University, PO Box 14428, Melbourne City MC, Victoria, 8001 Editors: Jane Odgers. Ph: (03) 9688 4413 Austin Norman. Ph: (03) 9688 4472 Fax: (03) 9688 4931 Journalist: Geoff Brooks e-mail: gbrooks@medianet.com.au Graphic Design: Elizabeth Cincotta e-mail: mmcreate@medianet.com.au Ph: (03) 9486 9566. VU-hosted seminars made a splash at this year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, leaving an indelible mark on the memories of key influencers in the industry and its media. Giving festival goers food for thought is likely to become an annual feature of VU’s contribution to what is now an internationally acclaimed celebration of culinary flair. The seminars held at VU’s City Flinders Campus Convention Centre and cosponsor’s Hotel Sofitel Melbourne, put some of the city’s most famous gastronomes around the table to discuss key industry issues like ‘Should Sushi be eaten naked?’ and, critically,“Are academics on the gravy train?”. Faced with these vexed questions were seminar guests like Restaurant and Catering Association President, Dure Dura, and eminent food and wine consultant, Suzanne Halliday. The seminars were hosted by radio foodies, ABC National’s ‘Comfort Zone’ presenter, Dr Alan Saunders, and Triple R’s ‘Eat It’ host, Cameron Smith. Gastronomy researcher and author, Rosario Scarpato, said sensuality and sustainability could be a match made in VU’s PIONEERING GERMANS Fourteen German students will next month pioneer a new international agreement between VU’s School of HTM and the International University of Applied Science, Bad Honnef, Germany. The agreement allows German students studying tourism or hospitality to undertake a years study at the School of HTM as full fee paying overseas students.That year will give them credit into a VU degree. When they return to Germany and complete their qualification, those students will graduate from their four-year course with two qualifications. All students taking up the offer will complete two five-month internships, including one outside Germany. VU may extend its links with Germany through another association with the Akademie Fur Touristik, Freiburg, whose students may be able to enter VU degrees as full-paying overseas students required to complete three semesters before graduation. Pictured right are the architects of the agreement: Faculty of Business and Law’s Dean Roman Tomasic, and International Unversity of Applied Science, Director of Internaiontal Programs, Lucia Sauer. heaven when reflective eating took place. While conceding that what was sensual was not always sustainable, they said the media played a pivotal role in sustainability in food and wine tourism. Music to the ears perhaps of regular media types present at the meeting. Miranda Sharp writes for “The Age” Epicure section and said the forums were her “most lasting experiences” of the festival. She later wrote to Barry O’Mahoney of VU’s School of HTM saying the seminars were one of the most valuable inclusions in the festival. Victoria University 2 School of Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing Victoria University 3 School of Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing
Research Update EXCITING MARKET RESEARCH The latest edition of the book “Marketing Research”, of which VU Senior Lecturer, John Hall, is one of three coauthors, has won the Award for Excellence in Educational Publishing for the “Best Tertiary Standalone Adaption” announced on 20 June, 2002. Making the process as well as the outcomes of research exciting is one of the book’s objectives. John teamed up with Lynx Research, Group Director, Mike Shaw, and University of Ballarat, Head of Marketing and Tourism, Peter Oppenheim to produce the second edition of the book published by Pearson Education Australia. John Hall(left) pictured with co-authors Mike Shaw, Peter Openheim and Cath Godfrey of Pearson Education Publishing (second from right). At the launch, John Hall, said the book owed much of its content to the commercial and academic experience of the authors. “Our goal was to create a text that would excite and stimulate interest in market research. It is based on an applied as well as a managerial approach, primarily as a textbook Do the Irish have a natural affinity with brewing and running pubs, or is there another rationale for their pre-eminence in Australia’s brewing history? The answer to that is ‘yes’ on both counts according to recent research conducted by VU Lecturer, Barry O’Mahony, for his PhD thesis. “Essentially, the Irish were farmers, but were unable to get onto the land in Victoria during the squatting era,” Barry explains. “They also had a cultural affinity with pubs and the liquor trade, so diversified into this business, to the point where they were disproportionately represented in it and controlled the liquor licensing authority in the 1950s and 60s.” The Toohey’s brand is one of the most outstanding legacies of the Irish influence, still carrying the name of one of the first Irish brewers in Australia, Matthew Toohey. Barry also reveals that the lager style so predominant in today’s Australian brewing was not always the favoured drop. “It took some time for lagers to for higher education purposes. “However, I am sure many market research buyers and suppliers will also find it useful as a source of descriptions of market research methodologies and other information,” he said. The book places considerable emphasis on problem definition and an extensive discussion of the research brief. The blarney on brewing dominate. For many years, Australian brewers had a lot of trouble with yeast. Their problem was overcome in 1883 by a European chemist, Emil Christian Hansen, working at the Carlsberg brewery. His work made it possible to use exactly the same yeast to produce beer with uniform consistency. “Hansen’s thesis published in 1884 inspired two Melbourne scientists to attempt to develop yeast strains of their own. Both had considerable success. One of them, de Bavay, consulted Hansen directly and in 1888 managed to isolate a wild yeast. “The difference here was that Hansen was working with the European style lager, while de Bavay produced a standard yeast for ales that were favoured in Australia. “This yeast was shared throughout the colonies and by 1889, de Bavay’s yeast strains were the basis for all colonial beer,” Barry says. The focus of his thesis is the proposal that the Australian pub is a hybrid Irish pub. Paul Whitelaw Paul Constantinou Common Quest for professionalism Quest Apartments’ founder, Paul Constantinou, is constantly striving to improve his business and recognises the importance of professional development among employees to achieve his goals. It made sense to Paul, when his namesake,VU Lecturer, Paul Whitelaw, contacted him about participating in a study to evaluate the skills, characteristics and attributes of hospitality managers. It did not take long to reach agreement on the potential of the study for both partners. Paul Whitelaw would complete his PhD research, while Quest would benefit from the management workshops and training sessions conducted for the research. The trickle-down benefits would also flow to Quest’s individual franchisees, supervisors and managers, who would each receive a personal report, outlining potential avenues for professional and career development within the group. “The outcome of the research is yet to be finalised,” said Paul Whitelaw. However, based upon the data gathered from Quest and more than 250 other hospitality managers and employees, staff who perform well are often promoted without having the necessary skills to perform their more senior functions effectively. “It suggests that hospitality organisations may need to link promotion up the ladder with more substantial and formal personal development opportunities to ensure their best staff are able to realise their potential.” Paul Constantinou believes that in the hospitality business, it is not the business that fails, but the people who run it.Their learning experience must never stop. Paul’s never-ending Quest Paul Constantinou is the driving force behind the network of 65 Quest apartment complexes dotted throughout Australia and New Zealand. As with most business success stories Paul’s career, since graduating from VU’s predecessor Footscray Institute, was ignited by a small spark of opportunity – and the capacity to recognise it. In retrospect, the opportunity was quite obvious.While working for a small chain of motels in northern Victoria, Paul recognised that the business was not driven by tourists, but by business travellers. The rest is history. He explored the potential for developing accommodation specifically tailored to the needs of business travellers. Paul’s Quest was launched with his Royal Gardens apartments, positioned behind Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building in 1988. The group is planning for about 30 new developments in Australia, with a target of around 120 in the network by 2005. Equity and access concern for on-line teaching The rush to embrace the internet as a primary education resource medium should be tempered by concerns about equity and access for all, according to Jeffrey Kidd and Helen Madden-Hallett of the School of HTM’s Marketing Discipline Area. They recently completed a brief study of the use of computers in education, especially among marketing students. “While our surveys indicated that internet access is not a problem for a Jeffrey Kidd majority of students, universities and teachers should ensure that equipment and training are available to avoid disadvantaging students who may not have access for reasons beyond their control,” the pair said. Their conclusions were based on a survey of students using the internet at home and elsewhere and the results compared across campuses and with another university. It analysed the potential impacts on student internet access of disability, personality type, non-English speaking and indigenous backgrounds and socio-economic circumstances. Jeffrey and Helen have produced two joint papers based on their studies, one of which was presented at last year’s ANZMAC Conference. Another will be published this year for the Equity Conference being held at VU. Strategic alliances are the way of the future Strategic alliances are the leading edge of business-to-business (B2B) marketing, according to VU’s Helen Madden- Hallett, who is not only preparing a thesis on the subject, but clearly applies it to her teaching strategy. Energex State Manager, John Gawne, is studying for a Masters at VU, but Helen saw the value of a strategic partnership with John to help School of HTM students understand more about the real world of B2B marketing. Helen Madden-Hallett She recruited John as a guest lecturer to talk on the subject and specifically how Energex, a leading Victorian utilities company was leveraging alliances to win commercial business in the fast-moving, de-regulated energy market. “Most people do not realise that B2B marketing is five times the size of the consumer marketing business and it has become extremely sophisticated.” “It is clear that sales people are becoming more like consultants in this sphere.They are researching potential customers, and pitching specifically tailored solutions to their needs,” Helen said She said companies were constantly re-evaluating their own strengths and weaknesses and forming alliances that leverage their strengths and fill gaps where they might be deficient. “Forming strategic alliances is also fraught with danger. It is very easy with alliances for companies to become selfish and maximise their individual shares of the total business. “Companies must be sure to undertake proper due diligence, including evaluation of intangible elements like different company cultures,” she said. Victoria University 4 School of Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing Victoria University 5 School of Hospitality,Tourism & Marketing
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July 2002 - Faculty of Business and Law - Victoria University

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