"Tourism is my heart's industry," says Stephanie Zorn about herself. With the Bachelor Innovation & Management in Tourism, she found exactly the study programme that opened many doors for the enthusiastic traveller. With the Master's degree in Business Administration, she expanded her competences even further.
Stephanie Zorn can hardly imagine a life without major and minor trips. "I love to be on the road," says the Upper Austrian. She just spent a week in Slovenia, and in spring she went backpacking to Cinque Terre. Yet the 29-year-old lives in a place where other people go on holiday: Mondsee. But travelling does not only determine her private life - Stephanie is also firmly anchored in tourism professionally. "It is my heart's industry," she says.
After completing her Bachelor's degree in Innovation & Management in Tourism, she has now been working for the internationally active tourism consultant Kohl & Partner for 7 years. "I support both hotels and regions in their further development," she says about her work. In times like these, a particularly exciting challenge. "Many businesses are in the process of reinventing themselves," she says, always keeping her finger on the pulse of the industry. Often it's about more sustainability and authentic experiences that are well staged. As a consultant, Stephanie brings in an outside perspective, she sees herself as a source of inspiration. Travelling is an important source of inspiration for her.
Her studies have also offered her many changes of perspective - without having to travel abroad. "We were students from 27 nations in our year," she says. The wide world in a lecture hall not only opened up many new cultural and social perspectives, it also strengthened social skills, Stephanie is convinced. In addition, an international network was created from which all colleagues benefit today. Many practice-oriented projects and a semester abroad in Bangkok were entirely to her liking. She also used the six months in Bangkok to get to know Asia. Another trip - a professional excursion to Switzerland - led to her first job after graduation. During the excursion, she got to know erlebnisplan, a company that specialises in tourism offer development and staging. "I applied spontaneously because I liked the company so much," says Stephanie. She started the job in Lucerne while still completing her studies. After two exciting years, she decided to do a Master's degree on the one hand and return to her home country on the other. It was the opportunity to specialise in organisational development and change management that brought her back to the FH Salzburg with the part-time Master's in Business Administration. Shortly before that, she had moved from erlebnisplan to Kohl & Partner - with a five-month stopover in Nepal, where she helped set up a new degree programme in cooperation with the FH Salzburg.
Stephanie loves to get to know many new regions and businesses through her work, and the tourism concept development, which she learned very practically during her studies, now helps her in her daily work. Tourism is my heart's industry," Stephanie Zorn says about herself. With the Bachelor Innovation & Management in Tourism, she found exactly the study programme that opened many doors for the enthusiastic traveller. With the Master's degree in Business Administration, she expanded her competences even further.
"I can work very independently and bring in my entrepreneurial thinking," she appreciates about her current job. And when it comes to travelling, she doesn't run out of ideas quickly. Georgia is at the top of her list.