On May 26, 2016, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Tourismusverband Lausitzer Seenland e.V. and the Department of Tourism Management of our faculty for the preparation of student work as part of seminars/workshops as well as Bachelor's and Master's theses in the Department of Tourism Management.

For several years now, the department has been accompanying the development of the "vacation region in the making, which is developing more and more recognizably from a lignite mining area to the largest man-made water landscape in Europe "¹, through excursions, projects such as mystery checks or final theses.

Topics such as:

• "Staging guidelines for the touristic use of cultural assets, illustrated using the example of the legendary world of the Lausitz Lake District"
• "Rough conception of an e-learning educational program for the cooperation partner Lausitz Lakeland"
• "Evaluation of the communication tool event "Visitor Days" for the marketing of the destination Lausitz Lakeland!
• "Development of a budget concept hotel for the Lausitz Lakeland" and
• "Feasibility study for the introduction of a speed code for the Lausitz Lakeland" have already been worked on by former students as part of their final theses.

WTB 13 students are currently researching the following topics:

• "Quality check for water tourism offers in the Lausitz Lakeland and creation of quality criteria for future service providers in the water sports sector"
• "Development of barrier-free city tours in the Lausitz Lake District using the example of the towns of Senftenberg and Spremberg".

As part of the first week of the academic year in September this year, the first-year students on the Bachelor's degree course in Tourism Management will be going on their first excursion to the Lausitz Lake District for the second time.

What does a landscape in transition mean? How is Europe's largest contiguous lake district, created by human hands, developing? What challenges does the Lausitz Lakeland Tourism Association face when marketing a destination that spans two federal states (Saxony and Brandenburg)?

These and other questions are the focus of the excursion, which also serves to help the "newcomers" get to know each other.

Prof. Dr. Ute Pflicke

Study program coordinator