PMP class visits Granville Island

The Famous Granville Bridge

The PreMasters Program students visited Granville Island for a field study tour. The students arrived at about two thirty in the afternoon after their morning class in the SFU Burnaby campus. I was there waiting for them since one thirty and due to some unforeseen incident earlier that caused some road closure, the PMP students were held up by the temporary traffic congestion. And somehow there were also a lot more people than usual on Granville Island for a Thursday afternoon. May be a cruise ship on the way to Alaska has just berthed for a temporary stop.

PMP Students in Granville Island

Anyway, I thought the crowd were mostly tourists and exchanged students from all over the world. I gave the PMP students some instructions and shared with them the significance of the case study. After about five minutes with them, I allow them to be on their way with their team mates to conduct the research and collect information. This was the first visit for some of the PMP students and an opportunity to learn about the tourism industry in British Columbia and Vancouver in general. This is also their fourth field study assignment before the semester ends in the middle of August.

Boat Docks on Granville Island

The students' assignment were fairly simple. The PMP students were supposed to practice their interview and communication skills, do their one minute pitches (whenever possible) which they have practiced in their communication class. Then, look at the surrounding businesses in general and the tourism industry as a whole from different view points, namely policy makers, business owners and the consumer. They must think in a critical manner and evaluate every possible scenario on the opportunities and future development of this tourism industry. They must also assumed the role of a tourism consultant and start with a clear objective.