From 28 to 29 April, the XVII Republican Student Subject Olympiad in the "Tourism" educational programme was held in Turkestan, organised by the International University of Tourism and Hospitality.
The Olympiad brought together student teams from 21 higher education institutions in Kazakhstan and served as a significant platform for demonstrating the professional knowledge, creativity, practical skills, and teamwork of future specialists in the tourism industry.
Esil University was ably represented by the "Esil Explorers" team, composed of students of the "Tourism" educational programme — Alina Khan (team captain), Yelzhan Baltabekov, Artyom Berikhanov, and Mukhammadali Aliakparov. Scientific supervision was provided by the Head of the Department of Social Work and Tourism, PhD, Associate Professor Zhasulan Sadykov, and Master's degree holder, Senior Lecturer of the Department, Azhar Gizzatzhanova.
The olympiad programme comprised six stages: a video presentation, project defence, intellectual quiz, pedestrian tourist distance, the captains' competition "Navigation by Azimuth", and an overall ranking.
At the video presentation stage, the team approached the assignment creatively, presenting a vibrant video about themselves, the university, and their vision for tourism development in the country. During the project defence, participants presented an ecological tourist route that received a high evaluation from the jury for its relevance and feasibility.
In the intellectual quiz, the team demonstrated excellent erudition and confident knowledge in geography, history, legislation, and tourism theory. In the pedestrian tourist route, participants showed endurance, team cohesion, and the ability to apply tourism skills in practice.
Team captain Khan Alina successfully completed the individual azimuth orienteering challenge, thereby confirming her leadership and professional qualities.
Based on the results of all stages, the Esil University team claimed the honourable second place, becoming the silver medallists of the olympiad, and also secured 2nd place in the project competition. We congratulate the team and their academic supervisors on this well-deserved achievement and wish them further victories!