Teaching Food Tourism in Ireland-Reflections from COVID-19

Abstract

This paper is a reflection of the development of a Food Tourism module over the last 5 years in TU Dublin with particular focus on the impact of COVID on pedagological strategies. The module emerged as a reaction to an environment in which tourism, and food tourism, was being identified as increasingly important and on the program team there was a desire to provide students with different perspectives of food. A key element of the module is interaction with industry, via guest lectures, case studies and a field trip. COVID-19 had a significant impact as teaching and learning pivoted online. As teaching now returns to the classroom we reflect that the experiences of COVID-19 have made the module more accessible and international.