UCB team's hotel market study bags third place at new Institute of Hospitality competition

A team of hospitality students from University College Birmingham have been celebrating after seeing off rivals from around the world to scoop honours in a new industry competition.

Five final year students on degree courses at UCB's College of Food and Hospitality Management travelled to London in November for the first-ever Europe Student Market Study Competition organised by the Institute of Hospitality and hospitality data provider STR.

The team battled with students from institutions across the globe to secure third place in the contest, which revolved around conducting research and analysis on the hotel industry within particular cities and markets.

Having chosen to focus on Birmingham, the students had to use data and reports supplied by STR to prepare a detailed 30 minute presentation about the local hotel market, analysing its unique characteristics, trends in supply and demand, submarkets and future developments, as well as comparing the city to other locations.

The students then joined rival teams from the UK, Europe, the Philippines, Australia and the USA for the competition at the University of West London, where they delivered their presentation to a panel of judges from hotel companies, tourism organisations and other industry firms.

And despite having only two weeks to prepare for the event, the team impressed the panel to clinch third place in the contest.

UCB lecturer Daniel Evans, who served as the team's faculty adviser for the contest, praised the team on their achievement.

"The presentation was amazing," said Daniel. "The work the students produced was of the highest calibre and the amount of time they allocated to this project over a two-week period was simply unbelievable.

"All of the students are in their final year and the market study was created in their own time in addition to lectures and study commitments.

"The standard of the presentations at the competition was extremely high, and the results for the final three were determined by the finest of margins."

The team was made up of BA Hospitality Business Management students Julie Hlavacova, Jan Sobek and Michaela Cvickova, along with Hannah Carsted (BA Hospitality and Tourism Management) and Pak Ngai Ho (BA Hospitality with Events Management).

In the weeks before the competition, the group had performed a rehearsal of their presentation at UCB with valuable feedback from staff. The team also received professional insight from Lee Goodman, General Manager of Birmingham's Hotel Indigo at The Cube.

As part of their preparations, the team also had to complete a Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics (CHIA), a recognised industry qualification which provided them with the foundations in hotel analytics to help them understand and interpret the research data.

And this week saw the five students gather at the University’s McIntyre House to receive their certificates in recognition of their achievement at the contest.

It is not the first competition success for UCB's hospitality students this year. Three teams from the University bagged three trophies at the Institute of Hospitality's Passion 4 Hospitality event in London back in April.

UCB is a highly-respected provider of specialist degrees for the hospitality industry, with many of our courses accredited by the Institute of Hospitality.

Find out more about the range of courses at our College of Food and Hospitality Management here, and follow the latest updates from the school on Twitter @ucbfoodcourses.