Mexico trip marks first international field study for BAGTM program

Bachelor of Arts in Global Tourism Management students recently returned from a field study in Mexico.

While practical, experiential learning is an important part of the program, this is the first time students participated in an international trip.

During the one-week field trip course, students explored three distinct regions and cultures in the central western state of Jalisco.

The trip was thanks to an exciting partnership with the Technological Institute of Higher Studies of the West (ITESO) University in Guadalajara, where RRU and ITESO students have been working together to help promote a homegrown tequila-like spirit called raicilla.

Tourism operators in Mexico want to develop the region under the destination theme of raicilla, much like is done with wine in the Okanagan area of BC.

“We're sharing our ideas back and forth about how to do this, how to do it sustainably, how to connect up with Indigenous populations, and how to develop cultural aspects,” says Assoc. Prof. Eugene Thomlinson, director of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management.

In addition to visiting local villages and raicilla producers, students also had the chance to experience everything from conservation efforts at a turtle sanctuary in Puerto Vallarta to the cultural phenomenon of Mexican wrestling or “La Lucha Libre”

“Each aspect gave the students new perspectives and impressions of tourism and Mexico,” Thomlinson says.

Learn more about the innovative international student partnership promote raicilla and find out about other exciting opportunities in the Bachelor of Arts in Global Tourism Management program.

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