To end the semester for HDS500, Dr. Masami and her postgraduate students departed for their “Samoa’s Tourism-led Development Reflective Field Trip” to Taufua Beach Fale, together with the CSS Director and a few of the staff.
The purpose of the HDS500 2022 field trip was to provide postgraduate students the firsthand experience of the challenges faced by Samoa’s tourism sector operators even after the reopening of international border. This trip was a reflective activity that provided the students an opportunity to reflect on their past learning in the course through lectures, class discussions, and their own research on tourism-led development while seeing real-world limitations in the field. The ultimate goal of this activity was for the pupils to self-evaluate their research essay in terms of its analysis and discussion. The highlight of the trip was the presentation by the beach fale owner Taufua Sili Apelu, who is one of the key figures in the beach fale tourism development, Regina Scheyvens, the author of HDS500 Week 8 assigned article, discussed.
