Franziska Bachl
2021 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Career Development
After graduating from high school in 2017, I started studying Tourism Management at DIT. I already had a few part-time jobs in the hotel and catering industry and really appreciated the sector, which is why the degree programme was just right for me. After completing my Bachelor's degree in the summer of 2021, I was able to start my professional life directly despite the pandemic and began working in the marketing department of a hotel. I have remained true to this area, although not in the tourism industry, but I can still benefit from a lot of the content of my studies and take a lot with me from my time in Deggendorf.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
I always look back on my time at DIT with great pleasure. I met so many great people there, and I still keep in touch with them even after my studies are over. Deggendorf has an incomparable charm, which is why I will continue to enjoy visiting the small town and indulging in nostalgia.
What advice would you give to today's students?
Don't let it get you down! There are always semesters or study contents that don't suit you personally. But if you are passionate about what you are doing, sticking with it will be 100% worth it and you won't want to miss your time in Deggendorf :)
Gloria Pietta
2011 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Career Development
After my training as a state-certified translator, I wanted to have an additional qualification in order to be able to orient myself a little more broadly in my career later on.
Tourism Management turned out to be just the right thing for me. The degree programme covers a broad spectrum of learning content and thus offers the possibility of orienting oneself in all areas after graduation, be it in tourism, in the trade fair business, in the hotel industry or in the free economy in general. The opportunity to complete both a semester abroad and an internship abroad should definitely be taken advantage of, because the selection of partner universities at DIT is excellent.
I did an internship abroad in Barcelona - at the subsidiary of Messe München. Not only did I improve my language skills enormously, but I also learned a lot about business processes in the trade fair industry and about working in another country. I then wrote my Bachelor's thesis at IMAG, the International Trade Fair and Exhibition Company, a subsidiary of Messe München.
Nevertheless, I didn't end up in the trade fair business after graduating, but initially in international university marketing at DIT, where I worked for the International Office. I even had a teaching position there for Business English for Master's students.
After three years, I wanted to reorient myself and switched to PLAYMOBIL. There I was Area Manager for Asia Pacific. Here I was able to apply the knowledge I had acquired during my studies and establish myself very well.
Since the end of my parental leave, I have been working in marketing at PLAYMOBIL, where I am responsible for "Licensing Out" - I am the interface, so to speak, for companies that want to publish certain products in the publishing sector on behalf of Playmobil.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
I always have fond memories of my time in Deggendorf. I felt incredibly comfortable there and found a great circle of friends. The DIT was and is a very good university, and the advice I received about my studies was very personal and results-oriented.
What advice would you give to today's students?
My advice: By all means take the opportunity and go abroad! You have to get out of your comfort zone sometimes to be able to broaden your horizons! So I would choose this degree programme again at any time. :)
Jennifer Rasp
2017 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Career Development
After an excursion into the Austrian hotel industry, I received a job offer in my home town of Berchtesgaden. For more than 3 years I was responsible for the development of the entire marketing in a mountain railway company and was able to establish contacts in the entire mountain railway, tourism and winter sports industry up to the highest committees. Nevertheless, it has always been my dream to build up my own business, which I did in 2021. I run my own online shop for fashion accessories. At the moment I'm concentrating on e-commerce, but "you never know", maybe I'll even open a store in Deggendorf one day.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
The summer of 2015! The absolute best time of my life!
What advice would you give to today's students?
Believe in your dreams and don't lose sight of your goals. But above all, enjoy your time at the DIT, because looking back, it is an unforgettable time. Working life afterwards will be serious enough.
Sebastian Roth
2012 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Career Development
After graduating from high school, I first did my civilian service in my hometown. Since I have always been enthusiastic about flying, I dared to take part in the pilot assessment centre at Lufthansa.
However, this plan fell through after the first round, so I started looking for suitable alternatives and quickly became aware of the Tourism Management degree programme and the university town of Deggendorf. Somewhere I had read that a pre-study internship was an advantage, so I really got out for the first time and spent the three months between my civilian service and the start of my studies with a small tour operator in Zanzibar - ultimately the beginning of a smaller journey and personal development. During my studies in Deggendorf, I spent my semester abroad in Peru and my internship in Mexico.
Afterwards, I did a double Master's degree in International Product & Service Management in Ansbach and Valencia before I ended up at Munich Airport for my Master's thesis. Funny coincidence: a fellow student from Deggendorf was working at the airport in the meantime and played the door opener. This is also where I found my first permanent job in the Business Development department of AeroGround, an operating subsidiary of the airport.
Two years later, for love's sake, I went into exile in Hesse and have since worked in various functions at Condor. I am currently head of OPS Performance and, among other things, I am responsible for replacing our long-haul aircraft with modern and fuel-efficient models.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
The time in Deggendorf is definitely one of the most beautiful and formative of my life. I really enjoyed both the semesters in Bavaria and my stays abroad. Close friendships developed during my studies, which we still maintain despite the distance.
Since I met my current wife during my studies, we naturally have something very special in common with Deggendorf. So we always stop by for a pint on campus every now and then.
What advice would you give to today's students?
A lot of things are much easier in university than in professional life, so enjoy your time at university to the fullest. And above all, get out of your comfort zone: go abroad by all means, and as often as you can!
Sarah Schatzl
2020 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Our alumna Sarah Schatzl graduated from DIT in 2020. In her alumni profile she reports, among other things, that the semester abroad was one of the best experiences during her time as a student.
Career Development
After my training as a tourism management assistant, I studied tourism management at DIT with the intention of later working in city marketing. Instead, after graduating, I ended up in a Hamburg start-up that programmed software for tourism companies. That's how I ended up in IT and today I work as a technical project manager in a marketing agency. An essential part of my work is team-internal consultation with developers, conceptual designers and designers, but also close contact with clients. In my case with Magnum, Knorr and individual departments of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
Fischer-WG <3 The semester abroad was definitely the best experience during my studies, I would do it again any time.
What advice would you give to today's students?
I no longer work in tourism, but I can work from anywhere in the world. That's why my recommendation: Don't take the first offer that comes along, but look around to see what else is out there. And don't sell yourself short! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via Linked In, Facebook or Instagram :)
Nadine Schwarz
2021 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Career Development
I finished in the middle of the 2021 pandemic and the job market looked correspondingly bad. Nevertheless, I landed a hit and found a job in management consultancy as a marketing and project assistant. In the meantime, however, I found that I was drawn back to the tourism and events industry, so I started looking for a new challenge and luckily landed with my current employer. I recently started working in event management at Bayern Innovativ GmbH in Nuremberg. I've enjoyed the work so much since then and I'm glad I took the plunge and started looking again.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
I really miss studying on campus! Especially the location directly on the Danube often made it possible for us to have nice coffee breaks, relaxed afternoons and even the odd party there. I also liked the fact that at DIT you are not just a number, you know each other.
What advice would you give to today's students?
Don't let the pandemic get you down, there are now so many great and new opportunities in the tourism industry. Don't let it get you down if your first degree or job doesn't turn out as expected, but find out what suits you best and where you feel most comfortable.
Armin Stühler
2017 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Career Development
I decided to study tourism at DIT after graduating from high school because the programme sounded versatile and very lively and practical to me. Already during my studies, I gained my first experience in the hotel industry and subsequently joined the fields of occupational safety and human resources management.
Later, I also worked in the field of data protection, which allowed me to gain a lot of experience in the organisation and implementation of training courses as well as the development and conception of management systems - all in the context of the hotel industry and leisure pool sector.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
Visits to the ITB (International Tourism Exchange) in Berlin, participation in tourism-related events and being involved in the student council. Of course, also fellow students from the A faculty and the degree programme!
What advice would you give to today's students?
Don't be overwhelmed by the variety of study offers, but always be aware that there is no longer one typical career path today. Take advantage of the test offers from the universities and try out the right path for you - both in terms of the degree programme and the training model. It's best to choose the path that feels best for you and that allows you to grow sustainably and healthily - earnings should also play a role, but first and foremost you have to feel comfortable with your decision. If you have any questions or are interested, I would also be happy to hear from you personally - for example by networking on Xing or LinkedIn. 😊
Theresa Troglauer
2015 | Bachelor Tourismusmanagement
Career Development
I gained my first professional experience before and during my studies in various internships and part-time jobs. After my Bachelor's degree, I ended up in sales in the hotel industry - the fascination for the hotel industry was my original motivation for studying tourism management - and first acquired (corporate) customers, planned events and negotiated framework agreements for an individual hotel and later for a small privately managed hotel chain with mainly business hotels. After the takeover of this hotel chain by a larger operating company, I was responsible for and managed the sales division "MICE & Business Groups" (MICE = Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Events) for about 100 hotels. As we all know, the Covid 19 pandemic hit the city and conference hotel industry particularly hard, so I used the time to study for a Master's degree. In the meantime, I got the opportunity to help build up the sales operations division of a tech start-up and implement my first projects as a freelancer.
Today, I support and advise hotels and other tourism businesses, especially on the topics of MICE, sales and digitalisation. In addition, I have been able to pass on my practical experience as a lecturer to the next TM students at DIT for several semesters.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
When I think back to my time as a DIT student, I think of three points in particular:
1. the familiar and international atmosphere on campus - international might sound unusual for the small town of Deggendorf, but the worldwide partner universities from which students come to Deggendorf and where you can spend a semester abroad relatively easily (I spent a semester in Lima, Peru, for example) make sure of that;
2. lots of contact with companies, industry representatives and alumni, e.g. at lectures, theme days, at the ITB (the largest tourism trade fair in Berlin) or excursions organised by profs and/or DEG.TOUR.-S. (tourism students' association);
3. numerous activities (and of course parties 😉) organised by the many different DIT associations, where you can get involved yourself and thus also come into contact with other degree programmes quite easily.
What advice would you give to today's students?
Try out new things and gain experience! The tourism industry and related sectors are so large and varied, offering exciting opportunities from regional to global, from family businesses to start-ups to global corporations, from guest services to back-office services such as marketing, HR or finance to strategic and conceptual activities - there really is something for everyone. It helps me a lot to have tried out completely new areas that I knew less about before. And the degree programme is the best opportunity for that.
The tourism industry is a village (yes, even though it is so big and versatile). You always meet familiar faces and everyone knows everyone else through a few corners. Start building your own network early on - social networks (e.g. LinkedIn) also help - you never know when you might need a contact.
And of course: just enjoy your time at university!
Jana Vieweger
2022 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Career Development
After graduating from high school in 2017, I really wanted to see the world and so I set off and ended up with the cruise ship fleet Mein Schiff from TUI Cruises GmbH. This was my first step towards tourism, and in 2018 I started studying tourism management at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. During the semester breaks, I continued to remain loyal to the fleet and finally, with my studies in 2022, I went on board for the last time as a travel consultant, meanwhile a hotel officer. Since September 2022, my professional environment has changed completely. It was already clear to me during my studies, at the latest since Corona: I will not stay in tourism. So in September 2022 I started an internship at the BMW Austria GmbH Vienna branch in the HR department and have since been taken on there as an HR Specialist. At the only branch in Austria, my areas of expertise are sales for new cars, used cars and MINI, as well as administration and finance.
I also take care of local health management within BMW Austria GmbH in cooperation with Salzburg. From recruiting to personnel development and compensation and benefits, I get to take on a wide range of responsibilities.
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
Deggendorf is and remains a time I like to think back on! I met unbelievably great people with whom I still have a lot of contact today. I would also like to say a big THANK YOU for the support during my semester abroad in Chile during a really difficult time!
What advice would you give to today's students?
Although I didn't stay in the tourism industry, I can still benefit from a few topics. In my opinion, the degree programme is very varied and the specialisations in the last two semesters allow you to get to know completely different areas. Take every chance and use every opportunity to learn something new!
You can reach me on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.
Anna-Maria Waldmann
2021 | Bachelor Tourism Management
Career Development
My professional career is probably not the 0815 path you'd expect, because I already worked during my bachelor's degree. In addition to my tourism management studies, I had a permanent part-time job as a flight attendant. One or two times I also sat in my uniform in the lecture. But in the end, everything worked out great and I managed to combine both. After my Bachelor's degree, I decided to get out of the tourism industry a bit and am studying for a Master of Sciences in Marketing and Branding at the University of Innsbruck. What the next step will be is still written in the stars...
Reminiscing allowed: remember your student days
I associate my time at DIT with a lot of fun - except for the 3 week exam period, haha. Deggendorf is more like a village, as the name suggests, but there's always something going on because of the many students. Besides, how cool is it to be able to do everything on foot or by bike? Or accidentally seeing lots of familiar faces when you leave?
But the familiar atmosphere at the university was particularly special for me. I am still in contact with some of the professors and staff.
What advice would you give to today's students?
I think that's my tip: use your time at the university to make contacts, get to know different people and their lives, and realise what opportunities are open to you. It is important to take advantage of opportunities and try things out, and this is made easy at the DIT (AdA certificate, team-building seminars, etc.).