Martin Fluker

Porter and Duty Manager, Hamilton Island (QLD), 1986 - 1991
River Guide and National Marketing Manager, Peregrine Adventures, 1991 - 2002
Bachelor of Business in Tourism Management (VU), 1992 - 1996
Masters and PhD in Tourism Management (VU), 1997 - 2005
Tourism Lecturer, 1998 - 2007
Co-author, Understanding and Managing Tourism, 2004 and 2007 (2Ed)

"After I had worked in tourism for 10 years, I started as an undergraduate student in Tourism Management at VU when I was almost 30. The reason I made this move to academia was so that I could further develop my business skills and learn more about the industry I feel so passionately about.

While a lecturer for VU in 2001, I felt the textbooks available in the Introduction to Tourism subject were not as focussed as much on experiential learning as I would like. After conducting a number of focus groups with my students, I embarked on writing a new textbook with a colleague (John Richardson). The book was first published in 2004 with a second edition to be released in 2007, and is now a prescribed text for students here, in China and Malaysia.

I have travelled to teach tourism at Liaoning University (Shenyang, China), Hong Kong Institute of Technology and coordinate the subject at Sunway College, Malaysia. But I believe by far my greatest achievement from my time at Victoria University has been the 2006 birth of my son, Angus. Victoria University has afforded me the education, lifestyle and support so conducive to family life.

I would recommend Victoria University because from a student's perspective it provides quality teaching staff, ever improving learning facilities and realistic career opportunities. For academic staff, I have found that working at Victoria University provides a well structured work environment, a high degree of flexibility, and the opportunity to regard some work colleagues as friends.

To describe Victoria University in one word, I'd have to say: 'Community.'"