Just seven years after representing Hungary at GTTP’s 2003 International Student/Teacher Conference near Frankfurt, Germany, Dalma Antik was a member of the communications team working on the Pécs2010 European Cultural Capital Project.
”It was the largest ever cultural communications project in Hungary,” said Antik.
”I am very proud of taking part in this mega-project which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. It also provided me with the opportunity to have a closer look into the tourism aspects of the project, which was even more interesting for me in the light of what I have learnt during my Travel &Tourism studies,” said Antik, who works for Sensation Kommunikációs Ügynökség.
For those who do not live in Europe, we should explain that the European Cultural Capital project is an ongoing program of the European Union, which since 1985 has each year designated one or more cities as Cultural Capitals. The designation lasts a year. The designation has led to local investment in city facilities, cultural events and other benefits, including higher visibility in the Tourism & Travel industry.
Cities named Cultural Capital in countries where GTTP has programs are: Cork and Dublin in Ireland, and Glasgow and Liverpool in Britain.
Pécs, prounced ”peech, is a city of 158,000 in southwestern Hungary with an urban history dating back to Roman times.
Antik’s introduction to assessing and then communicating what a community needs to do to attract more visitors came as part of her Travel & Tourism studies in her last two years of high school in her hometown of Tiszakécske.
Tiszakécske, a community of about 12,000 people on the banks of the River Tisza, relies on an economy based on hospitality and tourism, farming and industry. Antik and her team developed a proposal showing how the town, with its limited financial resources, could make itself more attractive to visitors.
The team’s work can be seen if you download their case study, here.
At the 2003 GTTP Conference, held at the Amadeus Conference Center at Bad Homburg near Frankfurt, Antik met fellow students who participate in GTTP programs around the world, and established strong friendships. One was with Samuel Morgan.
”We are in touch with each other almost every day, but at least weekly. We know everything about each other and he plans to visit me in Hungary in 2011.” Morgan is a software developer who also operates his own tourism information website and is active in Jamaican politics, working with a newly established political party.
”Following high school I went to study in Budapest and, partly due to my Frankfurt experiences, majored in international relationships, and graduated in political and business communication,” said Antik
Antik continued her studies at the postgraduate level and expects to obtain her Master’s degree in International Studies in early 2011. She also continues to work for Sensation Kommunikációs Ügynökség.
