The winners of the 2018 Motorhome Republic Student Scholarship
After careful consideration by a committee of hand picked experts, the successful candidate for 2018’s Motorhome Republic Student Scholarship has been selected. Rachel Perkins came to the forefront of a field of promising applicants, convincing the team at Motorhome Republic of her potential to make a real difference in the travel commerce industry.
In a time when people are turning away from accumulating possessions and instead seeking out amazing experiences, travel commerce is becoming an increasingly relevant industry. Motorhome Republic has been innovating in the field of online travel commerce for more than 14 years, rising to the position of one of the world’s largest and most well respected motorhome rental aggregators. Giving people the chance to skip the hassle of combing through dozens of motorhome rental websites to find the best deal, Motorhome Republic makes it quick and easy to search out the ideal motorhome rental.
Positioned as they are at the leading edge of the online travel industry, Motorhome Republic has had the chance to invest back into this exciting field. This is where the Motorhome Republic Student Scholarship has come from; an initiative with the aim of encouraging and supporting talented individuals who have shown a passion for contributing to the world of travel commerce.
Rachel Perkins, the successful 2018 Motorhome Republic Student Scholarship candidate, has committed to a lifelong goal of enabling the success of small tourism businesses. Currently doing her PhD at the Department of Tourism, Griffith University, Rachel has dedicated her research project to forging innovative solutions for small tourism businesses which are struggling with difficulties like lack of access to resources, problematic economies of scale, attracting a talented workforce and management structure issues. Her answer to these thorny problems has been to form a business cluster in southeast Queensland, allowing small tourism businesses to leverage collaboration in order to work more effectively, sharing both knowledge and resources in a joint effort to market their much-loved region.
For the task of sorting through the various candidates and determining a final successful applicant, Motorhome Republic assembled a committee of specialists from a wide range of professional backgrounds, boasting a diverse palette of skillsets. Phil Wright, General Manager Motorhome Republic, was among the first to join the committee, bringing to the table many years of industry experience and a genuine passion for motorhome exploration. Gemma Stringer, HR Manager, came onto the committee to offer her extensive expertise in professional development and personnel potential, a key factor in identifying the best applicant. Thomas Schmider, SEO Executive, joined in order to contribute his knowledge of how written content in travel commerce can be leveraged to achieve concrete gains, while Joy Mahika, Personnel Trainer, was brought onto the committee for her in-depth understanding of the human side of the industry. These were just a few of the committee members responsible for singling out Rachel Perkins as the successful candidate for the Motorhome Republic Student Scholarship.
With help from the Motorhome Republic Student Scholarship, Rachel hopes to enable the funding of training and education workshops which will provide small tourism businesses with information on how they can best execute collaboration, how they can effectively share knowledge and resources, and how they can collectively market. With this kind of strong foundation, there’s no question that Rachel Perkins has a promising future in the world of travel commerce. The team at Motorhome Republic is proud to have been able to contribute to supporting the professional development of another bright star in this challenging field which demands constant adaptation and innovation.
Written By: Kristof Haines
It’s funny how motorhome memories stick with you. I can still recall a motorhome vacation my family took when I was five years old and how awesome I thought I was, tucked away in a loft bed above the cab. From revealing unique destinations to providing tips and tricks, it’s my mission to help others build great motorhome memories too.
It’s funny how motorhome memories stick with you. I can still recall a motorhome vacation my family took when I was five years old and how awesome I thought I was, tucked away in a loft bed above the cab. From revealing unique destinations to providing tips and tricks, it’s my mission to help others build great motorhome memories too.
