Invitation for competition - 2022 STR Central & Eastern Europe Student Tourism Market Study Competition

• Teams must consist of 3 to 6 students with 1 to 3 faculty advisors.  At least three students must speak during the presentation.
• Limit of one team per school.  Teams may include both undergraduate and graduate students.
• The entry fee is 50 € per team.  The fee may be paid by check, credit card or wire transfer.  If you would like to enter a team, please let us know and we will send an invoice and payment instructions.
• Teams will choose cities/markets on a first come, first served basis.  No two teams will be allowed to present on the same market.  Teams may not select a market within their own country.  When a school lets us know they would like to register a team, we will send the faculty advisor a list of available Markets to choose from.
• A special “Introduction to Market Analysis” training for instructors/professors wishing to advise a team from their school will be held on Friday, 10 June 2022 at 3PM CEST.  It is important that the teams read the Judging Criteria included with these Instructions and Guidelines, so that they understand what should be included in their analysis and presentation.  Please submit questions or ask for clarification on any areas where needed.
• A standard set of reports and other supporting information about the markets will be made available via DropBox (see timeline below); however, teams may use additional data obtained from sources other than STR.  They may also include insights and input from other industry professionals (e.g., local hoteliers, the tourism bureau, etc.) if they are properly sourced in their presentation.  Schools may request up to five (5) additional reports from STR to help in their Market Study.
• The degree of available information and data may vary from market to market.  Some markets may have less detailed data/information and/or lower sampling in STR reports.  A list of available markets is available upon request.
• Groups will create a presentation (in PowerPoint or other presentation software of their choice).
• All teams will be required to present a live 30 (maximum) minute presentation using Zoom, a link will be provided.  A five-point deduction taken from the combined score will be given to any team whose presentation is shorter than 25 minutes or longer than 35 minutes. 
• The order of presentations will be based on a blind draw and the schedule will be sent to faculty advisors one week before the competition.
• All presentations must be in English.
• There will be a panel of judges from hotel companies, tourism organizations, consulting and/or investment firms to observe, review and score the finalist presentations.
• Presentations will be recorded and shared with other teams in the competition. They may also be shared with others interested in competing in future competitions. The faculty advisor and each team member will be asked to sign a Video Release Form prior to their team presenting. 
• At the conclusion of each presentation our judges will make comments and/or pose questions to the team.
• We will announce each team’s final placement via live stream.  A 750 € prize will be awarded to the winning school and 250 € to the second-place school.  The prize money must be used by the recipient institutions for the benefit of their hospitality and tourism faculties.  This can be for equipment, books, or any other way they consider will benefit their institution and students.
• The winning team will also be invited to participate in the finals round of the STR Global Student Market Study Competition taking place virtually on November 19^th (undergraduates) and 20th (graduates).  The team’s entry fee for the competition will be waived.  To participate, the team must be comprised of either undergraduate or graduate students, not both.
• All finalist teams will be recognized with a plaque, which will be sent to the primary faculty advisor.
• Print ready participation certificates for each member of the student team will be sent to the faculty advisor following the competition, provided the faculty advisors sends STR each student’s name within one week following the competition.
• Faculty advisors are to “advise and give guidance”, not do the work for their students.

 
Important Dates

• A special “Introduction to Market Analysis” training for instructors/professors wishing to advise a team from their school will be held on Friday, 10 June 2022 at 3PM CEST.  The recording of the session will be available for all schools.
• Registration is open now, please, send your preliminary interest soon via e-mail. Registration is open until Friday, 2 September 2022. 
• When registering, teams will be provided with a list of available Markets/Cities from which to choose.  Once a Market has been selected by a team, it is not available to be chosen by another team.
• STR will have all reports and data posted to a DropBox folder and the access link will be sent to the advising professor/faculty member(s). Additional data/report requests can be sent to this email address: sharecenter@str.com or dvinson@str.com.
• Registration fees must be paid by Friday, 7 October 2022.
• Presentations will be via Zoom (or in Budapest, on-site) on Friday, November 11.
• Announcement of winners and final placement will be on Saturday, 12 November 2022.  The time will be announced.

 
If you have questions or are interested in entering a team please email szaboneerdelyi.eva@uni-bge.hu  or/and karakasnemorvay.klara@uni-bge.hu to register your entry. 
 
Judging Criteria
Student teams will be judged on the following criteria.  Each area will be scored on a ten (10) point scale, with the score for Slides, Communication style of the team and Summary and Closing doubled for a total maximum 140 points possible.  If teams have the same total score, all judges will come to a consensus on the final standings.  Scoring sheets will be provided to each team in advance.
 

1. Quality of welcome and introduction
2. General Makeup of the Market - Quality of the description of the size and structure (organizational makeup) of the market (property and room counts, top brands, …)
   1. How well were unique characteristics of the market (including unique hotels) pointed out?
   2. How well were special attractions or events that relate to the hotel industry in the market noted?
3. Current Statistics - Quality of the description of the current stats for the market
   1. How well were current key performance indicators, values and percent changes pointed out?
   2. How well was the market compared to other markets (rank) and to past history (records)?
4. Trended Data - Description of longitudinal trends in the market
   1. How well were the long term performance trends described, including the impact of historic events?
   2. How well were actual values correlated with percent changes?
   3. How well were the different metrics correlated to each other?
5. Market Breakdowns - Description of different breakdowns of the market (submarket, class, …)
   1. How accurate and relevant was the selection of different geographic segments (submarkets) and non-geographic segments (classes) of the market?
   2. How well were different geographic and non-geographic segments of the market described and distinguished from one another?
6. Comparable markets
   1. How good was the selection of comparable markets?
   2. How well was the performance of the subject market related to the comparable markets?
7. Types of business
   1. How well were the weekday/weekend, day of week, and seasonality trends and differences described?
   2. How well were group and transient trends and differences described?
8. Pipeline and Development
   1. How well was the recent development history and the current pipeline activity described (breakdowns by phase, scale and brand)?
   2. How was the development activity of the subject market compared to other markets?
9. Slides
   1. How was the quality of template (school logo, market …)?
   2. Visual appeal of graphs and tables; how easy is it to understand the data represented?
   3. How accurate and informative was the labeling of graphs and data?
   4. Was a large amount of content effectively communicated?
   5. Was good judgment used related to amount of data shared (not too much, no irrelevant information)?
   6. How creative was the presentation (graphics, keeping audience interest)?
10. Communication style of the team (speakers 1,2,3)
    1. How familiar was the speaker with the market?
    2. How comfortable was the speaker with the data (metrics, terms)?
    3. How understandable was the speakers explanations and interpretation of the data?
11. Summary, Takeaways, Looking Ahead, and For the Future
    1. How well were major trends summarized?
    2. How well were the unique characteristics of the market summarized?
    3. How relevant and actionable were the industry takeaways?
    4. How well were future considerations addressed?