Scientists, experts, representatives of tourism , hotel and restaurant business gathered at the III International Scientific Conference ‘Current Issues of Hospitality Development: Prospects and Challenges’
For the third year in a row, Uzhhorod National University hosted the III International Scientific Conference ‘Actual Problems of Hospitality Development: Prospects and Challenges’, which took place on 1 and 2 May. The conference was attended by scientists, experts, practitioners, representatives of business, local authorities, and NGOs. The thematic areas of the conference included tourism and recreation, cross-cultural communications in tourism, current trends in the development of the hotel and restaurant business, and cross-border cooperation in tourism.
The conference was opened by the Rector of UzhNU Volodymyr Smolanka and the Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and International Communications Natalia Gabchak. The conference was also welcomed by Professor Atia Tabet Abuharris of the Libyan Academy of Postgraduate Studies, Head of the Department of Tourism of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv Marta Malska, Vice-Rector of the Academy of Applied Sciences (Poznan, Poland) Paulina Poznan, Poland) Paulina Kolisnichenko, Head of the Department of Tourism and Business Economics at NTU Dnipro Polytechnic Liudmyla Bezuhla, Head of the Department of Tourism at National University Chernihiv Polytechnic Olena Zelenska, Head of the Tourism and Resorts Department of the Transcarpathian OBA Marianna Gotra and others. The conference participants then proceeded to presentations on current trends and new vectors of tourism development, environmental trends, branding and reputation, advertising management and other aspects of tourism.
Nataliia Gabchak, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and International Communications, said: ‘We are pleased that both scholars from Ukrainian universities and our foreign partners from Italy, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Poland have joined our conference. We hope that we will have extremely interesting plenary sessions, given the relevance and versatility of the presentations. Our colleagues place a special emphasis on the development of domestic tourism. So these days we will be discussing how the situation in tourism and recreation has changed in wartime.’
The conference also included the awarding of the winners of the Treasures of the Silver Land competition, which was launched by the Faculty of Tourism and International Communications of UzhNU for students in grades 9-11 under the leadership of Ulyana Khanas, Deputy Dean for Research. The competition was held in two nominations: the gastronomic challenge ‘Delicious Transcarpathia’ and the research paper ‘Unique tourist places’. Every year, more and more schoolchildren take part in the competition, this year it is more than 50 participants. The winners of the competition received cash prizes and certificates, and the students' teachers received letters of appreciation. The awards were presented by the Rector of UzhNU Volodymyr Smolanka, the Director of the Department of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration Mariana Marusynets and the Head of the Destination Development Department of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration Oleksandra Gorzov.
The winners of the Tasty Transcarpathia gastronomic challenge are:
1st place: Christian-Yan Man, 11th grade student of the Turya-Remeta secondary school (supervisors: physics and astronomy teacher Liudmyla Voronych and teacher-organiser Eduard Voronych).
2nd place: Angelina Klymchuk, 11th grade student of Dubovsk Lyceum (supervisor: teacher-organiser Oksana Fera);
Nelya Sermanyak, 11th grade student of the Ilona Zrinyi Lyceum in Berehove (supervised by geography teacher Ilda Campo);
Mark Sharkezi and David Kovtyuk, 9th grade students of the Uzhhorod Drugety Gymnasium (supervisor - Deputy Director for Academic Affairs Eva Borisova).
3rd place: Kitty Zhydyk and Lyudmyla Kuzma, 11th grade students of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Lyceum with Hungarian as the language of instruction (supervisor - teacher of history and tourism Erika Molnar);
Yulia Yuraniuk and Camilla Miller, 9th grade students of the Velyky Bychkiv 33SO I-III degrees Nº 1 (supervised by chemistry teacher Lesia Haynal).
Valeria Popovich, a 10th grade student of the Horinchiv Interschool Resource Centre municipal institution (supervised by Marina Tegza, a special subjects teacher), was awarded a special incentive prize from the Tourism and Resorts Department.
Based on the results of the evaluation, the winners in the Unique Tourist Destinations category were determined:
1st place: Bohdana Moshak, 9th grade student of the Turye-Remety secondary school (supervised by physics and astronomy teacher Yulianna Mykytyuk).
2nd place: Ihor Novytskyi, 9th grade student of Uzhhorod Lyceum Nº 3 (supervised by physics teacher Nadiia Permiakova);
Anastasia Malyarchyk, a 9th grade student of Holubyno Gymnasium (supervised by geography teacher Vira Ryashko);
Yosyp Penzestadler, a student of the Mukachevo Centre for Extracurricular Education (supervisor - Oleksandr Talabishka, advisor - Halyna Likhtei).
3rd place: Zoryan Holovchuk, 11th grade student, Luzhansky 33SO I-III degrees (supervisor - geography teacher Andriana Babiy);
Esther-Ramona Pataki, grade 9 student, Uzhhorod Drugety Gymnasium
(supervised by history and geography teacher Erika Banga);
Alisa Meysar, a student of the Mukachevo Centre for Extracurricular Education (headed by Oleksandr Talabishka, consultant Halyna Likhtei).
A special incentive prize from the Department of Tourism and Resorts was awarded to Nicole Hrytsysche, a 9th grade student of the Polyansk Lyceum (supervised by geography teacher Myroslava Bochko).
The Hospitality Science Forum at UzhNU was a success, bringing together leading experts, scientists, students and industry representatives. The event has become a platform for establishing new partnerships, developing research initiatives and formulating strategies for sustainable development of the hospitality sector in the current environment. The results of the forum showed a high interest in introducing innovations and improving the quality of education and services in this area.
