Experience and Wellness Economy
In Haaga, our students were enrolled in degree programmes in tourism, hospitality and restaurant management as well as in culinary management. In Porvoo, students graduated from the Bachelor of Hospitality Management and Bachelor of Business Administration programmes. Vierumäki provided education qualifying students as sports instructors.
We exceeded our degree objective and also considerably increased the course offering in the Open University of Applied Sciences as well as cooperation with other educational institutions.
Last year was characterised by a number of reforms and pedagogic development. Our focus was on a competency-based approach, flexible study paths, accreditation of workplace competencies and cooperation between campuses. The optional Experience Designer study module brought students from all of the three campuses together to develop the service business in the experience and wellness economy sector. The number of our workplace projects increased on all campuses, and the LAB8 laboratory for developing service experiences joined students, companies and experts in refining their service ideas into new products.
In education export, we proceeded according to our objectives. In China, a new batch of students completed a Bachelor’s degree in the sports instructor programme in Guangzhou Sport Polytechnic in Kanton and the first students in the Chongqing University of Science and Technology started their studies in our Aviation Business partner programme. Our pathway studies organised in Vietnam also progressed as planned. We continued partner education in Malta and with the Institut Paul Bocuse. Other significant education partners were NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, NHTV Breda, IMC Krems and Hotel School Hague.
Our RDI project base was renewed and we increased the number of commercial education, research and development projects, in particular. Commercial development projects in service design were implemented with Hotel Kämppi, Musiikkitalo, and S Group. We also organised several seminar events and gained visibility in trade fairs both in Finland and abroad.
Experience and wellness economy graduates 2019
Haaga-Helia’s Open University of Applied Sciences started providing multimodal education in sports at the Varala Sports Institute in Tampere. The education is primarily intended for sports professionals working in Tampere or its vicinity, who already have a Bachelor of Sports Studies degree or a further vocational qualification in sports. Our goal is for each student to accumulate a minimum of 60 credits during the academic year, which will qualify them to apply for degree studies in the 2020–2021 academic year. Approximately 30 students were included in the first implementation.
The Haaga hospitality management campus celebrated its 50th anniversary. Our objectives during the anniversary year included increasing the public awareness of the hospitality management education in Haaga and the campus brand, as well as promoting networking in the tourism, hospitality and domestic services sector. Our anniversary year project highlighted close connections with businesses in the sector, internationality and RDI activities. One of the highlights of the anniversary year was the national RESTO 2020 competition on hospitality competence that we hosted. Pore ry, our hospitality management student association, also celebrated its 30th anniversary.
The RestoRace tour, designed by students of Haaga-Helia’s Porvoo campus, visited ten towns where hospitality management education is provided.The tour included an event market that offered visitors completely new experiences and ideas. The goal of the tour was to highlight the versatility of hospitality management education and increase the appeal of the sector. RestoRace’s main partners were Scandic Suomi and Enjoy personnel services.
