Student Tingwen - MSc Tourism, Society and Environment

When did you first hear about your study programme and what did you think about it?

"My brother-in-law followed a master program in the Netherlands and he told me that the Netherlands is a friendly country, especially for foreigners. There are lots of people from all over the world and it’s a friendly environment for newcomers. This is one of the reasons I chose to come here! In addition, Europe really spoke to me because of the extensive history and diversity in cultures. Furthermore, I wanted to learn about tourism as it was a good follow-up after my bachelor. I studied communication and know how to promote or advertise many different messages, however I wanted to specialize in one topic that I can communicate about. I believe people are not aware of the importance of tourism, because they think it is just about leisure. But there are many different aspects related to tourism, such as sustainability. For me, this program was very attractive as it combines the different aspects of tourism, and helps you for example find a balance between economic benefits and sustainability. The focus on the environment was one of the main reasons to choose Wageningen." 

Could you tell us something about the core courses of the program?

"The first year was very interesting, as it was very different from my bachelor. In my bachelor, everything was already set. Here, there were many options to design the program to my own interests, like with choosing a trajectory. I chose some courses that I would never have be able to follow in Taiwan, which was a great opportunity. The first period was quite difficult, as it was a lot of theory, but it was very fruitful for the rest of the year. For me, it was very useful, as those first courses were like a guideline that taught me different concepts and approaches that came back in the follow-up courses. Even for my thesis, I re-read some of the things I wrote in period 1." 

What do you like best about studying in Wageningen?

"It was very interesting, as I was the only person from Asia in my class. This resulted in interesting discussions, as there were many different perspectives on topics. For example, reasons to become vegan are very different here than in Asia. In Asia its more a matter of belief, whereas here animal welfare and environmental impacts are taken into account. I was able to see the influence of my own culture compared to other cultures. Furthermore, I really like the dynamic setting of the courses. In Europe during classes, its more like a conversation with the teacher and your fellow classmates. Not a teacher who tells a message that you listen to, which is what I was used to from my classes in Taiwan. Raising your hand to ask questions, ask teachers’ opinion during class and being able to make mistakes is what made it very interesting and exciting for me to study here." 

What do you do besides studying?

"I go to the gym quite often and with my friend I joined a boxing class. In Asia, there are not so many girls who do boxing in their leisure time, so I think its an opportunity and different kind of experience! It is very interesting for me to experience more different kind of activities here. I also started jogging and I noticed how the landscape is so different from Taiwan. In the Netherlands, it is quite flat, so when I take a picture I feel like it could have been hanging in a museum. In my experience, the landscape definitely has an impact on how people live and think, which is very interesting for me to see." 

What are your plans for the future?

"I am going to do an internship with Fair Tourism, which is focused on sustainability in Thailand. One of the reasons I chose the MSc Tourism is because I wanted to gain more knowledge on how to use tourism as an approach to empower local people. Fair Tourism is focused on local people and their approach is to first educate people and then work with them to empower the local community. I think the interaction between tourists and the local community is very important, especially for sustainable tourism because its an opportunity to learn more about the local culture and how they maintain their relation between humans and the environment. I think that people from Asia have more experience with community-based tourism (CBT) and here in Europe there is a lot of knowledge on sustainability. I would like to apply the knowledge I gained on sustainability with the experiences in Thailand with CBT."

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