Marie started her undergraduate degree in 2009 at the University of Applied Sciences Harz in Germany where she completed three semesters of the Tourism Management course. In order to broaden her horizon for the international tourism industry, she decided to do an Erasmus exchange year at Bournemouth University. Here she completed the second year of Tourism Management. During her stay at Bournemouth University she has been proactive in enhancing her soft skills by participating in career-related activities such as the Students Union Leadership Program and several voluntary activities. Due to her very good experience during her exchange year, Marie decided to complete her undergraduate studies at Bournemouth University. After that she continued her academic career with a Master’s Degree in Tourism Management and Marketing, where she discovered a great interest for eTourism.
During the welcome session for the Tourism Masters Framework in September 2012 she met IFITT President Dimitrios Buhalis who was looking for students who want to ‘do great things’. Curious about what this means, Marie attended a first meeting where she was introduced into the activities of IFITT. Since then Marie is volunteering for IFITT and responsible for several tasks, including IFITT’s social media and PR activities. She was also involved in the organisation and realisation of ENTER 2013 where she was the media manager and responsible for live social media updates.
Recently, IFITT has decided to turn Marie’s assistance work into a 10-months placement, which she needs to do in order to complete her Masters degree. Since May 2013 she is, therefore, working full-time for IFITT as a marketing officer, taking care of the marketing and administration management of IFITT. Over the year Marie will develop an overall manual for the marketing and administration management of IFITT and the ENTER Conferences, which can be passed on to future IFITT team members.
Over the past months Marie has also undertaken some research about the innovative topic of SoLoMo and SoCoMo marketing.