Ilaria Rosani, Tourism Specialist, Parco Regionale Alpi Apuane

In order to help current students and recent graduates to find their way in the working world, many of our alumni shared their career story. Here the story of Ilaria Rosani, Tourism Specialist at Parco Regionale Alpi Apuane in Massa (I). USI Degree: Master in International Tourism, 2018.

How did you start your career?

My first practical experience in designing and developing eLearning courses, specifically MOOCs, started in April 2017. Prof. Cantoni was looking for interns to create a new MOOC about the challenges of tourism management in heritage sites. The UNESCO UNITWIN Network "Culture, Tourism, Development", led by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne decided the prior year to share their knowledge and know-how with learners and tourism professionals worldwide in the forrm of a MOOC, thanks to USI's prior (and successful) experience of the eTourism: Communication Perspectives MOOC. Thus I started my intern work on the first volume of “Tourism Management at UNESCO World Heritage Sites” MOOC.

Being a completely new experience to me (both in terms of project management, coordination of a diverse and numerous group of instructors, and eLearning course development) the first months were a bit of a trial and error for me, but thanks to prof. Cantoni’s guidance, after the summer I was finally able to proceed well and efficiently on my own. The first volume started in January (which I also wrote my Master’s Thesis on), the second was opened in 2019 and the third opens in 2021, in May, to be exact. More than 12,000 people have participated in these MOOCs so far! Before returning full time to USI, from 2019 to early 2020 (while working and helping out with the second MOOC volume), I also had two 6 month work/internship experiences as a business travel agent in Italy, first at Giorgio Armani S.p.A’s internal travel office and then at Blueteam Travel Group.

I was always very interested in cultural and heritage tourism, as well as how tourism (and its services and products) can become an added value for a region or a site’s enhancement and development. Believing in their huge importance for tourism’s future, it was a great opportunity to learn about the topic as well as eLearning, while also being able to disseminate the research and experience of the UNESCO Chair and the UNESCO UNITWIN Network thanks the three MOOCs has been a great journey!

What positive aspects and qualities meant most to you during the study programme you attended?

The international teacher body and colleagues, high quality lectures and learning materials, and lots and lots of applied group work and projects.

What competences and skills acquired in your USI Study Program have been useful/are useful to your professional career?

The richness of topics studied and explored that helped with adapting to new challenges and unknown topics.

What is your advice to USI students entering the job market?

Don't be afraid to make experiences in fields or companies that aren't your first choice! Learning diverse things will always help in the long run and will keep you interested in what you do.