Story

"Learning is like rowing against the current!"

Marie Lechner is a graduate of the Tourism and Leisure Management bachelor degree programme and after graduating with us, she was drawn to the meetings industry. For the past few months, she has been representing the management of the Austrian Convention Bureau - the umbrella organization of the Austrian meetings industry. Her motto according to an old Chinese proverb: "Learning is like rowing against the current. If you stop, you drift back."

Portrait of Marie Lechner
Marie Lechner started working in the conference industry after graduating 16 years ago. Her heart is still beating for the industry to this day.

The decision to study Tourism and Leisure Management at IMC Krems was based on two factors in particular: the multilingualism and the international aspect. Apart from that, I found it great that you were allowed to do two long internships during your studies, some of them abroad.

Krems as an enriching city for students

During my studies, I especially appreciated the internationality, the internship semester, but also the location. I loved Krems as a study city! It was like a huge campus full of students.

Among the countless highlights of studying, apart from the friendships I made during this time, is definitely my Practical Training Semester at Entabeni Lodge in South Africa. That was a unique experience! IMC Krems enriches you in many ways: with knowledge, friendships and self-development.

Annual event as a highlight in the meeting industry

The ACB Convention4u is the annual event highlight for the Austrian meeting industry and is organized by the Austrian Convention Bureau. In innovative formats, knowledge is imparted, exchanged and new knowledge is created together. In doing so, we like to try out new things - that's why we also call the Convention4u a "meeting laboratory".

Professional cooperation with a student of IMC Krems

Mohuiddin Noor, also a Tourism and Leisure Management student, has completed an internship at Columbus until the start of Convention4u - a PCO that, as a silver sponsor, was again involved in handling the participation management this year.

Mohuiddin was not involved in this himself, but this is how we first came into contact. During the congress, we asked him to share his wishes and expectations with the workshop participants as one of the Gen-Z representatives in a workshop on "Developing successful event formats" with Lukas Zenk, professor at Danube University Krems.