Colombo University Department of Economics wins Best IFITT-talk International Award

The International Federation for Information Technology and Travel & Tourism (IFITT) actively supports deal with topics related to Information and Communication Technologies in the travel, tourism, leisure, hospitality and events context. 

 Within this topical context the main objectives of the IFITTtalk workshops is to spark conversations, introduce new approaches, stay informed, find strategic partners and network, transfer knowledge between academia and the industry, or position an organisation/ community/ group/ person. 

In October 2016, the Department of Economics at University of Colombo hosted IFITT-talks@Colombo on the theme of “Modern ICT for interactive Tourism Learning and Education”. IFITT-talks@Colombo won the best IFITT-talk 2015 award during the enter2016 conference held in Bilbao, Spain on 6 February.

The ENTER2016 eTourism conference and IFITT Awards is organised by the International Federation for Information Technology and Travel & Tourism(IFITT), the ENTER2016 eTourism Conference (Bilbao, Spain, 2-5 February 2016) has offered a worldwide and unique forum for attendees from academia, industry, government, and other backgrounds to actively exchange, share, and challenge state-of-the-art research and industrial case studies on the application of information and communication technologies to travel and tourism.

The IFITT, the leading International Organization for Information Technologies in Travel and Tourism has organised the event, which attracted about 300 participants from 39 countries, with industry and academic backgrounds. The conference has been organised in three tracks – research, destinations, and industry. It also featured five world class keynote speakers. The IFITT is one of the leading eTourism knowledge-hubs for tourism and technology experts in industry and academia. The Federation extensively discusses and monitors the economic, consumer and organizational impacts of eTourism through events such as the ENTER conference, workshops, and IFITT-supported publications. IFITT members include researchers and practitioners of eTourism who treasure the power of networking and global knowledge sharing for improving their competitiveness and innovation. Institutional members include organisations, companies, and research institutes active in the eTourism space. The Industry Interactive and Application Oriented workshop on ‘Modern ICT for interactive Tourism Learning and Education’ held 18 October 2015 has been awarded the Best IFITT-talk International Award – Year 2015 by The International Federation for Information Technology and Travel & Tourism (IFITT). 

This workshop was held at the main library auditorium of the University of Colombo (UOC). The seminar is organised jointly by the IFITT and students who are following the Postgraduate diploma and Masters in Tourism Economics and Hotel management at the Department of Economics, University of Colombo. More than 150 participants who are interested in etourism from various divisions of the hospitality and travel sector were present.

The IFITTtalk@Colombo was conducted with the view of giving more insights to the people who are employed and engaged in the travel and hospitality industry. The impact of the ICT on tourism industry, application of ICT in interactive tourism education, information on world’s reputed MOOCs in the related field, and current E-Tourism application for the promotion and development of the tourism field were discussed at this workshop. 

The event was carried out in two main sessions, focusing on ICT enabled interactive tourism learning and the Role of ICT focusing on academic research and industry applications. In the first half, after the welcome speech by Dr. D.A.C Suranga Silva, chief guest for the event,  Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairman Paddy Vithana addressed the gathering. During his speech, he emphasised the importance of ICT in tourism including learning to produce quality tourism products and services. Prof. Jamie Murphy, the Australian School of Management Director of Research and Board member of IFITT delivered the keynote speech on “Learning, Working, Collaborating; Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for Hospitality Professionals.” 

During the afternoon session Former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau and Commissioner General of EXPO 2015 Dr. Rohantha Athukorala spoke on “The Role of ICT for Tourism Promotion” and Managing Director of STAX Inc. Ruwindhu Peris delivered his speech on “ICT and Business Intelligence”. Following the industry speakers, two students from the Masters in Tourism Economics and Hotel Management program of Department of Economics, University of Colombo, Dileepa Siriwardene spoke on “Social media Marketing in Promoting Hotel Industry in Sri Lanka”, and Sisitha Weerasekare on “Impact of Etourism on Travel Agency Operations in Sri Lanka”. The event was concluded after networking  over evening snacks and refreshments.

Vice Chancellor of the UOC, Prof. Chandrasiri( representing Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake, ) Dean of  Graduate Studies, and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Paddy Vithana, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Authority Dr. Rohantha Athukorala were present at the event.