Tag Archives: Visitor Attraction

New member of staff – Amanda Payne

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Amanda has joined as the course leader for the BA Hons Events Management and the FdA Visitor Attraction and Resort Management programmes in the Department of Business and Law, School of Justice, Security and Sustainability, Staffordshire University, United Kingdom. She is working towards A PhD and is currently researching poverty alleviation through art and cultural tourism specifically in Cambodia, South East Asia.

Amanda Payne - new member of staff
Amanda Payne

Before joining Staffordshire University she served as a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire teaching on a variety of, research, subject specific (tourism, hospitality and events industry based), enterprise and management modules to a range of students undertaking their foundation, undergraduate and post graduate qualifications.

Amanda has also lectured in the field of tourism, hospitality and events management in several international destinations including Cambodia and Poland and has also been a visiting scholar and block taught in China at Chongxing University and Xiamen University

Amanda has an extensive commercial background and has experience of the operational side of the industry. Amanda first graduated with an art degree and was an artist for several years, progressing from this she became a client manager helping to build and maintain relationships, and then as an event organiser – planning, organising and delivering numerous art events both nationally and internationally. Amanda firmly believes that we need to preserve the best of our culture and nature for generations to come.

Separate to lecturing, Amanda is a joint CEO and major shareholder of a building environmental controls company that specialises in reducing carbon footprints via environmentally friendly energy management systems in commercial buildings.

Email amanda.payne@staffs.ac.uk and tweets https://twitter.com/AmandaPayne333

Protecting The Magic With Linzi Ticehurst

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Lucy Moseley, Visitor Attraction and Resort Management Student

On Friday the 26th of November 2021, Year 2 of the Visitor Attractions and Resort Management (VARM) students attended an in-person guest lecture with Linzi Ticehurst (Health and Safety Manager at Alton Towers Resort) on the importance of Safety in the workplace.  

Linzi has been working within Health and Safety at Alton Towers for 15 years as part of a close-knit team of 5 and worked on the ‘Protecting the Magic for Managers’ training with a collective team from numerous Merlin Entertainments UK Theme parks and Legoland Resorts. This interactive training session taught us that safety at Merlin is a whirlwind; it spans from rides, hotels, and restaurants, to the work-shops, contractors and events of every attraction.  As Linzi detailed the responsibilities of the HSE, EHO, and ORR at the park, she included relevant guidance documents and legislative works that must be abided by within each corner of every department – relevant to our own Law and Legislation module that we’re currently studying at Staffordshire University.

“Safety should always be a moving target  – it is never complete.”

Linzi Ticehurst, 2021

During the session, the one-and-only Francis Jackson (Alton Towers Resort Operations Director) stopped by for a couple of minutes to offer a few words on the topic – “the ability to foresee; therein lies the challenge.” (Francis Jackson, 2021). Agreeing with what Francis has said, protecting our guests and staff is the primary focus of our safety department. The responsibilities lie not only in rectifying an incident, but to prepare and take away the hazard in order to maintain the magic for our guests.

I, myself (Lucy Moseley) have been a part of the Health and Safety team at Alton Towers for 2 months up to this publication and working close with the rides department as a fresh pair of eyes on the resort has been an incredible, and rare, opportunity. It is my responsibility to complete administrative work, inspect the rides on resort and bring forward solutions to any arising issues – it’s the kind of role where no two days are the same.

Finally, I would once again like to thank Linzi for taking the time to come and speak with us and share her knowledge on the significance of keeping safe at all times whilst working at the resort. The session that she provided was incredibly informative and well structured, so thank you, Linzi.

The FdA Visitor Attraction and Resort Management course is taught in partnership with Alton Towers Resort, part of the World renowned Merlin Group. It includes 20 weeks paid work experience, and the opportunity to top up to a BA (Hons) degree in your third year.