Case Study

“I originally came to the UK just to visit my brother.

But I realised that I wanted to stay, so I needed to get a job.

I’d done some tourism courses in my home country of Romania before which made working in the hospitality sector an obvious choice.

I’ve worked in restaurants and events before ending up at my current place, a 5-star London hotel.

I started in the kitchen, then worked my way up through roles including waiter, coordinator and eventually professional butler.

Over the last five years of working in this industry, I’d developed a passion for the hospitality sector.

It’s about all the people you meet, both as guests and colleagues.

That’s one of the reasons I decided to apply for the BSc (Hons) International Tourism and Hospitality Management course at the University of Sunderland in London.

I’ve also got a strong passion for travelling, which started with hiking in the mountains where I born and moved on to exploring lots of other countries.

Both of these things, coupled with my desire to get an academic degree that helps me take my experience in the industry into the international sector, made applying for the course the obvious choice.

I’ve enjoyed all the modules, with my favourite so far being ‘Global Tourism’.

We got to learn about each continent’s tourism situation in detail – what their best attractions are, the modern issues they’re facing.

It showcased everything the world has to offer and made me realise how much I love that I can be a part of it.

When I graduate, I want to use everything I’ve learned to understand the world we live in and, hopefully, make it a better place.

Studying under COVID-19 has given me a lot of mixed feelings.

At first, I was upset that I had to stay locked up. But the University has kept me going throughout the lockdown. They really did!

I had days where I almost forgot we were stuck in our houses because the lectures are so exciting, and I was having so much fun interacting with my colleagues.

I have started missing out on meeting people and going to classes, but I really believe the whole experience has taught me a lesson in how to value the little things.

When we get back to class, I’ll appreciate my morning coffee before the first lecture of the day, the time spent catching up with my colleagues, and of course every group picture we get to take!

I really encourage anyone thinking about studying at the University, whatever their age, job or position, to do it.

It will be a fun, challenging and worthy experience.”

Want to follow in Ionut’s footsteps? Take a look at our Tourism, Hospitality and Events courses now.

You can also register your interest or book a personal consultation to find out more.