The Reiswerk Travel Challenge is coming up again. From 28 May to 1 June, 64 students and experts from renowned travel companies will travel to the beautiful town of Monchique, in Portugal.
The 32 tourism students and the 32 students from other programmes, such as Marketing, IT, Data, Sales, Business Administration and the like, work together in small teams on a case. This case is all about sustainability and has been established in collaboration with the tourist board. The premium partners of this trip include Corendon, NTG, D-reizen and TUI. TravMagazine talks to these travel organizations about what role they will play, what the expectations are and where the focus is this year.
‘We expect an active programme’
Corendon expects a lot from this edition. ‘One of our current employees was a participant/student of Travel Challenge last year, based on his stories, expectations are high. That’s why we decided to join us as a premium partner this year. We expect an active programme full of inspiring companies, activities and students’, says Kimberly Punselie (HR advisor at Corendon). ‘We think it’s important to invest in young talent and are happy to be present at events, such as Travel Challenge. As a premium partner, we hope to give the students a good idea of how fun and dynamic the travel industry is. And, of course, how much fun it is to work at Corendon.’
Current topics
The tour operator is We are happy that the theme of sustainability is central to Travel Challenge. “As an airline and one of the largest tour operators, we bear a great responsibility for a more sustainable form of holidaying. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as 100% sustainable air holidays, but we do what we can. Sustainability is a broad concept, but hopefully the four P’s: people, planet, profit and pleasure will give the students tools. In addition, the case is about a current topic, not only in Monchique but worldwide, also in several destinations where we offer our holidays. We think it is important that we not only come to the destinations to pick up something, but also bring something. For example, we donate one Antillean guilder per passenger from Corendon to Curaçao to Hòfi Mango, a former plantation and now protected nature reserve on the island. Hopefully, the students’ plans will actually contribute to the sustainability of the environment, the local population and it will also give us ideas.’
Enthuse
‘During Travel Challenge, we join forces to enthuse students about what the travel industry has to offer in an interactive way. In addition, this is the perfect opportunity to showcase Corendon as a company. We are always looking for new talents and ideas, even if you don’t have a tourism education, you can come to Corendon. For example, in support departments such as IT, Marketing and Customer Service.’
‘These are the colleagues of the future’
Enthusing students is also something Net Travel Group (NTG) wants to achieve. ‘This year, we are going to enthuse students and schools about the travel world during the Travel Challenge days, where connection and collaboration are central. Nothing is more important in our industry. And also sharing knowledge, both from us to the student, but certainly also the other way around, because they are the colleagues of the future. In this way, we can keep change and innovation high on the agenda while learning from each other,” Annemieke Seegers (Sales & Account Manager at NTG) tells TravMagazine. ‘These days we are closer together. With a super fun program, you will learn to get to know everything that is covered in our industry. They are not all easy assignments, but definitely assignments that require creativity, enthusiasm and perseverance. During these days, students get to know the industry and also the different organizations and we get to know our future (potential) employees. From previous year, we know better than anyone how important these days are.’
Stimulate
‘Sustainability has been a hot item on everyone’s agenda for years. As far as our industry is concerned, not only in the field of aviation, but it also affects, for example, traveling by car, the way of taking a holiday and the interpretation thereof. Sustainability is an on-going process. Not always a fun subject, because we tend to think in terms of limitations rather than (affordable) alternatives, and therefore a very interesting topic, especially with the participating students. During these days, we try to encourage students to think about what changes we can apply to come up with sustainable solutions. During the last Travel Challenge in Fuerteventura, this was also an item and it soon became clear that there are enough solutions to creatively fill in these two components. Assignments during Travel Challenge are therefore leading here and a very important part.’
Thinking differently and acting differently
Of course, these days offer countless opportunities to not only get acquainted, but also to share knowledge and to enthuse students about all areas of interest within our organization, in the field of product, ICT, sales and marketing, finance, support, aviation, et cetera. And because the travel group is so diverse, students come from different schools and fields, we can really take the students through all the possibilities within the NTG organization. This edition of Travel Challenge we are not only in the foreground as one of the premium partners, but we will also be coaching the groups during the various assignments. ‘Thinking differently and acting differently’ is our theme for this year and we would like to share that with all students these days on how NTG approaches this. Not very unknown to us, because we never do anything else. Innovation is and will remain an important part of our existence in the travel industry. How wonderful is that to take that knowledge and energy with you and to be able to share it with the participants. We are very much looking forward to it again.’
‘An excellent opportunity’
For D-reizen, Travel Challenge offers an excellent opportunity to get to know up-and-coming talent. “We expect creativity and innovation from different angles to come together to find solutions to the challenges facing the travel industry, in this case specifically in Monchique. We look forward to showing our entrepreneurial character and attracting new talents who Dare and Do, with a capital D for D-reizen’, says Rebecca den Ridder (Corporate Recruiter at D-reizen).
No guts, no glory
‘During Travel Challenge, our focus is on stimulating courage, creativity and agility. In addition, we want to encourage students to think out of the box and find solutions that are not only profitable or commercially interesting, but also have a positive impact on the environment and the surrounding area. Students can expect to be challenged by D-reizen in an open and stimulating environment in which they can grow and develop their entrepreneurial skills. Under the guise of ‘No Guts, No Glory’, we encourage our colleagues, but also these new talents, to step off the beaten track.’
‘Future proof’
“As a market leader, TUI embraces initiatives such as Travel Challenge. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet new talent and get to work with them,” says Anke van Nieuwenhuizen (External Communications Manager at TUI). ‘It is with great pleasure that we pass on our knowledge during these days. Experience shows that we also get a lot of knowledge in return. Knowledge that allows us to take the next step in making the sector future-proof. At TUI, cooperation with various study programmes, including MBO, HBO and WO, has been high on the agenda for many years. Investing in training and in young talents is investing in the future of TUI. During Travel Challenge, the talents are introduced to TUI and the opportunities we have to offer as an international learning company. For us, that is a real added value that we are happy to invest in.’
Ambitious goals
As mentioned, this year’s challenge focuses on sustainability. This topic is also an important spearhead within the TUI Group. ‘The ambitious goals were set in the Sustainability Agenda launched last year. Objectives that every source market has worked hard with, including us in the Netherlands. The fact that the challenge is all about sustainability fits in well with this and we wholeheartedly applaud it. There will undoubtedly be many good ideas from the business case that the students will work with. Ideas that we can actually put into practice and with which we can make the travel industry a little more sustainable. We have TUI colleagues who travel with us to Portugal; for coaching and guidance. But also to take the students into the world of innovations and specifically Artificial Intelligence, because TUI is already doing a lot with that.’
