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Tourism Students Set Sail, Make Waves in Paradise
Sailing on a 60-foot catamaran in the Sea of Abaco, Bahamas, in mid-May sounds like a majestic way to earn college credit.
It is.
But make no mistake, it isn't easy. It's a challenge, both physically and academically, for the dozen or so Radford University students who sign up for the journey.
Each Maymester, Assistant Professor of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Josh Carroll and a small group of students make their way to the Bahamas — where if the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility — for a week to learn about coral reef management, beach use and island tourism, as well as marine and charter boat tourism trends.
“The boat becomes our living, learning classroom,” Carroll said.
Out at sea, the group visits both populated and remote islands to examine local fish, reefs, beaches, historical attractions and “their interrelationships with local livelihoods,” said Carroll, who has been leading the excursion since he joined the recreation, parks and tourism faculty in 2013.
The course is designed to provide invaluable information and experience in marine-based tourism. Topics covered in the class are numerous and include tourism management, sustainable tourism and service industry response to demand.
“I want my students to realize how big and important tourism is for the economic development of the communities in the Bahamas,” Carroll said. “It’s extremely important to the people there. They need it for survival.
“It may sound strange” Carroll continued, “but we face similar challenges in southwest Virginia, where tourism has begun to replace more extractive economies and becomes a pathway to sustainable community development. Our students having skills in these areas is very valuable in today’s job market.”
Carroll’s course has three levels. First, there is the classroom prep work before anyone steps foot onto the sailboat. It’s no day at the beach.
“We have long days, and it’s a lot of work,” Carroll said. “Before departure, we spend a week on campus laying down the conceptual framework for research projects the students will conduct in the Bahamas, and cover a lot of lecture material. It’s a lot of information jammed in before going to the Bahamas.”
The prep work includes spending a day on a small sailboat at nearby Claytor Lake.
“There, I do an introduction to sailing concepts and safety,” Carroll said. “It’s mostly information so they can be safe when they get on the big boat. That way, things are not completely foreign to them.”
Soon thereafter, Carroll and his students are sailing on the beautiful majestic blue waters, basking in the warm ocean breezes and taking in the enchanting island views. They anchor in harbors and off small, sandy cays such as Treasure Cay, Guana Cay, Hopetown, Little Harbour and Man-oWar Cay.
“A week on a boat with 13 students your age sounds perfect, right?” asked Megan Valentine ’16, who was part of the May 2016 course. “It is until everyone is hanging off the back of the boat, seasick.”
It takes some time to adjust, said Carroll, explaining the various difficulties of life on a vessel.
“We go there to work, and working on the boat can be challenging,” Carroll said. “On board, days go from 6 a.m. to about 9 or 10 p.m. and are jam-packed with lectures, group data collection, snorkeling, local tourism operation visits and many guest speakers on a wide range of topics. We also carry all our own water and handle all our own garbage and waste. It’s an interesting lesson in living closely together and living consciously.”
Carroll and his companions spend three days engaging with people involved with nonprofit organizations and local tourism groups, such as the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.
Part of the learning experience involves each student adopting a tourism-based business. This means identifying and researching a business. While on the island, each student meets with a representative from their chosen business.
“They interview them and ask about longevity of the business, the history, what’s successful and what’s not and about plans for expansion,” Carroll explained. “They learn the ins and outs of running the business.”
No trip to the Bahamas would be complete without snorkeling, beach excursions, island resort tours, arts and music and so forth. There is plenty of time for those things. Between the fun, however, there is more work to do.
Carroll and his students conduct an inventory, called the Tourism Opportunity Spectrum, of six different attributes that relate to tourism opportunities in an area. The sites have been identified by the Bahamas National Trust — “it’s like our National Parks Service,” Carroll said — and the information gathered has led to two peer-reviewed publications for Carroll and students, who serve as co-authors.
They’ve also presented the research at the Resort and Commercial Recreation Association Conference each November for the past two years.
“One of the great things about the conference is it offers a full day and a half for employers to interview students for upcoming jobs and internships,” Carroll said. “Last year (2016), every one of the 12 who went to the conference got a job offer or internship offer. Some got multiple offers. It’s really good for them to attend and present. And doing the work in the Bahamas helps further their chances for internships and employment.”
Once they have returned from the island, there still is work to do back in Radford.
For the businesses each student adopted, they must get to work on creating a promotional packet. This includes a video, a social media piece and a brochure. The students share the work with their respective business, and some of those businesses use the packets.
“It’s a great learning experience for the students, and it keeps them connected with some of the businesses in the Bahamas,” Carroll said.
To complete the nine-credit-hour course, the students must demonstrate what they’ve learned by conducting their own tours for Carroll and their classmates around the New River Valley. It can be any place in the region they choose. In addition to planning, designing, and guiding the actual tour, they must prepare the itinerary, “which tells us what we need to have a successful day,” Carroll said.
The “big picture,” for offering the course, Carroll said, is for the students to understand a larger world view.
“Some of the students who go on the trips have never left the country or been on an airplane. This is a big eye-opener,” he said. “This trip helps them shape a piece of their worldview to gain a better understanding of different cultures, views, economic structures, problems, opportunities and issues.”
Sailing away with the Tourism Institute is something Caitlin Coleman will remember for the rest of her life, she said.
“Making the decision to be a part of this program through Radford University was one of the best I’ve made,” said Coleman, who was on the 2016 trip. “Fifteen of us lived, ate, showered and slept on a sailboat together, and we all ended up becoming pretty close even though it was only for a couple of weeks. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to experience Bahamian culture in a way that you wouldn’t see on a vacation.” ■
